The Warrington Historic Commission would like to know         “What is your favorite Warrington building?”

Your favorite building speaks for itself. It might be a restaurant you frequent, a treasured store, a historic building or even your own home.  Please return your ballot by 11/30/07 to Warrington Historic Commission PO Box 706 Warrington, PA 18976. Please use the form below to list your favorite, with any comments you would like to share.  We will tally the ballots and report the results in a future newsletter.

Warrington Favorite Building Ballot:
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COMMENTS: Please provide comments on the buildings as to why they are your favorites.

Reminiscing Warrington
                                                                                            Start collecting your memories and memorabilia of Warrington in years gone by. The Historic Commission is starting to plan a few informal get-togethers this fall to record and copy your remembrances. Keep your eyes out for the dates on the website, cable station and future newsletters.

Irwin House Dates to 1734

One of the more visible historic buildings in Warrington Township is the Irwin House located on Easton Road at the end of Shetland Drive next to the Township Building.

The building is owned by Randolph A. Scott, Esquire, who uses it as a law office. He said the building was, “run down and in need of extensive repair” when he purchased it in 1980. Those repairs have been made and the building now presents an appearance, which is pleasing to the eye. 

The Nathaniel Irwin House, as it is now known, stands on the property purchased by Daniel Pritchard from Thomas and Richard Penn in February 1734. The property passed into the hands of Robert Tompkins in 1736. Tompkins constructed a dwelling on the site, and in later documents it was identified as “Mansion-House” suggesting that it was substantial. Tompkins was constable of Warrington Township in 1738.

John Campbell, a Philadelphia merchant, bought the property in 1777 and rented it to Nathaniel Irwin, who was a minister of the Neshaminy Presbyterian Church in Warwick. Irwin bought the house from Campbell in 1785.

Irwin demolished the original house and built a new house in 1809. There is evidence that supports that the foundation of the house dates back to 1734.

He sold the property in 1823 and it went through a series of owners until 1865. During the years of 1851-1855, the house was owned by residents of Philadelphia as a summer residence. In 1865, Richard J. Dobbins purchased the property to remain in his family’s possession until 1939. 

Scott’s property was recognized by the Board of Supervisors and the Historic Commission as a historic site last September. 

Anyone having a question about the historic recognition program should contact the Township Office.

-- Thomas Mackin, Chairman Township Historic Commission

Jeanne Delong a Resident since 1944

Jeanne Delong is a long-standing member of the Warrington community. She and her husband moved to the historic Yankee Farm at 1067 Folly Road in 1944.

Early deeds to the property date back to William Penn. She proudly keeps historical records of Yankee Farm and has just been awarded a plaque from the Bucks County Heritage Conservancy.

Jeanne, a lover of history, was born in Bridgewater, Connecticut. Her relatives have been traced back to the Revolutionary War. Jeanne continues to be an active member of the community. Her fondest memories are of the old “Warrington Days” as they were a time of the community coming together. The Board of Supervisors is resurrecting this celebration this year. 

‘Kit House’ on Easton Road was one of the First in the Township to have Electricity

Charles and Elizabeth Murray owned a dairy farm on Warrington Hill. Because of the bad economy in 1920, they sold most of the farm to the Warrington Quarry. 

The Murray’s semi-retired from dairy farming in the late 1920's. They built the house now standing at 1450 Easton Road on the remaining piece of farmland. 

The home was a pre-packaged house produced by the Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan, one of America’s most long-lived manufacturers of mail order “kit homes”.

It was one of the seven major firms that provided these houses in the first four decades of the 20th century. Aladdin was the first company to offer a true “kit” house with precut numbered pieces.

They published a hundred page, hard cover, and full color catalog in 1916. In the period from 1910 to 1940, Aladdin offered over 450 different models. The Easton Road house is a Craftsman style home.

Murray’s “kit” was delivered to Doylestown in a railroad boxcar with each piece of the house numbered. Luther Nash, a Doylestown Contractor, assembled it. The house was originally not intended to be electrified, but electric power was being introduced to Warrington as the house was being assembled so the Murray’s connected. 

