The English settlers were attracted to the Darby Creek watershed due to the proximity to trading routes and productive landscape. In 1777, British soldiers breached dikes and floodwalls that were constructed on the creek. The Pennsylvania legislature passed an act in 1788 that mandated a maintenance of the dikes and the mowing of plants such as elderberries and pokeweed three times a year. Early English colonists utilized Darby Creek as a source of water power. Lumber, grist, and textile mills were established along the banks of the creek. Most of these mills have been demolished, although some of the tenement structures are currently in use as housing. At the end of the 19th century, industrial advances such as engine-driven machinery had made these mills obsolete.