Sellersville- Perkasie
by Jeffrey Marshall
Boroughs are like small cities or towns. In Pennsylvania, when an area become populated to a degree that its interests became distinct from the surrounding township, it could become incorporated as a self-governing municipal entity called a borough. In northwestern Bucks County, the main impetus for the growth that prompted the creation of Perkasie and Sellersville was the opening of the North Pennsylvania Railroad into rural Bucks County. One branch of the railroad connected Lansdale to Doylestown and during the 1860s another extension was built to Sellersville, running parallel to Bethlehem Pike and eventually completed to Bethlehem.
The adjoining boroughs of Perkasie and Sellersville share a common history and development pattern. Both were part of Rockhill Township (which originally included what is now East and West Rockhill in addition to the two boroughs).
At the time of the settlement of Pennsylvania, William Penn and his agents began to sell the vast amount of real estate to land companies, speculators and settlers. He reserved, within the present limits of Bucks County, several large tracts which were laid out as “Proprietary Manors” that were not for sale to the general public. Penn’s manors in what is today Bucks County were his own Manor of Pennsbury in Falls Township, the Manor of Highlands in Upper Makefield and Solebury, the Manor of Perkasie and the Manor of Richland. The Manor of Perkasie was originally designed to contain 10,000 acres. When surveyed, it was found to total 11,462 acres of land. The name is traditionally ascribed to a Lenni Lenape word meaning “where hickory nuts were cracked”.
The manor was set aside for the personal use of the Penn family. Initially conveyed in trust to William’s son John Penn, it was divided into four 2,500 sections between William Penn’s four children. Thomas Penn gave his land to the University of Pennsylvania in 1759 while the other lands were quickly sold out of the Penn family to settlers and land investors. The University of Pennsylvania’s tract initially had a number of restrictions, which were eventually lifted by Thomas Penn’s son John, and it too, was subdivided and sold to settlers.
In an early attempt of social conscience, it was recognized that not only the wealthy should own land. In the 18th century the number of indentured servants was so great that there was a township set aside for them. Early records note a “township allotted for servants” called “Freetown.” This township was eventually laid out as Rockhill (now including East and West Rockhill Townships, and the Boroughs of Perkasie, Sellersville and Telford).
Various sources indicate that the site of Perkasie was owned by Jacob Stout in the 1730s. J. H. Battle’s History of Bucks County written in 1887 states that “… in 1730, Jacob Stout, an immigrant from Switzerland, purchased two hundred acres from the Perkasie Manor tract, including the site of the village of that name. The two-story stone dwelling-house which he built prior to1750 is still occupied as such.” Sellersville is so named in honor of Samuel Sellers, who is credited with establishing a tavern in this location along the Bethlehem Road. The name was further institutionalized when Samuel’s grandson Thomas Sellers became postmaster in of what was then called Seller’s Tavern in 1820. The name was changed to Sellersville in 1866. The family, who originally emigrated from the Palatinate region of Switzerland, apparently originally spelled the name as “Soller.” Philips Henrich Soller purchased 150 acres on the Branch Creek in 1733 and resided there until his death in 1759. It was his grandson Samuel Sellers who purchased the tavern lot from Joshua Richards in 1790. He later purchased additional land until he was the owner of practically the entire town northwest of the creek. He was elected Sheriff of Bucks County in 1812 and as a member of the Pennsylvania legislature in 1816.
Sellersville’s location along the road to Bethlehem was critical to its development. A stage line was opened as early as 1742. In 1791 one could take the stage from Bethlehem at 5 a.m. and arrive in Philadelphia before noon the next day. George MacReynold’s Place Names in Bucks County contains an account of one traveler in 1802 who wrote “lodged at Sellers’ & had very comfortable accommodations, more so than of them near the city. Family very decent and industrious. All the linen of the house which was remarkably nice and white”.
The region remained farmland until the mid 19th century when the North Pennsylvania Railroad began constructing a line from Philadelphia to Bethlehem. The North Pennsylvania Railroad brought new prosperity to the area, and new towns were created and several small towns grew to large boroughs. Stations were opened along the line. The impact of the railroad in the decade following its opening is documented in an article from the Bucks County Intelligencer of March 16, 1862.
Sellersville, “situated on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, six miles below Quakertown, bears testimony to the great change usually produced by the opening of a great thoroughfare of this character through a new country. From a little hamlet of some four or five houses, it has grown to quite a town, and become a stirring place. The buildings that have been erected are nearly all of a large and substantial character -- mostly of brick. The coal, lumber, lime and feed business is carried on extensively. An immense number of cigars have been manufactured in the place during the winter. Joseph Cressman has had probably one hundred hands employed at the business. In addition to those sold in the regular way of trade, he has sent a large quantity to Port Royal. S. C. A considerable quantity of ship timber has been sent from this place, though much less than from some other points on the road. The hay business, which has been carried on during the winter, principally by S. Katz, is still actively going on —three presses being in operation during a great part of the time. As many as ten men are sometimes engaged at the business, pressing occasionally as much as twelve tons per day.”
