Langhorne
By Jeffrey Marshall
Langhorne was originally Four Lanes End—a name that derives from the fact that the site was at the crossroads for travelers from Philadelphia to the Delaware River and Trenton, New Jersey with the road from Bristol north to upper Bucks County and the Durham Furnace. In the mid twentieth century, the “crossroads” was shifted a block to the east. Route 413, the major road from Bristol to Newtown, Doylestown and beyond, was altered to use Pine Street, a block to the east, of Bellevue Avenue. This move undoubtedly saved the core of the village, but deprives most travelers the opportunity to see the real historic core of Langhorne.
In the early eighteenth century the crossroads boasted a store, a tavern, and s few small houses. According to tradition, a man named Attlee kept the store and people talked of 'going to Attlee's' which became Attleebury or Attleborough. The establishment of the first post office in 1805 officially confirmed the name of Attleborough although it is often noted as Attleboro. The names Attleboro and Langhorne were used for Langhorne Borough, Langhorne Manor Borough and Penndel, causing a lot of confusion. The name Langhorne was chosen in honor of the Langhorne family who owned most of the land in and around the town.
When the current Langhorne's name was changed in 1876 from Attleboro to Langhorne, what is now Penndel retained the name Attleboro. A post office at Penndel was established in 1882, under the name of Eden. The residents never adopted the name Eden as a town name. Penndel Borough was incorporated in 1889 with the name of Attleboro. Citizens petitioned the Court to have the name of the town changed to South Langhorne, the postal authorities having agreed to also change the post office name in 1910. The name Penndel was adopted in 1948.
During the eighteenth century, the Richardson family became one of the town’s leading families. Joseph Richardson bought an acre at the crossroads, where in 1737-38, he built a fine stone house and store. Local lore has it that while it was under construction Joseph was warned by a visiting friend that he be careful to reach the top of his house before he reached the bottom of his pocket. The house still stands at the southwest corner of the intersection and is one of the oldest dated houses in the county. Mr. Attlee operated the store for the Richardson family
Joseph Richardson invested his profits and invested in land. In time he had acquired over 1000 acres with about forty slaves to work it. Joseph died in 1772. He bequeathed 319 acres in Middletown to Joshua, 150 acres to Mary, 112 acres to Rebecca, land in Northampton to William, and another farm in Southampton to Ruth.
The quiet town of Langhorne played a small part in the history of the Revolutionary War. Beleaguered patriots fled across New Jersey in the winter of 1776. The New Jersey Legislature met in Langhorne after fleeing that state in 1776. According to Langhorne and Vicinity in Olden Times by Samuel Eastburn “… they met in the house of Gilbert Hicks at Four Lanes End to consider the state of the country.” George Washington’s army abandoned Trenton in December 1776, making his famous re-crossing of the Delaware on Christmas of that year.
Earlier that year Magistrate Gilbert Hicks of Langhorne had to flee after as High Sheriff of the county he proclaimed the opening of court in the name of the king. Wisely staying at home on the first day of the session, he was warned by other loyalist sympathizers. He was reportedly hidden in a neighbor’s attic until he could be spirited away. He escaped to Nova Scotia where he was given a gift of land and annual pension. Gilbert Hicks’ brick house still stands at the southeast corner of Maple and Bellevue Avenues. In 1912 the building was greatly expanded. According to an article in the June 22, 1912 Newtown Enterprise, the building was described as an old brick Colonial structure, and was built in 1753, by the celebrated Gilbert Hicks, a prominent builder of those days. It was designed for a dwelling and used as such up until about 10 years ago when the present owner, William B. Parry, purchased it and converted it into a store and office building, except for a period during the Revolution when it was used as a hospital. “When finished the building will be an unusually commodious store and office structure for a town the size of Langhorne, having in all eight stores and 21 offices, besides two dwellings.” The building had a restaurant and would be “adequately provided with toilet rooms.”
A personal recollection of events has been preserved in the diary of James McMichael of the 13th Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment. He notes that the American Army passed through Four Lanes End in November of 1777 between the Battle of Germantown and the Valley Forge encampment during what is now known as the Philadelphia Campaign. McMichael wrote that on November 20th, “… at 8 o’clock a.m. we marched from White marsh and proceeding past Abington we Crossed Shammeny [Neshaminy] at Cuckles Town [now Bridgetown] on the heights of which we Encamped.” The next morning “At 8 o’clock a.m. we marched from Cuckles Town, and proceeded past a small town called 4 lane's End, thence to Bristol, where we Cross'd the Delaware to Burlington where we arrived at 2 o’clock p.m.” The following week, on the 28th, he noted that he “marched from near Bristol and proceeding thro four lanes End over Shamminy Bridge, past South Ampton Meeting house and Abington, we arrived at White marsh at 8 o’clock p.m.”
