Call Number:

02

Repository:

Yardley Historical Association

Extent:

2.5 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1895-1967 (inclusive)

Creator:

Yardley (Pa.)

Abstract:

Yardley Borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was settled in 1682 by Quaker minister William Yeardley, who purchased a tract of land from William Penn. Following the completion of the Bristol-New Hope section of the Delaware Canal in 1831, new commerce and trade poured into the town, then called "Yardleyville." The town continued to grow following the completion of the New York branch of the railroad in 1876 that included a nearby station. Yardley was incorporated as a borough in 1895. The Yardley Borough records, 1895-1967, include scattered administrative and financial records of the Borough, as well as records from the Borough Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of Health.

Yardley Borough is located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania along the Delaware River and is bordered by Lower Makefield Township.

"Yardley was settled by William Yeardley (as the name was then spelled), a Quaker minister seeking religious freedom who emigrated to American from England with his wife, three sons and a servant in July 1682. Before leaving England, he made an agreement with William Penn to purchase a 519-acre tract for ten pounds sterling. He settled on Dolington Road and built a log cabin and later a stone house called "Prospect Farm". The Yardley family occupied the land for more than 150 years.

"William Yeardly and his family died of smallpox in 1702 and the original house burned down. In 1704, a nephew, Thomas Yeardley, came to America to settle the estate. He never returned to England and by 1710 had established Yardley's first ferry at the foot of what is now Letchworth Avenue (the lower boundary of the early village). It developed into a major river crossing and this area became known as Yardley's Ferry.

"When a town plan was prepared in 1807 and several lots were laid out, Yardley was beginning its growth. Following the completion of the Bristol-New Hope section of the Delaware Canal in 1831, new commerce and trade poured into the town, then called "Yardleyville". Early industries included a spoke and handle factory, sawmill, felloe factory, plate and plaster mill and two flour mills. The Post Office was established in 1828. In 1835, Yardley's first covered bridge was built across the Delaware River at the foot of what is now Afton Avenue.

"In 1876, the railroad opened its New York branch through Yardley and erected a station just south of the established village. To avoid confusion with Yardville, N.J., the railroad campaigned to shorten the name Yardleyville and in 1883 the Post Office adopted the name "Yardley". By 1880 the town had a population of 820 (according to the 2000 census, the population [was] 2,498), and in 1895 it was incorporated into a borough.

"During the Civil War, Yardley may have been a station for the Underground Railway, an escape route for slaves. According to local legend, slaves hid under the eaves of the Continental Hotel and in warehouse bins along the Delaware Canal. At Lakeside, the home built by Thomas Yeardley in 1728, a brick-walled cellar room is said to have been a hiding place.

"... Until the mid-twentieth century, the surrounding countryside [near Yardley] was still relatively open and in agricultural use. While the last two decades have seen the farmland in the surrounding area give way to large residential developments, much of the core of Yardley, where the historic district is located, has retained its historic integrity."

Bibliography:

Quoted text from: Welcome to Historic Yardley Borough, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. "Yardley Borough History." Accessed July 22, 2013. http://www.yardleyboro.com/history.php

The collection, which consists of eleven volumes, includes the following records: minute books (including the first minute book), 1895-1953; resolutions and ordinances, 1895-1906; planning and zoning commission records, 1951-1953; Yardley Borough Board of Health records, 1949-1967; cash book, 1947-1973; tax report, 1942-1950; and ordinances and checks, 1950s. Also included is an unidentified ledger that contains patient records and student records, 1896-1932, as well as original and copies of zoning maps (1949, 1953) and a zoning map transparency, 1967.