Timber rafts were launched on the upper waters of the North Branch during the eighteenth century. A
milldam had been constructed across the stream just above Mount Holly as early as 1723. Some rafts were taken out at a wharf here, while others passed over a raft gate in the dam and were floated down to the
Delaware River. During this period, an attempt was made to render the creek navigable above Mount Holly by building a
lock in the
millrace below the dam, but it was never completed, and the remains were filled in in 1811 during the erection of a new
sawmill. Rafting had long ceased by 1831, when the dam was rebuilt without a raft gate. Below the dam, small boats operated on the creek between Mount Holly and Philadelphia. Timber was also towed up the creek to be cut at the sawmill at Mount Holly. The first
steamboat up the creek was the "Norristown", which ran from Philadelphia to Mount Holly in 1823. In 1824, the Mount Holly and Rancocas Steamboat Company was chartered, and briefly operated regular passenger service with the newly-built "Lafayette" between Philadelphia and Hillyard's wharf in Mount Holly. However, the "Lafayette" had too deep a draft for easy navigation on the creek, particularly at low tide. Service was soon discontinued and the steamer sold at Philadelphia in 1826. However, other steamers succeeded the Lafayette and steamer traffic continued on the North Branch through the end of the nineteenth century. Continued shoaling rendered it unsuitable for traffic, and an unfavorable report by the
US Army Corps of Engineers in 1910 on the value of dredging and maintaining a channel up to Mount Holly led to its abandonment for navigation. ==Tributaries==