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In the early 1700s, Marcus Hook was a haven for pirates who plagued the lower Delaware River. The market at Marcus Hook provided the pirates a place to sell plundered goods and re-supply away from the authorities and custom officials in Philadelphia. Early maps of Marcus Hook show the current Second Street was originally named "Discord Lane", since it was the location of the pirates' revelry when they were in town.[8]
According to a local oral tradition, the Marcus Hook Plank House was once the home of the mistress of the pirate Blackbeard.[8][9]
By the mid-1700s, Marcus Hook became a major regional center for the building of wooden sailing ships and remained so until the late 19th century. By that time, larger tonnage ships became more popular than the sloops and schooners built in Marcus Hook.[8]
During the American Revolutionary War, two tiers of underwater chevaux-de-frise obstacles were placed across the Delaware River at Marcus Hook to provide a first line of defense of Philadelphia against British naval forces.[10] Marcus Hook also served as a training center for the Pennsylvania militia. The Continental Army was stationed at Marcus Hook during the fall of 1777. As the town was bombarded by British warships more than once, there are very few pre-Revolutionary houses in Marcus Hook.[11]
Marcus Hook served as a defensive post along the Delaware River during the War of 1812, with over 5,000 United States troops placed there.[11]
The borough was officially incorporated on March 7, 1892. The convergence of rail, roads, a deepwater port, and the nation's growing thirst for petroleum gave rise to the refineries that became the borough's dominant industry.
Marcus Hook is located along the southern border of Delaware County (and Pennsylvania) at 39°49′N 75°25′W (39.8182, -75.4155).[16] It is bordered to the northwest by Lower Chichester Township, including the community of Linwood, to the northeast by the borough of Trainer, to the southeast across the Delaware River by Gloucester County, New Jersey, and to the southwest by New Castle County, Delaware. The southern border of Marcus Hook is part of the Twelve-Mile Circle border between Pennsylvania and Delaware.
U.S. Route 13 (10th Street) is the main road through the borough, leading northeast 4 miles (6 km) to Chester, and southwest 9 miles (14 km) to Wilmington, Delaware. Pennsylvania Route 452 (Market Street) intersects US 13 in the center of the borough and leads north 1 mile (1.6 km) to Interstate 95 Exit 2, and 7 miles (11 km) to U.S. Route 1 west of Media.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Marcus Hook has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.2 km2), of which 1.1 square miles (2.9 km2) is land and 0.50 square miles (1.3 km2), or 31.63%, is water.[3] The lowest point in the state of Pennsylvania is located on the Delaware River in Marcus Hook, where it flows out of Pennsylvania and into Delaware. The borough has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and average monthly temperatures range from 33.1° F in January to 77.9° F in July. [17] The hardiness zone is 7b.