We are lucky to have an even more personal account of this critical time in our history. Imagine what would it be like to be sitting home with your family on a cold winter day in the sleepy town of Four Lane’s End only to have your world turned upside down as your house is commandeered by a Revolutionary Army? Well that’s exactly what happened to the Richardson family after Washington’s crossing of the Delaware. This event has been preserved through the diary of Joshua Richardson Written in 1869, the diary retells his family’s experience as they unexpectedly became hosts of a portion of the American Army after the Battle of Trenton.
The diary is not clear as to how long the troops stayed by suggests that at least some troops apparently wintered in the house. The diary brings home the reality of the war; its effect on the participants who fought and died, as well as those innocent non-combatants.
Joshua Richardson’s grandfather’s house was on the southwest corner of Maple and Bellevue Avenues in Langhorne. At the time of the crossing, it was one of the largest houses in the village. The diary states “... a man riding ahead of the army came into my Grandfather’s house and requested that they clear as much of the house as they could for the soldiers. The family cleared the kitchen and south room, the soldiers rushing in the door before they were ready for them, soon filled the kitchen; the officers took possession of the south room … My Aunt Jane Richardson told me they brought in their guns and stacked them around the clock in the officers room, then they placed their trunks and camp chests in front of the guns, went to the barn and brought hay and placed it on the floor to sleep upon. She was afraid they would burn the house down.
“The soldiers got the camp fever among them that winter; one-hundred and sixty of them died and were buried in the corner lot opposite where Mercy Stackhouse now lives [at the corner of Flowers Avenue and South Bellevue Avenue], in the southern part of the village. They were buried three or four in a grave. I heard my father say that his father was sitting in our east porch when an old man came out of the hospital opposite (the present Parry Building on the southeast corner of the intersection and the one-time home of Loyalist Gilbert Hicks), sat down beside him with tears running down his cheeks. He had been sent for from Boston to see his son who then lay very ill with the fever, so near his end he was not able to speak but appeared to know his father. He said this was the ninth son he had lost since the commencement of the war and the one son at home would go as soon as old enough.” The story had been passed down for centuries without any verification until the 1990s when a developer wanted to build on a vacant lot in town. Archaeologists began to try to verify the local tradition. Through testing, old nails were discovered lined up in the shape of a coffin. Eventually, features of 29 graves with evidence suggesting that the remains were of American soldiers were discovered and the site was preserved in honor of those who gave their lives to create our nation.
One of the cornerstones of the community from the eighteenth century to the present day, is the Middletown Monthly Meeting of Friends. Originally established as the Neshamina Monthly Meeting in 1683, it claims to be the second monthly meeting in the county. The present Meeting House was erected in 1793 and is the second on this site.
Dating to almost a century later is another town cornerstone. The building that now is the headquarters of Historic Langhorne Association at 160 West Maple Avenue was built in 1888 as the Langhorne Library. The library was initially chartered in 1803, and for years the Attleborough Library Company kept its books in private citizen's homes, on shelves of the general store and finally through the generosity of Anna Mary Williamson, a handsome brick, Gothic-style building was constructed. The building is open to the public as a museum and research library.
The house at 109 West Maple Avenue was built by Richard Tomlinson in 1783 is one of the most unique structures in town. The Tomlinson-Huddleston House, as it is known is noted for the fact that the house has a half dozen names or initials carved in them commemorating its owner and the craftsmen who constructed it. There are six names or sets of initials and four date stones carved into the exterior walls of the house. ) Isaac Watson carved “I. Watson” and a hatchet as the symbol of the master builder, which can be seen to the left of the front door. Initials of the first owners, Richard and Hannah Tomlinson and the date 1783, can be seen between two of the second story windows. Isaac Hicks’ full name is on the east side of the house. Joshua Richardson carved his initials and date on the north side of the house. William Paxson signed “W. Paxson” and the date. The last set of initials are “I.T.” for Isaac Thackeray.
Much of the land that eventually became Langhorne and Langhorne Manor were part of Jeremiah Langhorne’s large estate known as Langhorne Park. Langhorne Park was ostensibly an 800-acre tract, which when subsequently surveyed was found to contain 927 acres. After Jeremiah Langhorne's death, the property descended through the Growden family. When Lawrence Growden died, Langhorne Park was devised to his daughters Elizabeth Nickleson and Grace Galloway. After Grace Galloway's death, her daughter Elizabeth, then living in England, empowered attorneys to sell their property. The vast estate was advertised for sale in the February 27, 1788 edition of the Pennsylvania Gazette. The original Langhorne house was torn down in the mid nineteenth century. A lithograph of the ancient house is in the History of Bucks County by W. W. H. Davis. The property continued to be subdivided during the nineteenth century.
