Places of Interest in Warminster,
Past & Present
The map of Warminster included in this book contain: numbered circles representing locations of the many places of interest in Warminster Township. It is obvious that not every old house can be listed but we have attempted to show most of the places on which information is readily available and the sites of some which are no longer extant. These last are listed separately.
As far as possible, the existing points of interest follow a pattern on the map so that the map may be used as a guide for personal tours of Warminster. The numbers at the left refer to locations on the map.
| 1) BABYTOWN - A tiny cluster of six old houses on Bristol Road, a quarter of a mile east of Hartsville. | |
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2) DARE HOME - On the southeast corner of Bristol Road and the Old York Road. Said to have been built by Rev. Charles Beatty. Now owned by the Dare family |
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3) NESHAMINY WARWICK CHURCH - The first church in the Warminster area. The original building, where William |
Tennent preached, was located in what is now the cemetery. The present building was built in 1745 and has been extensively remodeled since that time. This congregation was of great importance to Warminster in that many of its members were - and are - residents of Warminster and a number of its pastors started schools in Warminster. The first of these was William Tennent and his Log College.
| 4) WILLIAM TENNENT'S GRAVE - Located in the cemetery of the Neshaminy Warwick Church. | |
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5) ROBERT DARRAH FARM - Situated at the south side of Bristol Road, not far from where the road makes an abrupt right turn across the old concrete bridge over the Little Neshaminy Creek. This was the home of one of Hartsville's oldest families. |
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6) LECTURE HALL - On the east side of the Old York Road. Originally built in 1849 as a public building, by the Ladies Society of the Neshaminy Warwick Church, it was used until recently to house the Hartsville Fire Co. #1. |
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7) POLLYHART - On the west side of York Road, diagonally across from the Lecture Hall. Built sometime before 1835 by a carpenter named Benjamin Wright. Originally the home of Jane Craven, it later belonged to Rev. D. K. Turner, a pastor of the Nashaminy Warwick Church. Rev. Turner wrote several books on area history in this house. Presently the home of Pauline Bush. |
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8) HARTSVILLE INN - Located on the west side of the intersection of the old and new York Roads. Built by Rev. James P. Wilson in 1832 as a classical school for boys. Later, in 1850, it became a school for girls under Rev. Jacob Belville. |
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9) KLINE HOME - West side of the intersection of York Road and Norristown Road. Property once belonged to Rev. Matthew Wilson, who married a young lady from Georgia and, in deference to her southern tastes, erected the pillared facade on the front of the building. Was once the home of Dr. John Beans Carrell, a well known area historian. This beautiful showplace is now the property of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Kline. |
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10) TENNENT HOUSE - Located on the west side of York Road just north of Christ's Home. Said to have been the residence of Rev. William Tennent while he was pastor of the Neshaminy Warwick Church and while he taught at Log College. |
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11) LOG COLLEGE MONUMENT -
On the west side of York Road at the Tennent House. It was erected in 1927
by area Presbyteries to commemorate the site of the Log College building.
Its bronze tablets enumerate the 64 colleges and universities that trace
their roots to Log College. When the new York Road was put through, it ran
to the back of the monument so that the back faces the road. It is hoped
that it can be turned to face the road, during this 275th Anniversary celebration. |
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12) MAGOFFIN MANSION - Located far back from York Road and north of Street Road. Originally part of the Todd tract, the present building was built by Rev. John Magoffin. According to Mr. Robert Ramsey of Hartsville, during World War I, detachments of local recruits were trained by an Army officer named George Ross in the fields of this property which, at that time, extended to the corner of York Road and Street Road. Now the property of the Catholic church. |
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13) CHRIST'S HOME - The entrance to Christ's Home is on the west side of York Road, about a quarter mile north of Street Road. A home for neglected and homeless children, it was started in Philadelphia by Dr. and Mrs. Albert Oetinger and Miss Katherina Krausbach on October 1, 1903. It was moved to Warminster in 1907 on ground purchased from the Ezra Carrell estate. The aged building at the entrance lane is known as the Todd House and could be one of the oldest houses in Warminster. |
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14) FITCH MONUMENT - Located on the northeast corner of Street Road and York Road on a small plot of ground donated for the purpose by the Habtoro Federal Savings and Loan Association. It marks the corner where John Fitch first conceived the idea for a steam driven vehicle. |
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15) WARMINSTER HOTEL - Located on the west side of York Road, a couple of hundred yards south of Street Road. Until recent times, it was the only public house in Warminster. According to Gen. Davis' "History of Bucks County", one Thomas Lintner petitioned the court in 1730 for a license ". . .to keep a house of entertainment for man and horse." The property of 154 acres passed through a succession of owners until 1791, when Isaac Beans bought it and installed his son, Thomas, as proprietor. Thomas was a noted sports enthusiast and constructed a race track at the rear of the Hotel. Picture was made in 1940's. The drafted men in the area, during the War of 1812, assembled at Beans Tavern on Sunday, September 18, 1814 and marched, en masse, to Philadelphia. |
