PRINTER'S NO. 4071
No. 826 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY STEIL, CLYMER, DiGIROLAMO, O'NEILL, PETRI, QUINN,
WATSON, BAKER, BEYER, BRENNAN, CALTAGIRONE, CREIGHTON, DALEY,
DONATUCCI, EVERETT, FAIRCHILD, FLECK, FRANKEL, GEIST, GEORGE,
GIBBONS, GINGRICH, GRUCELA, HELM, HERSHEY, HESS, JAMES,
KOTIK, KULA, MAJOR, MANDERINO, MANTZ, MARSHALL, McILHATTAN,
MELIO, MILLARD, MOUL, MOYER, MURT, MUSTIO, MYERS, NAILOR,
D. O'BRIEN, PALLONE, PARKER, PAYNE, PICKETT, RAMALEY, RAPP,
READSHAW, REICHLEY, ROHRER, ROSS, SAINATO, SAYLOR, SCAVELLO,
SIPTROTH, SWANGER, VULAKOVICH, WALKO, WOJNAROSKI, HENNESSEY,
K. SMITH, ROCK, PHILLIPS AND REED, JUNE 26, 2008
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JUNE 26, 2008
A RESOLUTION
1 Commemorating the 325th anniversary of the founding of the
2 Newtown Community in Bucks County by William Penn.
3 WHEREAS, The 5,000 acres that originally comprised Newtown
4 Township were part of the vast tract of land purchased by
5 William Penn from the Native Americans on July 15, 1682; and
6 WHEREAS, It is said that William Penn originally called this
7 area his "New Township," which essentially evolved into
8 "Newtown"; and
9 WHEREAS, The town was patterned to resemble an open fan
10 surrounding a narrow, rectangular piece of property called the
11 town common; and
12 WHEREAS, The Newtown Creek ran along most of the common,
13 which is situated between State Street and Sycamore Street and
1 which extends from Frost Lane on the north to Penn Street on the
2 south and contains a little more than 40.5 acres; and
3 WHEREAS, Newtown was the scene of some very important events
4 during the Revolutionary War; and
5 WHEREAS, From this small town on Christmas morning in 1776,
6 General George Washington marched from his headquarters to join
7 the Battle of Trenton; and
8 WHEREAS, Washington made his headquarters there after the
9 Battle of Trenton and the famed crossing of the Delaware River
10 and before the Battle of Princeton; and
11 WHEREAS, Newtown was the county seat of Bucks County from
12 1726 until 1813, when it was moved to Doylestown; and
13 WHEREAS, Because a substantial amount of town business had
14 revolved around the courthouse, trade, taverns and inns became
15 staples in the local scene; and
16 WHEREAS, At the beginning of the 19th century, the town was
17 well established as an active and affluent commercial center,
18 supporting tradesmen and artisans in all of the traditional
19 occupations of the time; and
20 WHEREAS, After the county seat was relocated in 1813, Newtown
21 was gradually transformed back into the tranquil, pastoral town
22 it once was; and
23 WHEREAS, What was once rural farmland around Newtown has
24 grown rapidly in the recent past; and
25 WHEREAS, With the dramatic changes that have taken place over
26 the last 325 years, it is pleasing to see that Newtown has
27 maintained, through a high sense of the importance of its
28 history, its residential village character; therefore be it
29 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commemorate the
30 325th anniversary of the founding of the Newtown Community.
F24L82JS/20080H0826R4071 - 2 -