Thus, 1450 Easton Road was one of the first houses in Warrington to have electricity. The house has remained within the family. The present owner, Frank Shelly, is the great-grandson of Charles and Elizabeth Murray.

-- Mary Doyle Roth, Warrington Township Historic Commission

Old Grist Mill on Valley Road was built in 1756

One of the oldest historic sites in Warrington Township is the Old Mill Farm located off of Valley Road across from Kemper Park. 

It occupies part of 1,000 acres that were deeded to Alexander Parker by William Penn in 1703. During the ownership of Robert Tomkins, from 1749 to 1759, a grist mill was constructed in 1756. A sawmill was also built, and the two were operated under the name of the Long Merchant Mill. 

The name came from Andrew Long, who had emigrated from Ireland in 1961, acquiring land in Warrington and Warwick Townships. The mill was a part of the economic growth in Warrington and kept that name for over 100 years.

One story connected with the grist mill is that George Washington while he was headquartered at the Moreland House in Warwick bought flour and meal from the owners of the mill. 

Adeline McCord converted the grist mill into a residence in 1936. The property was bought by Arthur Aloe (Alou) in 1940 and was given to its present name. Aloe operated a natural food business known as the Great Valley Mill. R.B. Lambert, who owned the Old Mill Farm from 1958 until 1985, was responsible for extensive research on the property. 

The present owners, Art and Kim Hynes, bought the property in 1991. It now consists of 15 acres on which the Haynes' operate a landscaping business. The Haynes’s have put a lot of time and effort into restoring the original building. The restoration of the interior was completed in 1999 along with sandblasting and repainting of the exterior stone and replacement of rotting wood.

One discovery that was made during the reconstruction was that the original entrance to the mill race consisted of multi-colored stonework. 

The Old Mill Farm will be among the first group of properties to be recognized as historic sites by the Board of Supervisors on September 27.

--Thomas Mackin, Chairman Township Historic Commission

Pleasantville Services started in 1840

“The groves were God’s first temples.” It was a wooded grove in which a group of people met in September 1840 to attend a series of religious services and plan formation of a religious society.

John Dunlap gave two acres along the Whitehall Turnpike in Pleasantville for a church. The cornerstone was laid on October 19, 1840 for the Pleasantville Church. The cost was approximately $3,000. The labor was free. It was known as “The Brick Church.”

Some 53 years later the church was torn down and replaced with a new one at a cost of $7,000. The first services were held on Christmas Day, 1898. It had beautiful stained glass windows. In 1934, the church merged with the Pleasantville Evangelical and Reformed Church. In 1957 it merged again becoming the Pleasantville Church of Christ. A year later the congregation purchased an organ.

--Doris Dillingham, Member Township Historic Commission

Sixth Generation of Family Living in house on County Line Road

In the early 19th century, John McKinstry and his brother Nathan constructed the original house at 3263 County Line Road while living in a log cabin on the property and doing carpet weaving for their livelihood. 

The house was to be a residence for John, Nathan, and Nathan’s new bride, Margaret Bates, whose father, Thomas, was a Revolutionary War veteran.

The three-story house was constructed of local red stone with a wood shingle roof and fireplaces at each end on the first floor and one in the large bedroom on the second floor, where Margaret, Nathan’s daughter, was born in 1828.

Her daughter, Jennie Brady, was also born in that room as was Jennie’s daughter, Elizabeth Mae Kohler. Mae’s daughter, Jane Hartzel Henderson, occupied the same room as she was growing up and her children use the room when they visit.

By the early 2oth century, the household included Wilson Brady’s widow, Margaret, and the family of his daughter Jennie Brady Kohler. 

Two additions were made to the house during this period, both of frame and construction. Coal furnaces and a bathroom were installed.

During Will and Jennie Kohler’s ownership (around the time of World War I), the frame additions were wire-lathed and the entire house was stuccoed.

The original windows of six over nine panes were changed so that the lower pane was one large pane. The 13-inch windowsills remain, as do the small panes on all windows on the second floor. 

