WELCOME TO THE Newtown Square Historical Society
We are currently undergoing some technological changes and our web presence is being renovated. We are cleaning up and simplifying. We have archived all of our content from our old site which we will be reviewing, reformatting, and rereleasing over time. If you have any specific requests for content that was available on the old site, but which does not yet appear here, please email us at info@nshistory.org. We will do what we can to accommodate your requests. NSHS would like to ask everyone to bear with us during our digital transformation, and thank you for your patience and understanding.
ABOUT NSHSIn 1981 several historically minded residents of Newtown (Delaware County, PA) decided to host a celebration for Newtown’s 300th anniversary. A year of activities and a wonderful parade were the impetus to the creation of the Newtown Square Historical Society in 1984. The main purposes of the Society are to protect, preserve and promote the historic resources of the Township, as well as to tell its story. We are an all volunteer, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization funded through member donations, fundraising and grants. All contributions to the Society are tax deductible, and go to support the work and programs of the Society. | Upcoming events
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The Founding of Newtown Township
Newtown Township dates to 1681, when William Penn planned two inland “new towns” (the second one is Newtown, Bucks County) in which buyers who bought plots of farm land would be entitled to a “Townstead” plot in the new town planned for the intersection of Newtown Street Road and Goshen Road. The original settlers were Welsh Quakers, drawn to the new world by relatively cheap land, Penn’s promise of religious tolerance, and the prospects of new beginnings. Newtown remained a farming community from that time until after World War II, when it began growing into a suburban bedroom community outside of Philadelphia, 15 miles due east.