Places | Horsham Preservation and Historical Association

Prospectville Needlework Guild

Posted in Places.

According to the National Giving Alliance, The Needlework Guild began in England in 1882 following a mining disaster in nearby Wales. Lady Diana Wolverton gathered a group of people together to make clothing (one to wear, one to wash) for children whose parents had died in the disaster. She “glimpsed the fact that old garments might pauperize, but new garments equalize.” In 1885, Mrs. Harpence of Philadelphia was impressed with the work that was being done and shared the concept with her niece, Laura Safford, who in turn told six of her friends. They agreed to help her sew for the needy....

Penblair School

Posted in Places.

The Penblair Elementary School was built in 1909 on Schoolhouse and Cedar Hill Roads in an area known as Scrapple Hill. Wesley Mullin was the architect, George Zeitler the builder, and Cy Hoffman the mason. Charles S Mann named the school combining two Celtic words meaning “upland plain.” The school was closed in April 1932 and was soon auctioned off. Dr Walter and Mary Webb bought the school and converted it into a home. It has been a private home since 2018. — From Images of America: Horsham Township118 by Leon Clemmer and HPHA, Arcadia Publishing, 2004. The girls’ and boys’...

Abel and Sarah Penrose

Posted in Places.

Abel Penrose married Sarah L. Beisel of Allentown on Christmas Day, 1856. He was 39 and she was 20. Sarah’s father, Daniel Beisel, was a prominent farmer in the Lehigh Valley and a member of the Reformed Church. Sarah probably became a member of the Society of Friends since she is buried at the Horsham Friends Cemetery. 2 We believe this photo shows Abel and Sarah on the front porch of the Penrose-Strawbridge House sometime in the 1870s. The second half of the 19th century was a turbulent time in the U.S. Although the civil war was over, the Indian wars continued in the west...

Governor Road

Posted in Roads.

Governor Road Governor Road is the original entrance to Graeme Park and the Penrose-Strawbridge House. It currently exists as a gravel road extending only a short distance from Keith Valley Road southeast to Gate 9 of the former Willow Grove Naval Air Station, but its history dates back almost 300 years. Governor Sir William Keith authorized a road to be built from Philadelphia to his “new building” (Graeme Park) in Horsham from Round Meadow (now Willow Grove) in 1722. The road became known as The Governor’s Road Governor Road ran north from the Horsham Meeting...

A painting of the Limekiln toll house painted by Leon Clemmer

Limekiln Pike

Posted in Roads.

Limekiln Pike was dedicated in 1737. Its present course was laid out in 1855, when the road was moved about one-fourth mile to the west at the upper end of the township. It was also known for a time as Whitehall Turnpike. Thomas Fitzwater sailed from England with William Penn on the Welcome. He was granted 1,000 acres in what is now Upper Dublin. Fitzwater later added to these holdings. Fitzwater’s rich limestone deposits became one of the most important area sources for limestone (the others located in Lower Merion) and led to construction of the first road “into the wilderness”...

Hallowell Hotel

Posted in Points of Interest.

When the Doylestown-Willow Grove Turnpike was made a public highway north of Private Road in 1839, the village of Davis Grove lost its position as a strategic crossroads. At the same time, the settlement along the turnpike near Justinian K. Hallowell’s hotel became important. This area became known as the village of Hallowell. Justinian Hallowell112 and his brother George bought a farm on March 15, 1880 that would become the Hallowell Hotel. They ran both until George’s death in 1897, when his sister Lydia became a partner. At some point they added a store and a post office name Hallowell. Hallowell...