Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Middletown Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
MiddletownTwpPA BeechwoodPhoto: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0
C+History
History · Middletown Township

2 of Middletown Township’s places are on the National Register

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #846 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Edgemont and the Harewood and Beechwood. Most of Middletown Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1944 on, and the census since 1930.

2on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

About Middletown Township’s history

How historic is Middletown Township?

C+

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Middletown Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Middletown Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #846 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Middletown Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19403.9% of homes (±1.0) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 5 historic buildings, 1.1 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 18%

Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Middletown Township’s 1.1 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Middletown Township’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Middletown Township, and 17 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Langhorne
1876–today
Eden
1882–1911
Woodbourne
1882–1953
Parkland
1908–1956
Penndel
1948–1956
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BucktoeCobalt RidgeElmwood TerraceFairless JunctionGlenlakeHellings CornerIdlewoodLanghorne GardensLanghorne TerraceMaple PointNeshaminyNeshaminy HeightsParklandParkland HeightsQuincy HollowVillas of MiddletownWoodbourne
Gone or out of use
Buehl FieldairportEden Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Middletown Township
Middletown FriendsOur Lady of GraceOur Lady of Sorrows

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

Help out

Start Middletown Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 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
The story

How Middletown Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Middletown Township.

Read it all →

Middletown Township was formally established in 1692 and originally included within its boundaries the present-day boroughs of Langhorne, Langhorne Manor, Hulmeville, and Penndel.

Middletown Township began as a farming community, with close proximity to trading towns such as Langhorne and Newtown. There are not many significant historical places located in the township apart from homes and farms constructed in the late 18th century.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Middletown Township, 1820 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1820Born hereSusan Hayhurst is born here
  3. 1876Post officeThe Langhorne post office opens
  4. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Bucks County - Middletown - ED 9-4…
  5. 1882Post officeThe Eden post office opens
  6. 1882Post officeThe Woodbourne post office opens
  7. 1891In the archiveAtlas of Bucks Co., Penna
  8. 20th century
  9. 1911Post officeThe Eden post office closes
  10. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1953Post officeThe Woodbourne post office closes
By decade

Middletown Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1890s2 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Bucks County - Middletown - ED 9-48A, ED 9-48B18801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …Atlas of Bucks Co., Penna1891Atlas of Bucks Co., PennaMap
1900s–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
Today10 recent
2025-11-11 12 38 56 Royal Empress Tree fruit and autumn leaves along Town Center Drive in Middletown Township, Bucks Co…20252025-11-11 12 38 56 Royal Empress Tree fruit and autu…2025-11-11 12 38 51 Royal Empress Tree fruit and autumn leaves along Town Center Drive in Middletown Township, Bucks Co…20252025-11-11 12 38 51 Royal Empress Tree fruit and autu…2025-11-11 12 38 48 Royal Empress Tree fruit and autumn leaves along Town Center Drive in Middletown Township, Bucks Co…20252025-11-11 12 38 48 Royal Empress Tree fruit and autu…2025-11-11 12 38 30 Royal Empress Tree fruit and autumn leaves along Town Center Drive in Middletown Township, Bucks Co…20252025-11-11 12 38 30 Royal Empress Tree fruit and autu…2025-11-11 11 33 49 Royal Empress Tree in autumn along Town Center Drive in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylv…20252025-11-11 11 33 49 Royal Empress Tree in autumn alon…2025-04-21 13 09 03 Altostratus clouds viewed from Middletown Boulevard in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylva…20252025-04-21 13 09 03 Altostratus clouds viewed from Mi…2025-04-21 13 06 48 Altostratus clouds viewed from Middletown Boulevard in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylva…20252025-04-21 13 06 48 Altostratus clouds viewed from Mi…2025-04-21 13 06 31 Altostratus clouds viewed from Middletown Boulevard in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylva…20252025-04-21 13 06 31 Altostratus clouds viewed from Mi…Bucks county - Middletown Township2014Bucks county - Middletown TownshipMiddletownTwpPA Beechwood2012MiddletownTwpPA Beechwood
On the map

Middletown Township on the map, 1944 to 1993

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

Middletown Township on the 1944 USGS mapMiddletown Township on the 1953 USGS mapMiddletown Township on the 1966 USGS mapMiddletown Township on the 1973 USGS mapMiddletown Township on the 1993 USGS map1944Langhorne sheet · 1:24,000

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

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 - Middletown - ED 9-48A, ED 9-48B
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Bucks County - Middletown - ED 9-48A, ED 9-48B, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Middletown Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Edgemont
EdgemontHarewood and Beechwood
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Greek Revival1
EdgemontFederal
Harewood and BeechwoodBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Middletown Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,0001940196019802000202046,040

Grew from 2,095 people in 1930 to 46,040 in 2020, more than tenfold.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Northampton Township5 historic placesA−Lower Southampton TownshipIts storyC−Bensalem Township6 historic placesC+Langhorne Manor1 historic placeABristol Township2 historic placesB+Falls Township3 historic placesB+Langhorne4 historic placesANewtown Township6 historic placesBHulmeville1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLower Makefield Township6 historic placesB

Questions about Middletown Township’s history

How does Middletown Township rank for history?

Middletown Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #846 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Middletown Township?

Two places: the Edgemont (listed 1977) and the Harewood and Beechwood (1980).

How old are the homes in Middletown Township?

4% of Middletown Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1973.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.