Comlysville “is the name of a town which was founded last fall on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, just below the tunnel, in Rockhill, by Samuel M. Hager. In addition to three neat and substantial dwellings, a large storehouse has been erected, which surpasses in size anything in that section [of the county]. Mr. Hager is about filling it with goods purchased recently in New York, and he intends opening shortly on a grand scale. The coal, lime and feed business were started in the fall. The sale of the former article during the winter gives indication of a good business in that line. The building for coal, etc., is large, and affords complete shelter from rain, snow, etc.— an excellent feature. The place is situated on a little eminence commanding a fine view of the valley and country south of it, which is peopled by a prosperous and substantial farming community, and we can see nothing to prevent this becoming a thriving place. For a village that had its birth, amidst hard times and war, it is especially deserving of notice. We are informed that several other buildings will be erected next summer.”
According to tradition, after the North Pennsylvania Railroad was finished through the area in 1857, the place was first called Comlyville, after Frank C. Comly, then the railroad’s president. President Comly forbade the use of his name and the name of Perkasie was adopted for both station and village. After the construction of Samuel M. Hager’s store at 7th and Market Street and three dwellings, apparently nothing more was done until 1868, when James A. Hendricks built a dwelling and bought the store property. In the fall of 1870 he bought the Nace farm and divided it into building lots, from which time the town has grown and prospered.
Before the line could be opened, workers had to construct a tunnel through almost a half-mile of solid rock. In June of 1853 ground was broken for a tunnel through Landis Ridge. For three years hundreds of men worked with picks and shovels and gunpowder to cut through the ridge. The completion of this 2,150-foot tunnel was considered an engineering marvel—the biggest engineering construction feat on the Reading line. This tunnel became known as the Perkasie tunnel. During the building of the tunnel many workers were injured.
Cigar factories, textile mills and other light industry flourished in Quakertown, Perkasie, Sellersville. Intertwined with the importance of the railroad was the expansion of the region's cigar industry, which became the major economic force in the upper Bucks and Montgomery Counties by the end of the 19th century. Cigar factories served as a major employer of residents of the region for over five decades. Tobacco growing and cigar making were small-scale industries in Upper Bucks County throughout the first half of the 19th century. The opening of the North Pennsylvania Railroad in 1856 provided the initial impetus for the growth of the cigar making industry in the region. Railroad stop towns such as Sellersville, Perkasie, and Quakertown with their Pennsylvania German populations as a potential workforce attracted both local and Philadelphia cigar makers.
Sellersville became incorporated as a borough in 1874. By the census of 1880, the population had grown to 496 residents. When J. H. Battle wrote his History of Bucks County in 1907, he reported that the town boasted several large stores, two taverns, a bank, a fertilizer manufactory, a creamery, woolen mills, chair-works, a vest factory and a number of cigar stores. Perkasie grew at a slower pace. In 1870 there was only a railroad station, a store, a blacksmith shop and a few houses. By 1880 the population had grown to 300. In 1890 it had 455. Then there was a tremendous growth in the next decade, so that in 1900 it had 1803 inhabitants. The borough was incorporated in 1879.
The Fowler perspective map of Sellersville dated 1894 highlights the town’s key landmarks. They include the public school, the railroad station, the Lutheran and Reformed Church, the Catholic Church, the volunteer fire company house, a bank, two hotels—the Washington House (A. W. Reiff—proprietor) and the Sellersville House (W. S. Cressman—proprietor) and a number of businesses that provide a look back to the period; in addition to five cigar factories. Also there was a planing mill and gristmill, and a farming implements manufacturer. There was also a printing office and drug store, four general stores and a restaurant.
The Washington House and the Sellersville Theatre are two key elements of Sellersville. The Washington House is said to have been a smaller stone house that was converted into a hotel and then expanded dramatically after its purchase by the north Pennsylvania Railroad. The tall square Mansard tower with its cast iron cresting is one of the dominating architectural elements in Sellersville. Adjoining the hotel is the Sellersville Theatre, believed to be built on the foundation of an old livery stable that was associated with the hotel.
By 1876, cigar making was the principal industry of Perkasie, Sellersville and Quakertown and as well as smaller villages such as Trumbauersville and Spinnerstown. The industrialization of the cigar making process resulted in the growth of cigar factory buildings in the 1880s, and 1890s throughout upper Bucks County and the Upper Perkiomen Valley in Montgomery County. With the modernization of the cigar making process, the increased manufacturing capacity and the availability of a workforce, the industry became a major economic force in both areas. The increased demand for American-grown tobacco and tobacco products from Lancaster County that resulted from the devastation of the Cuban tobacco plantations during the Spanish American War also fostered the growth of the industry during the late 1890s.
In the late 1880s and throughout the 1890s, the prosperity of the cigar making industry in the area led to the formation of building associations and the erection of new cigar manufacturing facilities by local investors. Capitalists purchased real estate and provided capital for cigar factories. Competition and the mechanization of the cigar manufacturing process contributed to the demise of the industry in Bucks and Montgomery Counties in the 1920s.
