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The Olde Canal Inn was built in 1826 as the
"Delaware Hotel" at the time of the construction of the
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. It served as a hotel,
restaurant and tavern for gentry, important business
travelers and dignitaries traveling by boat between the
Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. The Inn is located
riverfront on the Delaware River and adjacent to the
easternmost lock of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
The canal was finished in 1829 and served as a major artery
for shipping and passenger service between Baltimore,
Philadelphia and New York. The Inn was situated with it's
side toward Pea Patch Island, the site of Fort Delaware and
facing down river with a panoramic view of the opening to
the Delaware Bay. In the 1800's the Inn was the most
prominent property in the commercial and shipping center of
Delaware City.

During the Civil War the Inn served as a meeting
place for governmental dignitaries and Union officers. Fort
Delaware, visible form most rooms in the Inn, is located on
Pea Patch Island in the middle of the Delaware river. The
fort served as fortifications for the ports of Wilmington and
Philadelphia and as a major Union prison during the Civil
War, having incarcerated over 30,000 Confederate prisoners
and suspected sympathizers during that period. Fort
Delaware gained the reputation as the "Andersonville of the
North. After the Civil War, the Inn became a center for
travelers and businessmen concerned with the peach industry
of the neighboring orchards and the caviar industry of the
Delaware River. After the peach blight near the end of the
18th Century and the discovery that Delaware Caviar was
being exported only to be re-imported as foreign caviar,
commercial business of the area and the Inn declined.

Business revived during World War I with the
reopening of Fort Delaware, another pre-Civil War era fort
located a mile away. The Inn again hosted government
officials and the tavern was kept busy with troops stationed at
Fort Dupont and Fort Mott which was located across the
river in New Jersey.

After "The Great War" business slowed down until
the arrival of Prohibition. Being located on the river's edge
helped the Inn in these times as this facilitated late night
deliveries from down river. Business flourished during this
period being enhanced by the location near to Wilmington but
still "out of the way", especially for government agents.

After Prohibition, business again declined until World
War II when Fort Dupont was again opened as an army boot
camp, training center and prison for Germans from
Rommel's Africa Corps. Again government and military
dignitaries utilized the Inn and the troops frequented the
tavern. After the war activity diminished and business
declined.

In the 1960 the Inn changed hands and a newly
refurbished building attracted government officials and
business leaders from the nearby corporate mecca of
Wilmington. Governors, congressmen and business leaders
held receptions and meeting, especially preferring the
"Penthouse Suite", newly created on the top floor of the Inn.

Recent renovations and restoration of the Inn
combined with restoration and historic programs and
festivities at the adjacent Fort Delaware and Fort Dupont as
well as in Delaware City have bolstered the activity at the
Inn. Prominent area business leaders and top government
officials are again frequenting the Olde Canal Inn.