Six successive generations have exclusively and continuously occupied the home.

Ulysses Simpson Grant visited his McKinstry cousins at this house while in the area visiting his grandparents on Limekiln Pike…the only historically significant event that can be attributed to the household.

-- Jane Hartzel Henderson, Member Historic Commission

Bank Building built in 1799 by Barclay

John Barclay built what is now known as the Hatboro Federal Savings building at Easton and Bristol Roads in 1799.

The savings association purchased the property in 1963 and had extensive interior renovations done while preserving its historic nature.

When Barclay, for whom the school in Palomino Farms is named, built the brownstone where he intended to spend the rest of his life. But after the death of his wife several years later, he moved to Philadelphia. He died in 1824.

Barclay was an important personage in the early years of this country. He served as a lieutenant during the Revolutionary War and retired in 1781 with the rank of Captain. He later devoted years to public service as justice of the peace, president judge of the Bucks County Courts, delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1790 and has held many other prestigious positions.

After the death of his wife, Barclay sold the mansion to Benjamin Hough in 1804, whose family owned the home for 51 years. Hough’s nephew, Ulysses S, Grant, was a frequent visitor to the home.

The public can visit the kitchen with its preserved colonial settings.

-- Thomas A. Mackin, Chairman Township Historic Commission

Five Historic Buildings were once Schools

Among the many historic buildings in Warrington are five that at one time served as public schools for the community. Four of the five are in active use today while plans are being made to utilize the fifth.

The oldest former school is at 2524 Bristol Road. Known as the Warrington School, it was built in 1808 and has a date stone attesting to that fact. It was erected to replace a school that had been built on the same site in 1765. The Warrington School was in operation for 143 years until it closed in June of 1951, when Titus Elementary opened its doors. Tow other schools mentioned in this article closed at the same time. The 1808 building became the Old Warrington School House Gift Shop. 

Two one-room schools were built during the 1840’s, although their actual dates may be earlier. School Board records from 1848 mention both schools along with three others in the township. One building, at 2189 Street Road, continued to operate until 1925 when the Neshaminy School opened. The Street Road building was purchased that same year and has been a private residents ever since.

The other building at 10 Folly Road remained in operation until 1928 at which time the second Mill Creek School opened. It was also sold and became a private residence until 1998 when the township acquired it. Plans are being made to utilize this facility in a historically significant way. The historic Penn Oak tree, which is more than 250 years old, is on the property at 10 Folly 

In 1926, the original Mill Creek School was torn down and replaced by a school bearing the same name. The school opened in September 1928 at 3400 Pickertown Road. It continued as a school until June 1951. It was one of the three schools that closed at the same time. It became the township administrative building in 1955 and continued in that role until the current building opened on Easton Road. For several years after it closed, it housed kindergarten classes when Titus School became overcrowded. The township still owns the building, but it is rented out to commercial operation.

The fifth former school, at 2040 Street Road, was built in 1980 as a creamery. It was bought by the Warrington Township School Board and converted into a school opening in 1925. It was known as the Neshaminy School. The purchase price and cost of renovations were $12,000. It was the third school closed in 1951. Since July 1963, it has been the home of the BuxMont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

According to the record of 1848, there was at least one other school in the township, but the location of it is uncertain, so it is assumed to no longer exist. It is interesting to point out that the newest elementary school in the township is called Mill Creek, making it the third school to bear that name.

--Thomas A. Mackin, Chairman Township Historic Commission

The Commission reminds residents that the Warrington Township Video of Historic Places is available to be borrowed. The video can be picked up at the Township Building and may be kept for one week.

Township Started in 1734 Composed of Four Villages

Warrington Township was founded in October 1734, and is named after a town in Lancashire, England. The early township consisted of four villages: Warrington, Neshaminy, Tradesville, and Pleasantville. Warrington was located at the intersection of Bristol Road and the Doylestown-Willow Grove Turnpike, now known as Easton Road (Route 611).