One of the advantages created by the expanded railroad network in the late 19th century was the ability of Philadelphia residents to escape the summer heat of the city. Excursions ran out from the city in every direction. Many parks were established near railroad towns for picnics, meeting places and later amusement rides. Perkasie had two parks accessible by both trolley and railroad. Menlo Park encompassed 100 acres with carousels and other rides, picnic grounds, and a lake; it was a very popular day trip for Philadelphians. Perkasie Park was church-owned and used for camp meetings and church oriented social functions. The park had over a dozen small cabins to house families for several weeks. The carousel in Menlo Park, at West Park Avenue and South 3rd Street is open to the public several times throughout the year, primarily in the warm weather months.
Another historic structure in Perkasie is the 1832 South Perkasie Covered Bridge that is located in Lenape Park near the intersection of Walnut Street and Constitution Avenues. The bridge was originally located on Main Street and spanned the Pleasant Spring Creek. The bridge was moved from its original location to the park in 1958. It took eight days to move the bridge a distance of one mile. Like most Bucks County covered bridges, this 93-foot long structure, was built using the Town Lattice Truss system. Unlike most covered bridges that still span creeks and are used by vehicular traffic, this bridge can be enjoyed by visiting the park.
We can get a picture of Perkasie at the turn of the twentieth century from a description written by local historian Edward Mathews who wrote: “The town of Perkasie is so near Menlo Park that a few lines descriptive may not be amiss. It is mostly built on the lower slope of Rock Hill ridge, through which the North Pennsylvania Railroad Company drilled a tunnel and has a station here. The trolley line also passes through the town by a circuitous way and affording all the more accommodations by reason of its circuitous route. Perkasie Park is on the wooded slope to the westward. For years it has been the scene of the summer camp meetings of the Evangelical denominationalists and where many have their summer homes.
“A few years ago it was described as a place of fifty business shops, several hotels, an opera house, four churches, a fire company, a creamery and a bank. Such a town must have a weekly newspaper. This is the Central News, conducted for many years by Charles M. Meredith, a graduate of the North Wales Record office, the son of Charles H. Meredith, of the latter place, and a grandson of John Meredith, a farmer of Buckingham, who died in Doylestown in 1859.”
In addition to the railroad, Upper Bucks County had its own trolley service as part of the Lehigh Valley Transit Company, which ran a line from the 69th Street Terminal in Philadelphia to Allentown. The company began construction in May 1899 near Perkasie and by December of that year reached Telford on the Bucks/Montgomery County Line. The entire line opened on May 21, 1903 and lasted until 1925. Today the former Lehigh Valley Transit Trolley Station located at 513 W. Walnut Street in Perkasie is the home of the Perkasie Historical Society Museum. According to the historical society’s Website, in September of 1951, the trolley operation ceased and the station closed. During the next ten years the building was used by various local businesses. The American Legion purchased the building in 1962, to replace their meeting hall, which was located in the Fraternity Building on South 6th Street. The American Legion used the building until 1990 when the Perkasie Historical Society bought the former station for one dollar. Sellersville has its own museum dedicated to local history. Located in an old schoolhouse the Sellersville Museum can be found at 120 E. Church Street.
The decline of the cigar making industry had an effect on Upper Bucks County. The availability of buildings, transportation facilities, and a skilled labor force attracted textile and apparel firms to the region.
Schulmerich Carillons, the world's largest producer of carillons and handbells, and is one of only a handful of handbell manufacturers in the world, is a Sellersville tradition. Founded in 1935 by George Schulmerich, the company managed to weather the depression when luxury items such as bells were not considered essential even for a church. The purchase of electronic carillons by the College Avenue Methodist Church in West Somerville, MA, and Father Flanagan's Boys Town in Nebraska helped the company establish a national reputation. As the installation of carillons spread throughout most of the United States, Schulmerich expanded into a former shirt manufacturing plant in Sellersville, PA in 1943. During this time, the installation of the company's first 61-note instrument was completed in the prestigious Grand Court of John Wanamaker in Philadelphia. The company moved to its current Sellersville location in 1950.
Perhaps one of the most significant events impacted the architecture of Perkasie was “The Great Perkasie Fire” of June 26, 1988 which consumed about 15 percent of the town, including many historic buildings. Two 12-year-old boys who were playing with a lighter near the coal bins behind the Shelley & Sons lumberyard at Seventh and Market Streets started the fire. The fire was fought by about 300 firefighters who came from over 50 fire companies in three counties.
Today both towns still have the feel of Victorian era railroad towns. The architecture of both Perkasie and Sellersville is dominated by its brick buildings. The fact that the building boom in both towns occurred after the opening of the railroad made this building material available by rail. Brick structures range from ornate Queen Anne style structures with whimsical turrets, towers and unique windows to rows of solid vernacular homes. This architecture and the rural surroundings of Perkasie and Sellersville combine in a special way that makes Upper Bucks County a very special place.
Jeffrey L. Marshall is a Bucks county historian and the president of the Heritage Conservancy.