The town had a building boom when, in the latter part of the nineteenth century, railway lines provided access to and from Philadelphia. Like the more well known Main Line running west from the city, the line through Bucks County provided a means for people anxious to leave the crowded city. The site became a summer resort with a large hotel as well as an upper class suburban center. The area became popular with Philadelphians who rode the Reading Railroad to the Langhorne station after the line was completed in 1876. This portion of Bucks County became a convenient place to escape the summer heat of the city. Langhorne, and much of Middletown including Hulmeville and Parkland became resort spots. To further attract summer guests to the area, an entrepreneur built an amusement park with a lake. An article in the March 1881 issue of the Langhorne Register touted Langhorne Park as the “largest, finest, and safest grove for Sunday School, Church and Society excursions.” It was also described as having excellent boating, bathing, and fishing, and “self-action swings, flying horses, croquet, baseball, archery and other amusements.”
The Langhorne vicinity with its large open park, man made lake, and easy access to the railroad became extremely popular. Hundreds of summer arrivals visited the area. At first, these guests were put up in private homes and hotels. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century affluent Philadelphians began to erect large, high style homes, along streets that the company laid out. The avenues were designed to be sixty feet wide and the building line thirty feet from the front, thus assuring 120 feet between houses on opposite sides of street.
The key to the development of Langhorne and Langhorne Manor occurred after the purchase of several large tracts of land by the Langhorne Improvement Company. The Langhorne Improvement Association bought the park in 1886 and erected the Langhorne Manor Hotel. The original hotel building is no longer standing.
A local businessman, Samuel Eastburn, was a key figure in the growth of the town. He is credited with organizing and developing the Langhorne Improvement Company, comprised of 31 businessmen from the Philadelphia area. Eastburn acted as the agent for the company in purchasing for it the 620 acres of land upon which the present borough of Langhorne Manor is built. In 1887 he built the Langhorne water works, which supplied water to the three boroughs of Langhorne, Langhorne Manor and Penndel, and in the same year he built the Langhorne brick works. In 1888 he organized the Langhorne Electric Light Company.
In addition to the hotel, the Langhorne Improvement Company created a plan to develop their property. In preparation of an auction of building lots adjoining the incorporated borough of Langhorne, the company printed flyers of the area. In 1887, 75 lots were offered for sale with another 77 lots in 1888. The company drew up a standard deed for all of the lots to guard purchasers from unpleasant surroundings for all time. The quality of houses to be built was encouraged by ordering that the cost of construction had to kept above $3,000. Among the other deed restrictions was the clause that stated that no “liquor saloons” on the premises. These and other requirements were to be put in the deeds "forever," to prevent the surroundings from becoming unattractive or depleting the future value of the home. According to an article in the 1888 Newtown Enterprise, It is not the intention of the Company to build a town, but to sell it in tracts of an acre or more, that it may be a collection of country villas with all the city accommodations as to water and light.
The company recognized the importance of an abundant supply of pure water. Since the property included never-failing springs of soft water, a number of company stockholders formed the Langhorne Spring Water Company and erected a waterworks and laid water lines through the avenues of the Improvement Company and also through the old town of Langhorne. By 1890 the area became so populous that the Borough of Langhorne Manor was incorporated.
Many of the houses built in Langhorne and Langhorne Manor were country estates. The trolley system in Bucks County began in the middle of the last decade of the nineteenth century in Langhorne. The first Bucks County trolley began service in April 1896 with the 1.75 mile, single car line, which ran from Langhorne Station to the center of Langhorne village. By July of that year the car carried 300 to 400 passengers daily. This car was the first step in the Newtown, Langhorne, and Bristol Street Railway Company.
Langhorne contains examples of many styles and periods of architecture. In addition to the eighteenth century Richardson and Hicks houses, there are a number of early nineteenth century Federal houses such as the 1830 Jonathan Stackhouse Home at 139 West Maple Avenue which is a fine brick example of the Federal style. The Allen Mitchell Residence, constructed in 1868 at 144 West Maple Avenue, is a massive brownstone example of the Italianate style with Second Empire elements. This three-story mansion highlights the street with its ornate rooftop belvedere. Another example of the Second Empire style is the 1870 Rachel Shaw residence at 243 West Maple Avenue.
Langhorne and Langhorne Manor have some of the county’s best examples of Queen Anne architecture. One of Langhorne Borough’s finest Queen Anne houses is the 1891 Henry Lovett house located at 360 South Bellevue Avenue. It boasts a steep pyramidal roof, a circular turret, a second floor porch, a wide dramatic front porch and a semi-detached octagonal bay. Another dramatic Queen Anne house is located in Langhorne Manor at the corner of Fairview and Hill Avenues.
On Prospect Avenue in Langhorne Manor is the home of a wonderful Colonial Revival home Horace Trumbauer designed and numerous other houses in the region. Businessman Charles Mathews commissioned a house that evokes the White House in Washington DC. When he moved into the house in 1911, the Bristol Daily Courier proclaimed that the house cost an astonishing $25,000.Today, the area continues to grow, boosted by the same advantages of road and rail transit facilities to Philadelphia as spurred growth a century ago. With its historic district in place, the town is protecting its past as it charts its future. The 19th century architecture and small town feel still bring people to Langhorne today.
Jeffrey L. Marshall is a Bucks County historian and the president of the Heritage Conservancy.