| Aquetong Creek | |
| Name Other: | Great Spring Creek |
| Image Alt: | Image of the falls and millpond at Aquetong Creek in New Hope, Pennsylvania. |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Pennsylvania |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 250 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Aquetong Creek |
| Pushpin Map Alt: | pushpin map showing location of Aquetong Creek |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Pennsylvania |
| Subdivision Type3: | County |
| Subdivision Name3: | Bucks |
| Subdivision Type4: | Township |
| Subdivision Name4: | Solebury |
| Subdivision Type5: | Borough |
| Subdivision Name5: | New Hope |
| Length: | 2.52miles |
| Source1 Elevation: | 180feet |
| Mouth: | Aquetong Lake |
| Mouth Elevation: | 49feet |
| Progression: | Aquetong Creek → Delaware River → Delaware Bay |
| River System: | Delaware River |
| Bridges: | South Sugan Road West Mechanic Street Stockton Avenue Pennsylvania Route 32 (River Road) |
| Custom Label: | Slope |
| Custom Data: | 51.98ft/mi |
Aquetong Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River in Solebury Township and New Hope, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Rising from the Aquetong Spring, now known as Ingham Spring, just south of the intersection of U.S. Route 202, Lower Mountain Road, and Ingham Road, it runs about 10.75miles to its confluence with the Delaware.
The area surrounding Aquetong Creek was occupied by the Lenape people until the lower portion of what is now Bucks County was acquired by the Penn colony. The Lenape called the spring "Achewetong" or "Achewetank" meaning "at the spring among the bushes". A Lenape village was located at the spring up until about 1690. On 1 November 1710, James Logan, secretary to Penn and later mayor of Philadelphia, was granted 600acres of land including the area of the spring. In 1707, Robert and Richard Heath built a gristmill along the Aquetong and on 2 November 1710, Richard was granted 1000acres of land from the confluence of the Aquetong to the Delaware to include the lower Aquetong valley and the mill. A fulling mill was constructed as early as 1712 by Phillip Williams. The first sawmill on the Aquetong appeared in 1740. In 1747 Jonathan Ingham purchased the Logan tract and constructed a fulling mill below the spring, who passed it on to his son, Dr. Jonathan Ingham, who passed it on to his son, Samuel D. Ingham, famous as President Jackson's Secretary of the Treasury, who took possession in 1800. Later, Samuel likely abandoned the fuller mill and built the Ingham Springs Paper Mill, operating until his passing in 1860.[1] Aquetong Spring, as it was known by the Lenape, later known as Ingham Spring or the Great Spring, was said to have flowed as much as 3 million gallons per day. The spring flowed a short distance to a dam constructed in 1870 to produce Aquetong Lake or Pond, then flowed in Aquetong Creek generally eastward to the Delaware River in New Hope, PA. The dam has been recently removed to return the pond to its original pre-dam condition.[2]
The drainage basin of Aquetong Creek covers about 8.01sqmi in Solebury Township and the Borough of New Hope. The Geographic Names Information System I.D. number is 1168359[3], the U.S. Department of the Interior Geological Survey I.D. is 03039.
Aquetong Creek rises from Aquetong Spring near U.S. Route 202 and Lower Mountain in Solebury Township at an elevation of 180feet and flows in a generally eastward direction, receiving one tributary from the left bank, to its confluence with the Delaware at its 148.5 river mile at an elevation of 49feet, resulting in an average slope of 51.98ft/mi.