Main content
Historic Langhorne Association local history collection
Notifications
Held at: Historic Langhorne Association [Contact Us]160 W. Maple Ave., Langhorne, PA, 19047
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Historic Langhorne Association. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the borough of Langhorne is a small town whose name is used broadly to describe the majority of surrounding Middletown Township. The center of town is located at the intersection of two prominent roads, Maple and Bellevue Avenues. Once Lenni-Lenape paths, these roads run between Bristol and Durham, Pennsylvania, and between Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey.
Settled by Quakers beginning in 1680, the area grew as an important transportation center between Trenton and Philadelphia, becoming the stagecoach transportation hub of Bucks County. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the town, which served as a stop along the rail line, became a popular summer vacation destination for wealthy Philadelphians who constructed large homes and businesses.
Langhorne was known as Attleborough until 1876, when it was incorporated and named for Jeremiah Langhorne, an early resident of the area and former Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
This collection consists of various materials relating to local history topics in or around Langhorne, Pennsylvania, including families, individuals, businesses, organizations, and property. It includes four series: subject files, small collections, oral histories, and oversize materials.
The subject files series makes up about half of the collection. It contains a significant amount of primary source materials, with a few newspaper clippings and secondary source materials. It is arranged alphabetically by subject.
The small collections series consists of numerous collections under 1 linear foot. Most of these collections were cataloged in the 1986 volume, Guide to the Manuscript Collections of Five Historical Organizations in Bucks County, compiled by Kristin Gleeson. Some of the small collections of special interest include: about 100 deeds from Langhorne and nearby areas, 1733 to the 20th century; a collection of programs, reports, and histories relating to the Middleton Friends Monthly Meeting and other Quaker Meetings, 1818-1983; teachers' reports from schools in the Middletown Township school district, 1869-1921; voting and military duty registers, 1920-1927; and the Search, Cliff, and White families collection, 1857-1911, that includes materials relating to George H. Cliff, principal of Girls Normal School and committee chairman of William Penn High School for Girls. Note that there are some materials in the subject files that relate to particular small collections.
The oral histories series contains fewer than one dozen CDs of recorded audio from oral histories conducted with older Langhorne residents and from past Historic Langhorne Association meetings. A list of the CD labels is given below:
Mrs. Covington, Miss Ann Vaughn, 2/24/75
John Wood interviewing Joe Hamilton on his 100 birthday in 1972
Walt Jacobs, AME [African Methodist Episcopal] Church History, 5/19/80
Walter Jacobs at Historic Langhorne Association meetings 2/25/02
Langhorne ""As I remember It"": Mrs. Ira Savage, Mabel Clark, Mary Cote, Clem Mather, Fred Scheese, John Beiler, moderator Steve Vibber (1/27/75, 2 CDs)
Jane W.T. Brewy Lecture, 9/22/75 (2 cads)
Langhorne ""As I remember it"": Jane W.T. Brey, A.P Townsend, Mrs. Harry Ridge (5/6/76, 2 cads)
Old Langhorne Symposium 5/22/72: William Thomas, Paul Townsend, Gladys McCloy, Mrs. Earl Clark, parts 1 and 2
The oversize materials include a variety of materials, mostly maps, drawings, posters, broadsides, and family certificates (such as diplomas and marriage certificates). Langhorne Improvement Company photographs, blueprints, and drawings make up part of the collection. An inventory is provided below:
Drawer 1 -- Langhorne Improvement Company
Langhorne Improvement Company Langhorne manner plan 1923
blueprints of 1909 renovations Townsend building
Pine-Watson center proposed (1968) Candy florist
pictures taken by Joe Holland 1938-1941
pictures taken by Joe Holland 1938-1940
pictures taken by Joe Holland Washington D.C. class trip LMHS April 1940
HLA poster
High school diploma 1916
House Blueprints
Drawer 3
Langhorne schools grade book 1914-1937
Certificate of Washington Crossing Commission 1947
Record of exhibition DRILU and Concert
Certificate of Loan 1861-1871
Langhorne standard ledger
Exemptions from military service 1800,1801,1802,1804,1805
Teacher’s monthly reports Langhorne high school 1919-1921
Diploma J.B. Tomlinson 1902
Diploma Hanna Hibbs 1922
Diploma Anna Mary Fabian 1913
Various sign and Notices
Drawer 4
Handicap entrance plans
Attleborough fire company constitution 1843
receipt book from Robert Nelson and William Nelson 1838- 1871
Book of stamps donated by the United States Post Office from 1986 for the use of the associations official seal
Langhorne Golf and Country Club Menu from 1986
The Kingdoms of Edward Hicks Calendar 2000
The Colonial journal
Teachers certificate from Philadelphia Musical Academy 1915
Drawer 5 -- Posters
1888 newspapers
Ohio Farmers Insurance Company poster
Helen Heed's Juvenile Revue poster 1937
Donation Party Dance poster 1921
The Star 1890
Langhorne Standard newspaper July 15, 1885
Four Lanes End Garden Club 47th Annual Holiday House Tour and Tea
2006/ 2009 Langhorne Council for the Arts "Fabric of Life in Langhorne" Community Quilt/ Four Lanes End Garden Club 51 Annual Holiday House Tour and Tea
Drawer 6
Topographical maps
1774 Newtown Bristol Rd.
1860 Xerox Attenborough maps
Plans for Langhorne Station improvements
Plans for the back entrance to library
Eastburn estates
Maps from Langhorne borough 1891
3 topographical maps (1966, 1973, 1993)
6 aerial photographs (1938, 1950, 1964, 1978, 1989, 1991)
Lower Makefield township historical map 1798
Topographical map Bensalem 1901
Old maps of Langhorne
Map of Washington Village
Miscellaneous Attleborough maps
Attleborough maps Xerox (1783, 1819, 1860, 1876, 1888)
William Penn Esquire maps
January 1, 1784 Attleborough Washington Village Collison's land
Zoning maps 1970- Falls township Hulmeville borough Langhorne borough Langhorne Manor borough Middletown township Penndel borough
Drawer 7
Map of Langhorne
Morris map 1850
1701-1702 Heaton steakhouse Growden Langhorne Propertic
1703 Heaton Langhorne Growden and others
1893 Joseph Eastburn Estate
1909 Playwicky Indian town/Northampton
Materials donated to or collected by Historic Langhorne Association at various times.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Historic Langhorne Association directly for more information.
- Publisher
- Historic Langhorne Association
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Faith Charlton through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
-
Contact Historic Langhorne Association for information about accessing this collection.