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16) JOHN BEANS HOUSE - Situated between Brown and Bloomfield Avenues, near 10th Avenue. The older part of the house was built in the late 1700's. The added section - probably added by John Beans - has a date stone bearing the date 1847 and initials "J.C. and E.Y. Beans" - John C. Beans and Elizabeth Yerkes Beans, his wife. Mr. Beans had built a schoolhouse on the property at one time, one of several built on private property during that period. |
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17) NOBLE HOUSE - Situated on
the northwest corner of York Road and 5th Avenue. The original building
probably consisted of the rear part, having a kitchen downstairs and one
room upstairs. This part was built prior to 1734, according to Mr. Philip
Reeves, a former owner, who had located an old deed on the property. The
deed conveyed the house and 140 acres from Abel Noble to Job Noble. The
Noble family is discussed in an earlier section of this book. |
| 18) REVOLUTIONARY WAR MONUMENT - On the east side of Jacksonville Road between Van Horn Drive and Potter Street. Marks the spot where, during the retreat of the Battle of Crooked Billet, nine Americans, some of them still alive, were burned on a straw pile by the pursuing English. | |
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19) JOHN HART HOUSE - Located east of Jacksonville opposite Ivyland's Gough Avenue at 1145 Charter Road in the newly-built Woodlands development. Typical of old Pennsylvania manor homes. In the double west gable is a date stone inscribed "1750 - J.E.H." (John and Eleanor Hart). John was the son of John Hart the elder who received a grant of about 1000 acres from Win. Penn in 1681. The Hart house is now the residence of Mr. Donald Brennan and Ms. Dorothy Rose-Brennan. More on the Hart family in the chapter "Warminster Pioneers. |
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20) HOME OF JOHN HART III - Located on the south side of Kirk Road on what is now Navy property. The stone section was built in 1817 by a later John Hart, the frame part being added at a later date. This house is said to have been a station of the underground railroad, during the Civil War, while it was the property of Charles Kirk, where escaped Southern slaves were secreted until they could be taken on to the next "station" to freedom. |
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21) MUNRO HOME - Located on Newtown Road, a short distance south of Bristol Road. The earliest deed records the sale of the property to James Vansant in February 1734. An existing deed shows the sale of the house and acreage from Richard Robb to R. Hart in April, 1842. Lately the property of the late Mrs. Virginia Munro, who sold the acreage to the Township. It is now the site of Munro Park. |
| 22) TEMPERANCE HOUSE - Situated at the corner of Gough Avenue and Penn Street in Ivyland, it was built by Edwin Lacey in 1873 to absorb visitors to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, then in the planning stage. Being but an hour away on the Northeast Pennsylvania Railroad (later, Reading R.R.) it was hoped that the hotel would pick up the overflow from the mid-city hotels. Due to financial difficulties, however, the Temperance House was not finished in time to accomplish its purpose. While you are in Ivyland, take a ride through its shaded streets and absorb some of the beauty of its well kept old homes. | |
| 23) BREADYVILLE - A tiny cluster of old homes on Bristol Road just west of the railroad. Built by James Flack for Margaret and Catherine Bready. | |
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24) FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE - On the north side of Street Road, a short distance east of Jacksonville Road. Built in 1840, the building is now used by the congregation of the Assembly of God Church. |
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25) CRAVEN HALL - Located on the southeast corner of Newtown Road and Street Road. Its original building dates to middle 1700's, while the newer part, facing Newtown Road was added about 1845. More on Craven Hall in the Johnsville part of the chapter "Communities of the Township." |
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26) CRAVEN CEMETERY - Located on the border between the Fox Run Apartments and the athletic field of the old William Tennent High School. Sixty-four people are buried here, including at least five Revolutionary War soldiers, possibly from the Battle of Crooked Billet. The cemetery has been completely vandalized, during the past two decades, to the extent that not a single stone was left standing. Some stones were carted away; the remaining pieces are stored at Craven Hall. |
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27) FITCH HOUSE - So called because John Fitch supposedly boarded here while living in Warminster. Owned by Charles Garrison at the time, it is located at the southward bend of Centennial Road, a few hundred yards from County Line. More on this house in the chapter on John Fitch. |
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28) JOHN LONGSTRETH HOUSE - Located on Navy property near the end of Newtown Road. John was the son of Daniel Longstreth. The date on the datestone is somewhat obscure but seems to be 1787. Later this became the home of the Walker family. |
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29) BARTHOLOMEW LONGSTRETH HOUSE - At the end of Schoolhouse Lane, on McGlynn Road. Built by Bartholomew Longstreth in 1713 or 1714 and has under-gone a series of additions and alterations since then. The books of the Hatboro Union Library were stored in the attic of this house during the Revolutionary War. More on the Longstreth family in the chapter on "Warminster Pioneers." A grandson of Bartholomew, Daniel Longstreth, had a boarding school at this home, about 1840's. |
There are still more of the old homes left in Warminster. Those mentioned here are structures on which information is readily available, in addition to having - in some cases unique or historic value.
