Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania Real Estate

Newtown Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Newtown Township is the oldest township in Delaware County. The population was 11,700 as of the 2000 census.

Historically, Newtown was an agricultural community, stone farmhouses graced the country landscape throughout the 19th century. Additions were made to the early simple dwellings as families grew and more living space was required. Prosperity, due to a growing market, also enabled property owners to make additions, not only to their own homes, but on the property as well as in the form of tenements and outbuildings.

At the turn of the 20th Century, the automobile began to disperse the urban populations over the countryside. The trolleys, along with the new "horseless carriage," transformed the country farmers into suburban commuters. Farms were sold and the land subdivided. Newtown boomed. Many city dwellers retained their country estates, however, these became hidden amidst gridiron developments. Although construction slackened during the depression, another boom was experienced after World War II.

Today Newtown has a land area of over of 10.11 square miles, and a population of 16,000 individuals. Some farms and large estates remain, but for the most part, the Township was developed into a suburban community with old stone homes and structures dotting the landscape to serve as reminders of days gone by.

Newtown Delaware National Register of Historic Places:

• Hood Octagonal School (1842)- the last 8-sided one room school house in Delaware County. Located on West Chester Pike on the grounds of Dunwoody Village.
• Bartram's Covered Bridge (1860)- the last remaining covered bridge in Delaware County (spanning Crum Creek - connecting with Chester County), located at Goshen and Boot roads. Restored in 1996.
• Old. St. David's Church (1715)- the oldest non-Quaker church in Delaware County, founded by Welsh Anglicans; burial place of General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, located on S. Valley Forge Road in the very corner of the Township. In March 1880, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow attended the church and wrote the poem "Old St. David's at Radnor."
• The Square Tavern (1742) - also known as "The Square Inn" and John West House"- the childhood site of famous American painter Benjamin West, restored in 1981 and again in 2008, located at the corner of Newtown Street (Rt. 252) and Goshen Roads.
• Paper Mill House (1770, 1845) - mill workers home and general store, restored in the 1980s and now used as museum and headquarters for the Newtown Square Historical Preservation Society. Located at St. David's and Paper Mill Roads.

According to the Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 10.1 square miles, of which, 10.0 square miles is land. Its villages include Echo Valley, Florida Park, Larchmont (also in Marple Township,) Newtown Square, and Wyola.

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,700 people, 4,549 households, and 3,184 families residing 4,690 housing units. There were 4,549 households out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.4% were married couples living together.

The median income for a household in the township was $65,924, and the median income for a family was $82,557. Males had a median income of $61,688 versus $37,319 for females. The per capita income for the township was $39,364.

Places of worship include St. David's Episcopal Church, whose graveyard, and buildings begun in 1715, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The graveyard contains one of the graves of Revolutionary War hero General Mad Anthony Wayne. The Newtown Square Friends Meeting House and Burying Ground is the oldest place of worship in Newtown. The original Quaker settlers built the Meeting House in 1711, and then it was greatly expanded and "modernized" in 1791. The architectural ghost of the original 1711 doorway and one of the original windows can be seen in the stone infill in the north wall of the expanded Meeting House. The Meeting House is still in use for worship on "First Day".