Neshaminy, originally known as Warrington Square, was centered at Street Road and the Turnpike (611), but became known as Neshaminy because of its proximity to the Little Neshaminy Creek.

The Village of Tradesville was near Lower State Road and was originally known as Stuckert’s Corner because of a store operated by a man named Stuckert.

The Village of Pleasantville (or Eureka) was located near Lower State Road and County Line Road. It was the location of the first church in the township, The Reformed Church of Pleasantville, founded in 1840.

Source: “From Wilderness to Bustling Community, A History of Warrington Township” by Delores Deabler Capone, 1976.

Winding Brook Farm Winding Brook Farm celebrated it's 100th anniversary on Saturday, September 21, 2002.  The following information details some of the history of the property.  The Winding Brook Farm is located at 3014 Bristol Road, Warrington. The land which is now known as Winding Brook Farm was once part of the William Penn's Purchase in 1685. Records from the 1700's indicated that the parcel was considered part of New Britain Township. Warrington Township was the last part of Central Bucks County to be organized; in September of 1734 a court ordered that the lands above the adjoining to Warminster Township shall be a township and be called Warrington. The new township was named after a town in Lancashire, England. The area remained much of a "wilderness," ideal for hunting deer and rabbits. John Barclay, justice of the peace in 1782, delegate to the state's Constitutional Convention, Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1790, and associate judge of the Courts of Bucks County in 1791, sold the present Garges farm, consisting of 117 acres to George Walter, great-great grandfather of Bill Garges. The sale took place in 1805. The original deed is owned by the Garges family and is signed by Barclay himself. In 1903, Bill Garges's grandfather bought the farm from the Walter family for $7,500. At that time the tract consisted of 134 acres. The Garges family has been in Bucks County since the 1700's. The name Garges was originally known as Kirkes. John Wilhelm Kirkes emigrated from the "Palatinates" in Germany on the ship "Britanica" on September 21, 1731, coming into the Philadelphia harbor. The family grew and ventured out to the surrounding lands of the city. Farming was the primary occupation for his family. The Walter/Garges homestead has a long lane with a branch of the Neshaminy Creek running through it. There were always six or seven Sycamore trees in the front yard. The homestead has been a gathering place for family members for almost 200 years, hosting annual reunions and birthday parties with relatives staying from sun-up to sundown. In years past they arrived by horse and buggy and by mule and wagon. The pond, which still exists, was a favorite place to fish and swim in the summer. The home progressed from candlelight to gaslight to electricity. It was one of the first homes in the township to have indoor plumbing and a bathroom. In 1911 the barn burned down after being struck by lightning. Many animals and crops were lost. The original barn had been built by J.B. Walter. The farm has been an active one raising crops and animals such as dairy cows, geese, pigs, sheep and chickens. The family was always self-sufficient. "Store-bought" items were few; there was always plenty of fresh milk, eggs, meat and vegetables. The Garges family was always lucky to have good hired help because there was always something to do on the farm. The rough winters required keeping the lane open when it snowed. Summers were filled with endless days of harvesting and caring for animals. Winding Brook has remained in the Garges family for almost 200 years. This was a result of the marriage of Edward Garges and Maria F. Walter. It is still an integral part of the township with active farm functions including dairy cows, crops of corn and wheat as well as diversification to meet the needs of changing economy. In 1999, the farm proudly became part of the Bucks County Agricultural Preservation Program. The current Garges farm, Winding Brook Farm, is operated by Bill and Rosemary Garges. The extended Garges family members work alongside their parents to continue this long family tradition of framing. The farm is bordered by Folly and Bristol Roads and contains 136 acres. The Garges' have been participants in regional agricultural events and active in the community throughout the years. Today they celebrate their role in the community by opening their farm to Warrington residents. Prepared by Jayne Lester, Warrington Township Historic Commission Members of the Historic Commission: Mary Doyle Roth, Chairman Ken Samen, Vice-Chairman Doris Dillingham, Member Scott Yates, Member Jane Henderson, Member Stuart Cohen, Member Joseph Wright, Member Glenn P. McKay, Liaison Supervisor