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More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #608 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of New Britain was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1829.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Britain’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Britain is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #608 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Britain’s overall grade.
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 New Britain’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1715.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). 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 New Britain’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Eugene James built an estate about 1731 and included the Mathews homestead, a fine Colonial house built in 1744 upon the site of an earlier house destroyed by fire. The village of James Manor was begun on the estate by Wynne James. Nearby villages were Jamestown, New Britain and Vauxtown. The National Farm School, now the Delaware Valley University was built near James Manor.
The Sign of the Horses and Wagon was a tavern in the west end of the village, where Lafayette headquartered at the time. The Continental Army marched from Valley Forge to Monmouth, New Jersey.
Passages that mention New Britain, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania1876 · page 394Read the page →
Read the text
New Britain has three villages, the one named after the township at the crossing of the old North Wales and Alms-house roads, Chalfont, on the North Wales road, a mile west of New Britain, and New Galena, three miles north-west of Doylestown.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania1876 · page 381Read the page →
Read the text
New Britain, like Hilltown, was peopled by immigrants who came up through Philadelphia, now Montgomery county, who were part of the flanking current that met the English from the lower Delaware. Between 1700 and 1715, a number of Welsh families settled in the upper part of Philadelphia about Gwynedd and North Wales, and naturally enough they soon found their way across the county line into the fertile territory of New Britain, and Hilltown, which then bore the name of Perkasie, or Perquasy. Among
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.
By decade
New Britain, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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.
In 1715, according to Wikidata. New Britain’s post office opened in 1829, and the census of 1880 counted 119 people here.
How does New Britain rank for history?
New Britain is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #608 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.
How old are the homes in New Britain?
10% of New Britain’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (6), Wikipedia, 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.
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