Douglassville is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in Amity Township in

Berks County Berks County ( Pennsylvania German: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading. The Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware River ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States. Douglassville is situated along U.S. Route 422 and

Pennsylvania Route 724 Pennsylvania Route 724 (PA 724) is a road in the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania that runs from U.S. Route 422 (US 422) in Sinking Spring southeast to PA 23 near Phoenixville. PA 724 travels through Berks and Chester counties. The route run ...

. Developments include the Amity Gardens

subdivision Subdivision may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Subdivision (metre), in music * ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009 * "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2) * ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005 * "Subdivisions" (song), by Rus ...

, the West Ridge subdivision, the Briarwood subdivision, and the High Meadow subdivision. Douglassville also includes Cider Mill and the Woods Edge subdivision along Pennsylvania Route 562. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 448 residents.

History

Swedish pioneers were the first European settlers in present Berks County on land granted by

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

. Swedish Lutheran Minister

Andreas Rudman Andreas Rudman (November 3, 1668 – September 17, 1708) was a pioneer Swedish-American Lutheran minister. He was pastor of Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church in Philadelphia. Background Anders Rudman was born in Gävle, Gästrikland Province, Swe ...

secured an order from William Penn on October 21, 1701 setting aside up the Schuylkill, near

Manatawny Creek Manatawny Creek is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Keystone Can ...

, for members of his congregation. The boundaries of Amity Township are almost identical to the boundaries of the original area known as Swedes' tract. Morlatton Village, an early settlement which became part of what is now Douglassville, was Berks County's first settlement site along the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

. The settlement later became the location of

Old St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church is an historic Episcopal Church church located in Douglassville, Pennsylvania. The church is a part of the Diocese of Bethlehem. History St. Gabriel's was founded in 1720 as a Swedish Lutheran church. In 1760 t ...

or Old Swedes, founded in 1720 as the oldest church in

. The site also included the Mouns Jones House, built by Swedish settlers in 1716. The house is the oldest documented dwelling in Berks County.

Geography

Douglassville is located on the

and mainly upon its left bank. The CDP has a hot-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Dfa'') and average monthly temperatures range from 30.7 °F in January to 75.5 °F in July

The

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

is 7a bordering upon 6b

Demographics

Parks and recreation

Lake Drive Park and Recreation Area is in the Amity Gardens subdivision. Facilities include basketball and tennis courts, a skateboard park, a pavilion, and a picnic area. Hill Road Park is located in the West Ridge subdivision, and includes a baseball field and a pavilion. Monocacy Hill Preserve is an undeveloped park used for hiking and environmental education outside Douglassville. The park has trails going around the mountain.

Infrastructure

Klein Transportation Klein Transportation is a bus provider based in Douglassville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1957 initially as a school bus service provider, the company started offering charter buses and tours in 1979 and intercity commuter routes in February 2019. ...

provides bus service from Douglassville to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, Kutztown, Wescosville, Hellertown, and

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Old Swedes Dville.JPG, Old Swede's House, built 1716 Douglass Mansion.JPG, Douglass House

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Berks County, Pennsylvania Swedish-American culture in Pennsylvania New Sweden