| CONTENTS | ||
| Boyertown | ||
| Bird's Landing | ||
| Morlattan |
Boyertown is intersected by State Routes 73 and 100 — 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
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© Mon Apr 14 2003 |
Geography Section 2 |
The main, and largest part of Birdsboro was to the east of the steel plant and was called Lincolntown. But Lincolntown had 2 well-known sub-sections: one called Downtown, and another called Shireytown. The remaining part of Lincolntown, traditionally, had no sub-name. It was merely Lincolntown, Lincolntown (though nobody bothered to stutter that utterance).
And then there was west Birdsboro, separated from east Birdsboro (Lincolntown) by the Brooke Estate, the foundry, and the railroad switching yards. West Birdsboro is called Brooklyn. And the western-most part of Brooklyn (beyond Jefferson Street) is sub-sectionally named Beidlertown. The portion east of Jefferson street, was not sub-named. It was just Brooklyn.
And then there is South Birdsboro, on the other side of the Brooke Estate. A little stream, called Hay Creek, runs approximately through the middle of Birdsboro — through Lincolntown, and then out into South Birdsboro. In time, housing popped up out there, on both sides of the creek.
Because of the hill at the south end of the Brooke Estate, the housing on the western side of Hay Creek was rather limited and grew only to include about 70 homes, and a little restaurant. This exiguous patch was/is wedge shaped, and, being South Birdsboro, was called Mexico. And it naturally followed that because the "Rio Grande" (Hay Creek) separated it from the other part of South Birdsboro, that other section is called Texas.
In the middle of Birdsboro was the Brooke Estate — about 50 acres of wonderfully wooded land, with only a few small areas cleared for the two mansions (Edward's & George's), and a couple of guest houses. Today, most of those trees have been cut, but some yet remain.
There was no North-Birdsboro. The Schuylkill river sees to that. If you demand a "north birdsboro", it would have to be called Baumstown.
To be completely accurate, there were some other subsectional names used back in the 19th Century: Brickyard, Cinder Bank, Hain's Row, Oklahoma, Shantytown, Little Italy, Silvertown, & Wayne Heights. And in the last half of the 20th Century, two more have been added: Maple Springs and Silverbrooke Heights.
But did you really need to know all this !?
"Birdsboro's" first settlers were of the family of Caleb Harrison, who had been living in Chester County. Mr. Harrison purchased the 600 acres from John, Thomas, and Richard Penn in 1733. The purchase price for that 94-hundredths of a square mile was 93 pounds.
Seven years later, William Bird bought the 600 acres from Caleb Harrison, and the community got its inaugural appellation: Bird's Landing, 1740.
In 1751, Mr. Bird built the Bird Mansion on Main Street at the north end of Mill Street. It still stands, and in fact was remodeled and added onto in 1920-21 to become the Birdsboro YMCA (founded 1919), as it remains today.
In 1872, the community was officially incorporated as a borough of Berks County, and by then it had long since been renamed BIRDSBORO.
William Bird died in 1761, and his body was buried in a (locally) famous Morlattan cemetery.
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© Mon Apr 14 2003 |
Geography Section 3 |
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Hear. As Morlattan grew a bit, its name was changed to White Horz. (The Swedes apparently weren't entirely converted to English sppelings yet.) Enter: Jacob Warren, a carpenter by trade, who commenced to build much of this quaint village. And before long, 'twas signposted, Warrensburg.
Next. Jacob Warren attempted to go into a number of other businesses, while George Douglass, an active and successful businessman, and large property owner in the area, built the White Horse Tavern in 1765, and the Black Horse Tavern in 1771. These two watering holes swiftly became the landmarks by which the little hamlet was identified. And. As Jacob's business failures increased, the Warrensburg name gave way to DOUGLASSVILLE, which became very official in March of 1829, as the shingle was hung on the new Post Office. On July 1, 1963, the Post Office sign was slightly altered. To it, they added "19518."
The Black Horse Tavern remains at the center of Douglassville. It has been enlarged and modernized. And is called the D-ville Hotel.
And who besides William Bird was buried in St. Gabe's Cemetery ? Why, George D. — of course.
| This Geography page was first posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2003, and last updated on Tuesday, January 18th, 2005. |