| Horsham Township | |
| Home Rule Municipality | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Montgomery |
| Elevation | 348 ft (106.1 m) |
| Coordinates | |
| Area | 17.3 sq mi (44.8 km2) |
| - land | 17.3 sq mi (45 km2) |
| - water | 0.0 sq mi (0 km2), 0% |
| Population | 26,147 (2010) |
| Density | 1,398.6 / sq mi (540 / km2) |
| Established | 1717 |
| Timezone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Area code | 215 |
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Location of Horsham Township in Montgomery County
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Location of Horsham Township in Pennsylvania
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Location of Pennsylvania in the United States
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| Website: http://www.horsham.org | |
Horsham Township is a home rule municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Although it retains the word "Township" in its official name, it has been governed by a home rule charter since 1975 and is therefore not subject to the Pennsylvania Township Code.[1] The population was 26,147 at the 2010 census, and was chosen as the 15th best place to live in the United States by Money Magazine in their 2007 Top 100 Best Places to Live. Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove is located in Horsham Township.[2] NAS JRB Willow Grove will continue supporting its mission through 2010 and final closure will occur by the end of September 2011. At that time, it is anticipated that the Pennsylvania Air National Guard will take custody and the facility will carry an interim designation as Willow Grove Air National Guard Base.[3]
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Horsham Township is named after the town of Horsham in the historic county of Sussex in the South of England. Horsham is one of several townships in Montgomery County whose name and size were determined by master survey lines drawn by William Penn's engineers as they first plotted this part of the colony for sale and settlement. Parallel lines, projected at intervals of a mile and a half and extending in a northwesterly direction from settlements along the Delaware, served not only as base lines for measurement of individual land grants but also as courses for future highways. County Line Road, Horsham Road, and Welsh Road are examples of highways so laid out. The effect of these survey lines upon the development pattern of Eastern Montgomery County is very much in evidence today.
In 1684, the entire township of 17 square miles (44 km2) was made available to individual purchasers. Samuel Carpenter, from the town of Horsham in the historic county of Sussex, England, after which the township is named, purchased 5,000 acres (20 km2), 4,200 acres (17 km2) within the present boundaries of the township. In 1709, Carpenter, then Treasurer of Pennsylvania, began to sell tracts of land to migrating Quakers. In 1717, Horsham Township was established as a municipal entity by a vote of the people.
In 1718, Sir William Keith, then Provincial Governor of Pennsylvania, acquired 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) of Carpenter's land on which he erected a house in keeping with the dignity of his office. The development of Keith's "plantation" proved to be a step in establishing closer ties between Horsham and neighboring communities, particularly those of Hatboro and Willow Grove. He was responsible for the construction of the present Easton Road (PA Highway 611) from the old York Road junction at Willow Grove to his mansion on County Line Road in 1722.
The first significant settlement in the Township centered around the junction of Horsham and Easton Roads and was known as Horshamington. Keith's extension of Easton Road prompted the establishment of the Horsham Friends Meeting House.
The township's early social and economic life revolved around this Meeting House. In a similar way, Prospectville, originally known as Cashtown, was established at the junction of two roads, Limekiln Pike and Horsham Road. This portion of Limekiln Pike was an extension of the original segment established in 1693 to provide a thoroughfare between Old York Road and the limekilns of Thomas Fitzwater in Upper Dublin Township. Prospectville, on a high elevation point within the township, offering a resting spot with a tavern for those traveling along either Limekiln Pike or Horsham Road. Here lived several generations of the Simpson family, one of whom was the mother of Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States.
The hamlet of Davis Grove grew at the intersection of Keith's Road (now called Governors Road) and Privet Road and was once a focal point of community life. It was here the residents of the township came to vote, discuss politics, and attend community meetings. The "Golden Ball Inn", which at one time was used for housing guests of Governor Keith, enjoyed much Revolutionary splendor. The two roads were formerly through links. Keith's Road extended from Easton Road to Keith Valley Road and Privet Road, from Horsham Road to Easton Road. Expansion of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station caused the closing of these roads and the absorption of the hamlet. Today, there are virtually no remaining signs of the original settlement.
Through most of the early and the middle 19th Century, Horsham's population grew slowly. Its character was not altered in any significant way until about 1872, when the North Pennsylvania Railroad extended a rail line from Glenside to New Hope and established a station in the nearby community of Hatboro, two and three-quarter miles east of the nucleus of Horshamville. Horsham-Hatboro-Byberry Road provided easy access to Hatboro's station and, as a result, residential development began along the road virtually linking the two communities together. By 1890, the township's population reached 1,300.
In 1896, the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company's northern extension of the Philadelphia-Willow Grove trolley service was extended to Doylestown along Easton Road from the Willow Grove Amusement Park at Easton and Welsh Roads. This provided various connections to other trolley lines.
In 1926, Harold F. Pitcairn, a pioneer in the development of the autogiro, a forerunner of the helicopter, outgrew his flying field in Bryn Athyn and purchased 191 acres (0.77 km2) of farmland along Easton Road in the vicinity of Graeme Park. The new "Pitcairn Field" remained in operation for testing "autogiros" until 1942 when the United States Navy purchased the field. On May 28, 2006, the Base Realignment and Closure commission recommended that this base be closed as part of the 2005 BRAC round, that the tenant Air Force Reserve Command airlift wing be deactivated and that Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve flying units relocate to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey as tenant units. Final closure of NAS JRB Willow Grove will occur on September 15, 2011.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 17.3 square miles (45 km2), all of it land. One branch of the Pennypack Creek arises in Horsham.
| Year | Republican | Democrat |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 45.8% 6,334 | 53.6% 7,409 |
| 2004 | 51.2% 6,733 | 48.3% 6,353 |
| 2000 | 51.5% 5,464 | 45.9% 4,868 |
| 1996 | 45.6% 3,878 | 41.2% 3,500 |
| 1992 | 43.0% 4,102 | 33.8% 3,227 |
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1930 | 2,123 |
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| 1940 | 2,324 | 9.5% | |
| 1950 | 3,663 | 57.6% | |
| 1960 | 8,933 | 143.9% | |
| 1970 | 13,888 | 55.5% | |
| 1980 | 15,959 | 14.9% | |
| 1990 | 21,896 | 37.2% | |
| 2000 | 24,232 | 10.7% | |
| 2010 | 26,147 | 7.9% | |
| www.dvrpc.org/data/databull/rdb/db82/appedixa.xls.</ref> | |||
As of the 2010 census, Horsham Township was 86.0% White, 4.3% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 7.2% Asian, and 1.3% were two or more races. 2.9% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry [1].
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 24,232 people, 9,082 households, and 6,448 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,398.6 people per square mile (539.9/km²). There were 9,269 housing units at an average density of 535.0 per square mile (206.5/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 89.82% White, 3.73% African American, 0.17% Native American, 4.80% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 1.60% of the population.
There were 9,082 households out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 23.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.18.
The age distribution was 27.0% under 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 35.5% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.9 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $61,998, and the median income for a family was $72,608. Males had a median income of $48,036 versus $34,505 for females. The per capita income for the township was $28,542. About 1.4% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.8% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.
Matt Carroll, a professional basketball player for the Charlotte Bobcats, played high school basketball at Hatboro-Horsham High School in Horsham under coach Walt Ostrowski. He played college basketball at the University of Notre Dame. His brother, Pat, starred at Saint Joseph's University. His grandfather, legendary Pennsylvania high school coach Don Graham began Carroll Camps, a basketball camp run by the brothers to teach the fundamentals of basketball, specifically shooting.
