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    Yardley
    Yardley
    Yardley
    Ebook179 pages51 minutes

    Yardley

    By Vince Profy

    ()

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    About this ebook

    In the eighteenth century, a ferry and mill marked the crossroads beginnings of Yardleyville in Makefield Township. New modes of transportation transformed the village, commerce and industry flourished, and the populationincreased substantially. Soon the people of Yardley yearnedfor their own government--their own town--and Yardley,Pennsylvania, was incorporated in 1895. Yardley is a unique, detailed look at the birth and growth of the borough. When Yardley Borough celebrated its centennial, donations and loans of photographs revealing Yardley's history were collected. This volume is compiled mostly from this locally assembled selection of images, and recounts Yardley'shistory with eloquence. These pages revisit the cigar stores, trolley tracks, ice cream shops, schools, the intersection of Main and Afton, and many other well-known sites throughout the borough. The face of the old toll collector, the festivitiesof the "Canal Days" and "Harvest Day" celebrations, and countless days at Lake Afton, the canal, or the river are all captured in this treasured account of Yardley's past.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439626856
    Yardley
    Author

    Vince Profy

    This distinctive look at Yardley comes just after its centennial and just before Yardley enters the new millennium. Vince Profy has combined a winning array of images and an informative, entertaining narrative style to create a timeless work.

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      Book preview

      Yardley - Vince Profy

      Yardley.

      INTRODUCTION

      In accordance with provisions of an act of incorporation, begins the first entry in a frayed, brown leather-covered minute book that records the proceedings of the first Yardley Borough Council. On March 4, 1895, at the office of Edward Twining, the newly elected officials, including six council members, were qualified by Algernon S. Cadwallader, the first burgess (today’s mayor). In the next few years, officials and residents would have a full agenda as Yardley defined its new independence.

      In 1995, Yardley Borough celebrated its Centennial. Throughout the year, the Yardley Historical Association solicited donations and Ioans of Yardley photographs. These added to a collection begun in 1982 when the town celebrated the tri-centennial of its settlement. That collection is the basis of this book and tells the unique history of Yardley. In the 18th century, a ferry and mill marked the crossroads beginnings of Yardleyville, in Makefield Township. The village was named after one of the many English Quakers who responded to William Penn’s offer of land in Pennsylvania. In 1682, William Yardley and his family settled on a 500-acre plantation called Prospect Farm, in Makefield Township. By 1703 all members of the William Yardley family had died. William’s nephew Thomas arrived from England and soon purchased Prospect Farm. He obtained the right to operate a ferry on the river in 1722. Several years later he purchased a gristmill and an additional 500 acres. Thomas and his wife, Ann Biles, moved into a new home near the mill in 1728 called Lakeside. A good businessman, Thomas expanded the gristmill, built a sawmill, and a riverside tavern. Roads were established to Four Lanes End (Langhorne,) Newtown, Kirkbride’s Ferry, and Fallsington Meeting. Thomas Yardley died in 1803, but his mills, tavern, and ferry were the beginnings of the village of Yardleyville.

      In about 1805, Cornelius Vansant began to buy property in what would become Yardley Borough. Along the river he constructed a large, stone, Federal-style mansion known as Lanrick Manor. In 1832 the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal was completed. The canal transformed many of the small villages along its route. In Yardley, Aaron LaRue built a canalside store; across the street was a hotel known as the LaFarge House. Cortland Yardley built three row houses with first floor shops, known as Quality Row. New homes and businesses were constructed on Main and Canal Streets. A coal and lumber yard was established along the canal.

      By the mid-19th century, Yardleyville had grown into the largest village in Lower Makefield Township. An 1876 map shows many of the homes and businesses in the downtown area, including the Continental Hotel, druggist, butcher, blacksmith shops, wheelwright shops, harness shop, lumberyard, and several stores. The Union Meeting House was on West Afton Avenue and the Friends Meeting House was on Main Street. The Sons of Temperance had a large hall on South Main Street.

      During this period, William Schively published the Village Luminary. Schively, originally a grocer, assumed the role of town booster. His editorials promoted business growth, heralded the coming of the railroad, and agitated for the creation of a borough. The railroad was completed in 1876, the year that Schively died and the Luminary ceased publication. And the railroad, as Schively predicted, stimulated business growth and led to the construction of new homes. Between 1870 and 1900, a variety of Victorian-style homes were built on South Main Street and West Afton Avenue. Other homes were enlarged and remodeled. The name of the village and railroad station, Yardleyville, was changed to Yardley to avoid confusion with Yardville, NJ. In 1897, the line had become part of the Reading system. By 1930 the Yardley yard included the 1876 station and waiting booth, a water pump, scale, freight house, switching tower, cattleshute, coal trestle, and electric substation.

      A group of residents filed a petition and survey map with the Bucks County Court of Quarter Sessions in 1894. The map outlined the proposed boundaries of a new borough. The signers included most of the villagers and shopkeepers living in town. The following year, voters went to Jonathan Shoemaker’s Hotel and elected a slate of local officials. Council rooms and a lock-up were constructed on Canal Street. During the next five years, borough council would pass a series of ordinances aimed at modernizing the village and moving it into the next century. Main Street was graded and paved, sidewalks and street lamps were installed, and telephone and electric lines were strung. A Fire Company was established, and in 1900 streetcar tracks were laid in town.

      Yardley did not change significantly between 1900 and 1940. A new Borough Hall was constructed on Main Street and more homes were built between the canal and river. Many families continued operating the local businesses they had owned

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