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History · Ivyland

Ivyland dates to 1873, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.

1873founded
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Ivyland began

When was Ivyland founded?

1873

Ivyland dates its founding to 1873 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 173 in 18802020 census: 955153 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1889.The full story ↓

What stands out about Ivyland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18936 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1999. Watch Ivyland change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ivyland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ivyland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Ivyland on the map, 1893 to 1999

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ivyland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Ivyland on the 1893 USGS mapIvyland on the 1952 USGS mapIvyland on the 1966 USGS mapIvyland on the 1973 USGS mapIvyland on the 1983 USGS mapIvyland on the 1999 USGS map1893Germantown sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ivyland.

The story

How Ivyland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ivyland.

Read it all →

Ivyland was founded in 1873 by Edwin Lacey, a Quaker who was related to John Lacey, a brigadier general in the American Revolution. Edwin Lacey purchased 40 acres (16 ha) of land between Jacksonville Road (today's PA 332) and the Reading Company's future New Hope rail line, today's New Hope Railroad, which was completed to New Hope in 1891. It, as well as a large hotel which was planned for the town, was intended to serve the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

According to the borough's website, Edwin Lacey, who apparently was no botanist, named the town for the vast amount of "ivy" growing in the area, which turned out to be poison ivy.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Ivyland in 1905

Passages that mention Ivyland, cut from the printed page as they were published.

which he rented the homestead and continued its cultivation for two years. In 1872 he purchased the Hart homestead, including the town site of Ivyland. He removed to this farm, remaining thereon for five years, and then sold forty acres of the land to Edwin Lacey, who desired to build the town of I…
History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time1905 · page 228Read the page →
Read the text

which he rented the homestead and continued its cultivation for two years. In 1872 he purchased the Hart homestead, including the town site of Ivyland. He removed to this farm, remaining thereon for five years, and then sold forty acres of the land to Edwin Lacey, who desired to build the town of Ivyland

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Ivyland, 1873 to 1959

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873
    FoundingIvyland is established
  3. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Bucks County - Warminster - ED 9-8…
  4. 1889Post officeThe Ivyland post office opens
  5. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1923In the archiveIvyland PA Presby PHS282
  8. 1951Born hereBill Hoff is born here
  9. 1959Post officeThe Ivyland post office closes
By decade

Ivyland, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Bucks County - Warminster - ED 9-87, ED 9-8818801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …
1890s–1910snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1920s1 item
Ivyland PA Presby PHS2821923Ivyland PA Presby PHS282
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Ivyland Presbyterian Church, Ivyland, PA, Nov. 20252025Ivyland Presbyterian Church, Ivyland, PA, Nov. 2025Ivyland Fire Company, Ivyland, PA, Nov. 20252025Ivyland Fire Company, Ivyland, PA, Nov. 2025NHRR No. 40, 2198, 55772019NHRR No. 40, 2198, 5577Bucks county2014Bucks county
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Bucks County - Warminster - ED 9-87, ED 9-88
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Bucks County - Warminster - ED 9-87, ED 9-88, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ivyland’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ivyland, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,041

Between 173 and 1,041 people in every census since 1880.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ivyland’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Ivyland had its own post office from 1889 to 1959.

Ivyland
1889–1959
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Ivybrook Ridge

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Warminster Township1 historic placeC

Questions about Ivyland’s history

What year was Ivyland founded?

In 1873, according to Wikidata. Ivyland’s post office opened in 1889, and the census of 1880 counted 173 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.