Thompson-Neely House & Farmstead

Ongoing renovations may affect the capacity and operations of this park facility.

The Thompson-Neely House and grounds served as an encampment site for part of the Continental Army in December 1776.  Many soldiers were sick or injured and though never officially designated a hospital, the Thompson-Neely house served as a place for soldiers to convalesce while awaiting their next orders. Throughout the American Revolution, as the Army moved through an area, they descended on the homes and properties of local residents. Houses became lodging for officers, and the grounds became campsites for soldiers and burial grounds for soldiers and officers alike.

Among the soldiers that camped on the property prior to Washington’s famed crossing of the Delaware were two Virginia officers who would later be wounded in the Battle of Trenton – future United States President James Monroe and William Washington, distant cousin of the Commander-in-Chief.  Captain-Lieutenant James Moore of the New York Artillery died here Christmas day and is buried in what is now known as the Soldiers’ Graves area, along with other men who died during the encampment.

The site’s earliest European settler was John Pidcock, who lived here prior to 1701. Following Pidcock , John Simpson moved to the property and constructed a small house around 1740. He also established a gristmill along Pidcock Creek.  Following his death in 1747 Simpson’s widow, Hannah, married miller Robert Thompson. The mill thrived under its new owner and by the end of the 18th century the family business expanded to include a sawmill and a distillery.

In 1757 Thompson built a two-story addition on the west end of the house.  Nine years later, when his daughter Elizabeth married William Neely, a second story was added to the original section of the house. Following the revolution, Thompson enlarged the house once again by constructing the two-story east wing in 1788. 

When he died in 1804, Robert Thompson left the bulk of his large estate to his grandson, Robert Thompson Neely. Succeeding generations of the Neely family continued to own and manage the property until it was sold to Reuben High in 1895-1896.  When the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acquired it in 1926, the building had been little changed since the early 19th-century.

Once the centerpiece of a milling complex, the Thompson-Neely House is now surrounded by numerous outbuildings such as the restored smokehouse, chicken coop and privy. Washington Crossing Historic Park’s own flock of sheep may be visited at the restored barn.