~ West Rockhill

The separate West and East Townships, of equal area, were not formed until 1890.  The original township was Rockhill, the largest in the county.

History of Rockhill - West Rockhill Historic Society

Battle's History of Bucks County

ROCKHILL township was so named from the range of hills which forms its most striking natural feature. This ridge crosses its northeastern boundary and extends southwest quite across to the county line. It presents many curious geological formations. Ridge Valley creek passes through this rocky barrier in a deep gorge or canon, but the bed of the stream is literally a mass of huge boulders which have never been completely submerged in the most violent freshets. The soil here is stony and sterile and inclined to be marshy, although highly elevated. The fertile valley to the south presents a widely different aspect. Here the north branch of Perkiomen creek pursues its course through an unbroken succession of wellcultivated farms from Hagersville to Franconia.

Among the early land-holders was John Furness, barber, of Philadelphia, who secured a tract of three hundred and fifty acres in the south corner of the township adjoining Telford. It was sold to Andrew Hamilton of the same city in 1723, and passed from him to Henry Hartzel, a native of the Palatinate, in 1727. He was the first to settle upon it. A log cabin was first erected, then a comfortable one-story log-house, and finally a two-story stone dwelling. This was improved and enlarged by its successive occupants, but it is not known that any part of the original structure was removed until 1881, when the whole was sacrificed to the spirit of improvement which seems to agitate this community. Although the date of its erection could not be accurately determined,
it was undoubtedly the oldest house in West Rockhill.

Page last updated:     September 15, 2021          Broken Links and to contribute additional data email - Nancy

ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1864) 2nd Inaugural

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan - to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.