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B+History
History · Solebury Township

Solebury Township’s post office opened in 1878, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #412 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

12 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and seven historic districts with 317 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1943 on.

1878first post office
12on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Solebury Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Solebury Township began

When was Solebury Township founded?

1878

The Solebury Township post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Lumberville (1825), Centre Hill (1831) and Summerville (1833), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 8,709148 years

How historic is Solebury Township?

B+

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Solebury Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Solebury Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Solebury Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #412 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Solebury Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1878, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.0% of homes (±3.3) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register12 listings, 333 historic buildings, 383 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 60%

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 Solebury Township’s 383 sits above most of its state (93% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 333 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% of U.S. towns.

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 (±3.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Solebury Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Solebury Township, and 10 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.A National Historic Landmark12 places on the National Register, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks.A historic districtThe Lumberville Historic District takes in 85 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Lumberville
1825–1964
Centre Hill
1831–1845
Carversville
1833–today
Summerville
1833–1836
Centre Bridge
1845–1921
Aquetong
1873–1923
Solebury
1878–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AquetongCarversvilleCenter BridgeDeer ParkGlendaleHightonLumbervillePeters CornerReederSolebury
Gone or out of use
Carversville Post Officepost officeHoliday Inn of New Hope AirportairportPennwood Farm AirportairportRansome AirportairportSolebury Post Officepost office
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Solebury Township
CarversvilleLahaska United Methodist ChurchSolebury Baptist ChurchSolebury FriendsThompson MemorialWashington Crossing State Park

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

Help out

Start Solebury Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewLooking East: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

12 listings protect 333 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier.

places listed
12
National Historic Landmarks
2
Honey Hollow Watershed
historic buildings protected
333
each building in a district counts
first listed
1969
Honey Hollow Watershed
Carversville Historic DistrictVan Sant Covered BridgePhillips Mill Historic DistrictLumberville Historic DistrictWilliam Kitchen HouseCenter Bridge Historic DistrictUpper Aquetong Valley Historic DistrictBridge in Solebury TownshipAtkinson Road BridgeCuttalossa Valley Historic DistrictHoney Hollow Watershed★Nakashima, George, Woodworker Complex★
BuildingsDistrictsStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Federal5
Victorian3
Georgian3
Colonial2
Greek Revival2
International Style1
★ Landmark
Honey Hollow WatershedDistrict
★ Landmark
Nakashima, George, Woodworker ComplexInternational Style
Carversville Historic DistrictFederal
Van Sant Covered BridgeTown Truss
Phillips Mill Historic DistrictGothic
Lumberville Historic DistrictVictorian
William Kitchen HouseVernacular
Center Bridge Historic DistrictVictorian
All 12 listings
Upper Aquetong Valley Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1987Bridge in Solebury TownshipStructure · listed 1988Atkinson Road BridgeStructure · listed 2002Cuttalossa Valley Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2002

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

The story so far

Solebury Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Solebury Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Solebury is an unincorporated community in Solebury Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. Solebury is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 263, Sugan Road, and Phillips Mill Road.

Its first post office opened in 1878. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 8,692 in 2010, 8,709 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Solebury Township, 1825 to 2014

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1825Post officeThe Lumberville post office opens
  3. 1831Post officeThe Centre Hill post office opens
  4. 1833Post officeThe Carversville post office opens
  5. 1845Post officeThe Centre Hill post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1912In the archiveLooking East
  8. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1964Post officeThe Lumberville post office closes
  10. 1969LandmarkHoney Hollow Watershed named a National Historic Landmark
  11. 21st century
  12. 2014LandmarkNakashima, George, Woodworker Complex named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Solebury Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Looking East1912Looking East
1920s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Paxson Barn, (Solebury Township)Date?Paxson Barn, (Solebury Township)
On the map

Solebury Township on the map, 1943 to 1999

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

Solebury Township on the 1943 USGS mapSolebury Township on the 1953 USGS mapSolebury Township on the 1968 USGS mapSolebury Township on the 1973 USGS mapSolebury Township on the 1999 USGS map1943Buckingham sheet · 1:31,680

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

Looking East
Retake this viewLooking East, 1912

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

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Buckingham Township11 historic placesA−New Hope4 historic placesA+Plumstead Township3 historic placesA−Upper Makefield Township11 historic placesA−

Questions about Solebury Township’s history

What year was Solebury Township founded?

The Solebury Township post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Solebury Township rank for history?

Solebury Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #412 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 Solebury Township?

12 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 2 buildings, 7 historic districts with 317 contributing buildings, and 3 structures. 333 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Solebury Township?

16% of Solebury Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1983.

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 the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (12), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.