Chalfont and New Britain

By Robert L. Showalter

New Britain Township, founded in 1723, was a rural farming community originally settled by Welsh Baptists and German Mennonites. This changed dramatically in 1856 when the North Pennsylvania Railroad was built. Two train stations were built in the township and were named Chalfont and New Britain. The villages next to these stations attracted numerous new residents and businesses. The local picnic grove was even converted into an amusement park, which became known as Forest Park. The villages surrounding these railroad stations grew until residents decided to create their own separate boroughs, establishing Chalfont Borough in 1901 and New Britain Borough in 1928. The postcards and pictures in Chalfont and New Britain include images of the villages of Chalfont, New Britain, Line Lexington, and New Galena, as well as scenes of historic homes, hotels, stores, churches, schools, and the businesses and people who lived and worked in the community.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Nov 15, 2010
• ISBN: 9781439623961

Robert L. Showalter

Robert L. Showalter is a local historian and a professional engineer and surveyor. He has an extensive collection of local postcards and memorabilia and is passionate about preserving the historical heritage of the community.

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INTRODUCTION

The Lenni Lenape Indians called the area of New Britain their home for hundreds of years before the first immigrants arrived. After William Penn was given the state of Pennsylvania in 1681 to settle a debt owed to his father, he purchased the ground in the area from the Native Americans. This was done in order to keep peace with them. Penn then started to sell large tracts of land to investors and individuals from England.

One of the largest purchases was close to 20,000 acres in 1682 by a company called the Free Society of Traders. This included almost all of New Britain Township. The Society subdivided the property into smaller tracts and sold them. Early purchasers were Thomas Stevenson and Jeremiah Langhorne. Over the next four decades, more settlers arrived, built homes, and started clearing the land for farming. Most of them were of Welsh origin and included names like James, Griffith, Evans, Jenkins, Thomas, and Rowland.

Two of the earliest settlers in New Britain were Simon Butler and Simon Mathews, who came to the area around 1719. They purchased large tracts of land on both sides of what is now Route 202. It extended from Bristol Road up to Schoolhouse Road. The two Simons were cousins and built and operated a gristmill on their property. The Butler Mill House has a small cabin in the rear that was Butler’s. The Nostalgia Catering business’s older portion is Simon Mathews’s original dwelling.

As the population grew, the residents decided to form their own township. In June 1723, a petition was signed by close to 30 settlers to form a township called New Britain. It was sent to Philadelphia for approval.

Once the township was formed, people had to be able to travel. This necessitated the building of roads and bridges. One of the first roads petitioned to be built in 1730 was Butler Pike. Limekiln Pike came close thereafter and was actually laid out by Simon Butler, who was a surveyor. He wanted a road for people to get to his mill.

As the years went by, taverns, blacksmiths, mills, and other businesses were established to serve the needs of the growing community. Small villages called Line Lexington, Whitehallville (now Chalfont), and New Britain were created.

The community also built churches to serve the needs of the residents. One of the earliest was the New Britain Baptist Church. It was formed as a spin-off from the Montgomery Township Church. The first building was constructed around 1744. It was expanded and added to over the years. The beautiful stone church you see as you pass by dates from 1812. Attached to the church is a cemetery, which also was established in 1744. Some Native Americans are apparently buried there, along with a Confederate soldier.

The community grew slowly over the years until just before the Civil War, when in 1855, the railroad came to town. The construction of the North Pennsylvania Railroad dramatically changed the area. Once the railroad arrived, the farmers were able to ship their products easily to distant markets. In addition, hotels, horse livery stables, blacksmith shops, and numerous other businesses came to the area. Both Chalfont and New Britain also saw a dramatic increase in home construction, which continued into the early 1900s.

The train created a new business in the area, called an amusement park. Isaac Funk owned property along 202, which was a popular picnic grove. He added to this with a carousel and other rides and dammed up Pine Run to make a lake for boats. Patrons would arrive in droves by train, and it became immensely popular. It would later become known as Forest Park. The park continued in operation until it closed in the 1960s.

After the arrival of the automobile, the community began to change again. Dirt roads were replaced with paved ones, and use of the horse as a major mode of travel was phased out. The businesses had to change also. The carriage makers and blacksmiths were replaced with gas stations and auto repair centers. Once the refrigerator arrived, the need for local cattle pens and slaughterhouses was gone.

The two largest villages in the community grew to the point where Chalfont became a separate borough in 1901, and New Britain did the same in 1928.

During the period from 1900 to 1940, the area started to change gradually from a farming and agricultural area to a more residential one. This movement increased dramatically after World War II and into the 1950s with the baby boomers and the need for more housing. The large tracts of nice flat farms in the area were converted to housing developments to satisfy the demand. With that came commercial development and a new thing called a shopping center.

For the last 60 years the area continued to change, and farmlands have been converted to industrial parks, large shopping centers, schools, churches, and mixed-use residential developments. Fortunately some of the farmland has been preserved with open space funding. The actual number of working farms is now probably less than five.

One major event that indirectly changed forever the eastern end of New Britain was the flooding that occurred in Chalfont in the mid-1950s. This prompted the County