Newtown Square Historical Society

How long does it take to get from 4th and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia to the Greentree Building at Gay and High Streets in West Chester?

A long time Marple resident donated several old high school diplomas to the Historical Society…

In 1995, there was no community-wide celebration in Newtown. But one was planned. The Newtown Square Historical Society hosted a full day of activities to highlight the history of the township.

First things first: no Virginia, there was no Sandy Flash. However, that fictitious character was modeled on an actual bandit, James Fitzpatrick, the self-styled Captain Fitz.

Last month I received this note: “I grew up in Newtown Square in the 1950s…

In 1957, Tim McCarthy, youngest of eight children of a steamfitter from Havertown, opened up…

“With the slow pace of life in the village of Newtown Square at the beginning of the 1800s, a few landowners or wealthier residents rose above the usual farming level to become outstanding in one way or another.

The United States celebrated its 200th birthday in Philadelphia on July 4th, 1976. The Bicentennial was a stone in the pond, whose ripples continue to be felt. In Newtown Square, some history-minded people got excited about their own history, noticed that Newtown Township would be 300 years old in 1981, and ended up writing a thorough local history book, “Historic Newtown Township.”

After Delaware County was split off from Chester County in 1789, a new road was needed to take travelers west from Newtown Square to the new county seat of West Chester, and so the West Chester Turnpike was laid out.

Following the American Revolution, a civil war took place in Chester County. The county seat was the town of Chester, on the Delaware River, equally inconvenient to everyone in the huge county other than the locals.

Carl Ewing, past Chief the Newtown Square Fire Company is now the “Official Time Capsule Opener.” When the first firehouse building was built in 1916, a copper box was sealed in the cornerstone.

Where do you begin to tell the history of Castle Rock, once one of the…

Each September we recognize Constitution Day on September 17th, to celebrate the U.S. Constitution. Over…

West Chester Pike has been a witness to the history of transportation in Delaware County. From its first creation in the 1790s, the road saw foot traffic, horse and wagons, a “plank road” turnpike, regular stagecoach service and finally in 1895, a horse-drawn and later motorized trolley line that eventually connected the 69th Street Terminal with West Chester.

Newtown was a sleepy country crossroads for much of its history. Today, it is two miles from I-476. And if different choices had been made, the interstate highway would have crossed right through the eastern portion of the Township.

When I first joined the Newtown Square Historical Society in the mid 1990’s, there was…

World  War II ended in August 1945, but the “Cold War” essentially began at the…

While English Quakers first settled Newtown, 19th-century immigrants came from Ireland. An Irish weaver, Joseph…

During the contentious election of 1860, with four candidates running for President, each candidate’s backers…

Photos courtesy of Newtown Square Historical Society  While the Pennsylvania Railroad did not start until…