Roads | Horsham Preservation and Historical Association

Horsham Road

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Horsham Road was laid out in 1735, from Montgomeryville to Norristown Road, along one of the parallels of Thomas Holme’s map. Holmes ran parallel lines northwestward from the Delaware River at intervals of one and one-half miles; each alternate line established a division line between townships. The intervening lines formed median or base lines within the townships, from which individual grants of land were measured. County Line forms the township border on the north and Welsh Road on the south. Horsham Road runs through the middle. Horsham Road was originally known as the Montgomery Road,...

Welsh Road

Posted in Roads.

Welsh Road forms the southern border of Horsham Township and follows one of the parallels first laid out by Thomas Holme in his 1687 map of Pennsylvania. It is one of the earliest roads in the township. Many of the area’s earliest settlers were Welsh Quakers. A first wave arrived in 1683 and settled in Lower Merion, Radnor and Haverford Townships, followed a few years later by settlement of a second “Welsh Tract” in an area they called Gwynedd (Welsh for “white” or “fair land”), which today encompasses both Upper and Lower Gwynedd. Some Welsh property owners held parcels that overlapped...

Davis Grove Road

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Davis Grove Road today is a short road of 1.2 miles from Horsham Road on the western end to Babylon Road on its eastern end. It parallels Horsham Road for about three-quarters of its length. Davis Grove Road was originally built in 1735 as a private road by the Kenderdines known as “Kenderdine’s Lane” to offer access to their mill from Babylon Road. Babylon Road existed at that time but was not dedicated until much later. “The Davis Grove Road from Davis Grove to the intersection of Horsham Road, was laid out in 1745. The original petition and draught were presented to the December 1744...

Keith Valley Road

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Keith Valley Road, which currently extends north from Horsham Road to County Line Road, is a central artery in Horsham. It was originally a path connecting Sir William Keith’s Fountain Low (Graeme Park) to the Kenderdine Mill.48 An 1893 map of Horsham shows Keith Valley Road either as a road or a path going from Davis Grove Road across the Kenderdine Mill Stream and across Park Creek near Governor Road and extending to County Line Road. It was extended from Davis Grove Road to Horsham Road sometime in the 1990s. The Kenderdine Mill at what is now Keith Valley Rd and Davis Grove Road was opened...

Governor Road

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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

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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”...