Fallsington, Pennsylvania
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Fallsington is a village in Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It is not covered by the Census Bureau.
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[edit] Geography
The latitude of Fallsington is 40.187N. The longitude is -74.819W.
It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 82 feet (25 m). Fallsington is on the Delaware River.
[edit] History
Fallsington is an example of a crossroads village typical of the 1700s, on the Kings Highway (now U.S. Route 13. The Bucks County Courthouse, established in 1663, is said to have been located in Fallsington until it was moved to Bristol in 1705. The Friends Meeting, whose first meetings were held in a private home on Biles Island, found a site for a meeting house in Fallsington on land donated by William Penn in 1692. Another donation by Penn was a tract of 120 acres (0.49 km²), for a Falls commons.
The village evolved through a succession of periods in American history and architecture. Significant homes in Fallsington range from the late 17th through the Victorian era of the mid-19th century. Fallsington was a center of commerce. In the 1860’s a business directory listed blacksmiths, a butcher, carpenters, a carriage builder, a cooper, farmers, an insurance agent, machinists, physicians, a surveyor, and a wheelwright.
The growth of Fallsington continued, with the construction of homes, an inn, public buildings, stores, and small craftsmen's shops. Until the construction of Fairless Hills and Levittown, it was the largest village in the Township, and functioned for many years as a commercial center.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Fallsington is important, not because it was the site of any world-shaking events or the home of any famous people... but because it has survived to tell its quiet story. Within the space of a short walk, one can see unique capsule of the history of the ordinary American village, remarkably untouched by time.
[edit] Trivia
- The "falls" of the Delaware River is not a dramatic waterfall but, rather, the rapids that mark the highest navigable point on the river. The names of Fallsington and Falls Township derive from it.
[edit] External links
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