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Immediately behind the Reybold Room is
the Newbold Room. This room is used for
banquets, meetings and special events such
as lectures and auctions. It is also used as
an additional dining room during holidays. It
can be separated into two smaller rooms by
a sliding door.

The right door originally led to the
restaurant and later to the Tavern when
it was relocated here from its initial
location in the basement. Although the
Tavern is still located on the right side
or river side of the Inn this door has
been sealed off. Entrance to the Tavern
is now from the main hallway internally or
from a door on the river side that leads
from the riverfront deck.

When the Inn was built in 1826, three doors led from the porch. The center door led to the
main first floor hallway that ran from the front porch to the back of the building where the
stairway to the guest rooms above was located. This hallway is still in use today for the same
purpose of allowing guests access to their rooms from the front of the Inn. This hallway is
also used as a support area for the main dining room whenever the dining room is open.

The fourth floor of the Inn is the location for the Penthouse. The Penthouse has an
enormous great room with a cathedral ceiling. The panoramic down river and canal views
from the multiple large picture windows is extraordinary. This room is used for a variety of
purposes including the main room for the four bedroom suite, a banquet room, a meeting
room, and is often used for very special fund raising events as well as executive retreats. In
addition to the great room and the four bedrooms there is also a kitchen in the Penthouse.
For further information click on the button below.

The Olde Canal Inn, was built in 1826 at the height of local development. When the
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal opened the Inn was located in an important location on
the water route from Philadelphia to Baltimore. The Inn was designed as a hotel to
accommodate affluent business persons, government officials and gentry. The dining
rooms and tavern, large with high ceilings were ideal for this clientele. The guest
rooms were enormous by nineteenth century standards.

The Inn has been renovated several times during it's almost two centuries of
existence. Changes that have taken place can be seen in photographs that are on
display in the entrance hall. The most recent refurbishment and renovation began in
1996 and was completed in 2000.

The tour of the Inn begins in the entrance hall which serves as the lobby. This room
has a high cathedral ceiling that reaches to the height of the second floor. The beams
and support posts while of the same vintage as the Inn are not original to the Inn. They
are rough hewn timber that had served to support large barns in New Jersey for well
over a hundred years when they were brought here and added as part of a renovation
over forty years ago.

The photographs on the walls of
the entrance hall are originals or
copies of original photos taken in
the late 1800's and early 1900's.
They show how the town and the
Inn looked in that era. Much of
the activity at that time centered
around the canal which was
located just in front of the Inn.
Color lithographs depict the town
as it was in the late 1800's.

The large lantern that hangs from the ceiling in the center
of the room is the type that was used in open or enclosed
courtyards and under porticos. Originally it was lit by a
large oil lamp but has been electrified for modern use.
This lantern is over 150 years old.

From the entrance hall we next
move to the front porch of the Inn.
Originally this was not an enclosed
porch but an open porch that
supported an equally large porch
for the second floor. This original
porch can be seen in an early
photograph which is now located on
the wall in the entrance hall. The
porch was enclosed with brick
walls and windows during
renovations approximately forty
years ago. Today the porch is used
as a dining room.

The Tavern, located to the right of the main hallway on the river side of the inn,
appears much the same as it did in the early 1900's when it was relocated here from
the basement. The wainscotting is original from when the Inn was built and this room
used as a dining room. The rough hewn timber pillars and siding was added
approximately forty years ago.

The Riverfront Deck is the Inn's newest
addition. This wooden structure was built
in 1998. It runs the entire length of the
building at the level of the first floor which
is about five feet above ground and river
level. Magnificent views abound from the
deck. It is directly opposite Fort
Delaware on Pea Patch Island, which is
easily visible in the middle of the river in
front of the deck. The main shipping
channel from the Atlantic Ocean to the
ports of Philadelphia and Wilmington is
just several hundred yards away.

The kitchen has been in the same
location since the Inn was built in
1826. This is behind the entrance
hall and next to the Reybold Room
on the side of the Inn away from the
river. Originally the kitchen was a
separate wooden building next to
the Inn. About thirty years ago this
was replaced with an enlarged
masonry addition that is attached to
the Inn.

The second and third floors of the Inn are locations for guest rooms and suites. These
rooms are very large in size for hotels of the Nineteenth Century. They were intended
for the affluent of that era. Today there are fewer rooms than when the Inn was built.
Some of the rooms were sacrificed for the purpose of installing individual baths and
others were combined to make suites. Most of the rooms and suites have water views
and several have panoramic views up and down the river as well as into the old canal.
For more information on individual rooms click on the button below.