Places that no longer exist

The following list is included simply to demonstrate what we have lost over the past 30 years. It must be realized that demolition is unavoidable in some cases, such as the widening of the Township's two main traffic arteries, York Road and Street Road. Such is the price of progress. illustrations of some of these places listed here appear in other sections of this book. Numbers at left refer to map location numbers. 

30) VALLEY ROAD BRIDGE - Demolished in the widening of Valley Road. Located on Valley Road where it crosses the Little Neshaminy Creek.

31) JOHN DARRAH FARM - Demolished to make way for the Hartsville Park development. Approximate location was on Gorson Drive, between Little Lane and Cathe Lane.

32) HARTSVILLE HOTEL - Demolished and replaced by a gasoline station in about 1960. A famous stage stop in the old days. The original proprietor, in 1744, was John Baldwin. It was kept by Col. William Hart from 1780 to 1817. The stage coaches from New York to Philadelphia always stopped at the Hotel for a fresh team of horses and tradition has it that, on their way south, when the driver reached the top of Carr's Hill - sometimes referred to as Kerr's Hill - about a mile distant, be gave a long blast of his horn as a signal that a fresh team be made ready. Benjamin Franklin often rode the stage and stopped at the Hotel when he was Postmaster General, since the coach was the main mail delivery between New York and Philadelphia.

33) HARTSVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - Demolished in 1939 by order of the Presbytery. Was situated on the west side of the old York Road next to the property of the Hartsville Inn. This church was built in 1842 as a result of a withdrawal, by a part of the congregation, from the Neshaminy Warwick Church due to differences in the selection of a pastor. A beautiful old building, it might have been used as a library, or put to some other such public use.

34) JOB NOBLE HOME - Burned to the ground a few years ago. Was located on the northeast corner of York Road and Beech Street and was more recently known as the Fireside Inn. It was the home of Job Noble, son of Abel Noble, one of the earliest settlers in Warminster. More of the Noble family in the chapter on "Warminster Pioneers." The corner is now a small shopping center.

35) YERKES FAMILY HOME - Demolished for industry. Was located on Street Road across from the NAVAL AIR DEVELOPMENT CENTER on the site now occupied by the Hurst Corp. The west end of the house was built in 1762 by Harman Yerkes, the first of his family in Warminster. The eastern section was added in 1810. The house was the home of generations of the Yerkes family until the death of Elizabeth and Louise Yerkes in 1951. Tradition has it that a soldier from the Battle of the Billet was given refuge in the house after the fight, then Mrs. Yerkes took him out and found a hiding place in a pile of straw in a nearby field. The pursuing British invaded the house, thrust their bayonets into the mattresses and up the chimneys. It is said that they actually stabbed at the haystack, but fortunately missed him. A Revolutionary bayonet was found on the property when one of the succeeding Yerkes was digging a post hole.

36) YERKES FAMILY HOME - Jacksonville Road. Demolished for industry. Was located on the west side of Jacksonville Road, about a quarter mile south of Street Road. This was built in 1859 by Alfred Yerkes.

37) HOME OF MRS. MARY DOYLE - Demolished. This fine old Victorian mansion stood on the north side of Street Road, between the N.A.D.C. parking lot and the railroad tracks. Replaced by bank and office buildings.

38) ISAAC BEANS FARM - Demolished when the Brewster plant - now N.A.D.C. - was built. Located on what is now the Street Road side of the Navy parking lot.

39) SOBELMAN FARM - Demolished for industry. Formerly Joseph Carrel Farm. Located far back on the east side of Mearns Road, between Ivyland Road and Street Road. Lately owned by a Mr. Sobelman, of a New York shipping business.

40) WALTON FARM - Demolished for development of Glenview Park section. Located on the west side of Mearns Road, north of Penrose Lane.

41) WILLOW DALE SCHOOL - Demolished in the widening of Street Road. Stood at the southeast corner of Street Road and Norristown Road. Built in 1840.

42) OAK GROVE SCHOOL - Demolished in the widening of Street Road. Situated on the south side of Street Road, opposite Catherine Street. Built in 1840.

43) JOHNSVILLE SCHOOL - (also known as Prospect Hill School) - Demolished. Located on the south side of Street Road, just east of Centennial Road. Built in 1840.

44) JOHNSVILLE STORE AND POST OFFICE - Demolished to make way for an automobile lot. Located on the southwest corner of Street Road and Newtown Road.

45) NOBLE FAMILY CEMETERY - Fallen into ruin because of lack of maintenance. Located on the hill back of Wolverton's welding shop, on the north side of County Line, between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue. Revolutionary soldiers were buried there.

46) BEANS AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT FACTORY -  Burned many years ago. Situated on the north side of Street Road, at Newtown Road, opposite Craven Hall.

47) MONTANYE HOME - Demolished in the widening of Street Road in 1960. Was the home of Samuel Montanye, who married Clarissa Yerkes. The house was about 200 years old when it was torn down. According to Miss Amy Yerkes, this home was contemporary with the Noble place on York Road and 5th Avenue.

48) FINNEY FARM - Burned in 1983. Located at the east end of Warminster Heights, a few hundred yards north of County Line. Home of Thomas Craven during the Revolution.

Many more of these old structures have been lost over the years, some of them being swallowed in real estate developments, some being unavoidably destroyed. If we are to retain even a little of what is left of our heritage, it would be to our advantage to enact some type of legislation to control the demolition of our old buildings. Building lots in Warminster are costly these days, but, surely, in a large development, a small plot of ground could be put aside for the protection of an old relic of our past. Heritage is something that is passed on down to us. It seems almost sacrilegious to throw it away. The people of Warminster can be proud of the fact that they live in a Township having so much of the kind of background that has made a world power from a wilderness in the space of less than three centuries.

Today, we take for granted the power, freedom, and good living that are ours, forgetting that these gifts were bestowed upon us by those early pioneers, who fought the wilderness, the Indians, the English and the French for the right to survive as a nation. We are wont to proclaim that "we" surmounted and overcame those early tests of national ''guts.'' Let's just keep in mind that it was our forebears who did the surmounting and hope that we can somewhat approach being their equals as men.

Paul C. Bailey