Fallsington is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Falls Township, Bucks County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States.

Geography

The latitude of Fallsington is 40.187N. The longitude is -74.819W. It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is .

History

Fallsington is an example of a crossroads community typical of the 18th century, 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 Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in 1705. The first meetings of the Religious Society of Friends were held in the home of William Biles on Biles Island. Falls Monthly Meeting found a site for the first brick meetinghouse built in Fallsington, about 1690, on 6 acres (0.024 km²) of land that had been donated by Samuel Burgess. Also in 1690, Thomas Janney donated 72 acres (0.29 km²) of land to be used as the Quaker burial grounds for Falls Monthly Meeting.

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

donated a tract of 120 acres (0.49 km²), for a Falls commons. Fallsington evolved through a succession of periods in American history and architecture. Significant homes in Fallsington range from the late 17th century through the Victorian era of the mid-19th century. Fallsington was a center of commerce. A business directory of the 1860s 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 settlement in the Township, and functioned for many years as a commercial center. The Fallsington Historic District was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1972.

Trivia

*The "falls" of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

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.

References

External links

Historic Fallsington
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania