Early Warminster Schools

Almost from its very beginning, Warminster has been a center of education among the outlying Philadelphia areas. This may have been brought about by the importance of the Neshaminy Presbyterian Church, since many of the early schools were organized by various ministers of that church.

One of the earliest public schools was built on his property in 1835 by Robert Darrah, who also provided a teacher year after year for a long period. The school was of a high caliber, a number of its teachers being graduates of Yale and other well known colleges, and the classics, French and higher mathematics were taught. In this tiny building, a number of young men of the vicinity were prepared for college and many of its graduates, men and women, "went forth from its humble walls to engage in teaching common schools."

The Belville Academy was founded in Hartsville in 1818 by the Rev. Robert Belville, who conducted this school  for nine years.

Samuel Long, a graduate of Jefferson College, had a boarding school near Hartsville during the same era.

Daniel Longstreth, a great-grandson of Bartholomew Longstreth, of early Warminster fame, established a boy's school in his great grandfather's home after having inherited it in 1840. This old place is shown in a later section and is located on the east side of Newtown Road, about a quarter of a mile north of Street Road.

Hart's schoolhouse was built on Newtown Road during the early 1700's. This was the first of three schools built on the same site. It was torn down and a new one was built in 1756. A third was built on the stones of the second in 1831 and demolished in 1860 after three new schoolhouses had been erected on Street Road. These old schoolhouses were also used for community purposes; the Moral Society met there in the late 1700's and the Warminster Debating Society held its  meetings in the third school on this site.

Sometime about 1832, Rev. James P. Wilson started a "classical school for boys" in what was later to become the Roseland school for girls. This school existed for about eight years.

One of the most popular schools of the time, Roseland Female Institute in Hartsville was founded by Rev. Jacob Belville in 1850. A brochure issued in 1855, from which the accompanying illustration was taken, lists pupils from Alabama, Georgia, Illinois and many neighboring states. Tuition "-in English branches and Latin" was $75.00 per session (21 weeks), including room and board. Times certainly have changed!

Included in the same brochure is a testimonial for "Tennent School for boys and young men, under the care of Rev. Mahlon Long, within a mile of Roseland." This was located across the Neshaminy in what is now the cemetery of the Neshaminy Warwick Church. It was originally a log building which was replaced, in 1824, by a stone structure, since torn down.

The Oak Grove school was located on the south side of Street Road, opposite Catherine St. and was demolished in the 1960's. It was one of the three, including Prospect Hill and Willow Dale, that were built in the 1840's. These were the predecessors of the larger Warminster Elementary School, at Street Road and Madison Ave., built in 1928. These three one room schoolhouses were the first schools in Warminster to be built with the taxpayers money in compliance with legislation enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1834 making free common schools a practical possibility for every child in the State.

The Prospect Hill School was located on the south side of Street Road just east of Centennial Road. It was demolished in the 1960's.

The Willow Dale School was located on the southeast corner of Street Road and Norristown Road. It was demolished in 1960 with the widening of Street Road.

Recently, one of the last of the large farm lands in Warminster was broken up for development. This was the original home of John Beans, located on the west side of York Road, opposite Juniper St. According to Mrs. Wallace Stephen, until recently the owner of the property, Beans had a school house on the property. Of all the area histories, Battle's History of Bucks County is the only one mentioning this school.

The Emlen Institute for Boys was founded by Samuel Emlen of Burlington, N.J., who bequeathed $20,000 for the founding of an institution for the education of orphan children of Negro and Indian descent. It was first organized in Ohio in 1841 but later moved to 55 acre farm in Solebury, Bucks County. In 1872 it was moved to Warminster Township on the south side of Street Road about a mile west of York Road. It declined and finally closed in 1892 and the property eventually became the Episcopalian charity known as St. Stephen's Orphanage in 1897. Later, it became Christ's Home for the Aged.

Log College is a legend unto itself and is presented herewith in detailed form as the progenitor of all scholastic institutions of the general area.