Newtown Historic District (Newtown, Pennsylvania)

Newtown Historic District is a national historic district located in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The district includes 293 contributing buildings in the borough of Newtown. They date from the late-17th century to the early-20th century and are reflective of a number of popular architectural styles including Greek Revival, Late Victorian, Federal, Queen Anne, and Gothic Revival. Notable buildings include the Chapman Buckman House and mill, Hart House, Newtown Hardware House, Keller Building, Jenks House (1828), White Hall Hotel, Temperance House (1774), Smock House (1792), the Brick Hotel, St. Luke's Church, LaRue Apartments (1838), and the Edward Hicks House. Located in the district and listed separately are the Half-Moon Inn and Friends Meeting House.[2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, with two boundary increases in 1986.[1]

Newtown Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
White Hall, Newtown Historic District, October 2012
Location	PA 413 and PA 332, Parts of Congress, Chancellor and Liberty Sts. N of Washington Ave. and Chancellor St. S of Penn St. to S. State St., Newtown, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°13′39″N 74°56′11″W
Area	172.3 acres (69.7 ha)
Architect	Phillip Bros.; Firman, Joseph
Architectural style	Greek Revival, Late Victorian, Federal, Queen Anne, Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No.	79002174, 86000315, 86002867[1]
Added to NRHP	December 17, 1979, February 25, 1986, October 28, 1986

District listings

Newtown Hardware House

The Newtown Hardware House is an independently owned hardware store located at 106 S. State Street that was included as a contributing property in the original listing of the district on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[3]

History

The Newtown Hardware House was built in 1869 by Cyrus Hillborn and Harrison C. Worstall at 106-108 South State Street. 108 South State Street was a hardware store operated by Hillborn and Worstall, and 106 South State Street was a dry goods store operated by George E. Dolton. Mr. Dolton sold his side to George H. McMaster in 1908.[4] When McMaster died in 1927, both sides of the store were taken over by H.C. Worstall, and later bought out by John J. Burns. When Burns died in 1955, Robert M. Davis bought the business and operated it until 1985, when it was taken over by C. David Callahan. In 2012, C. David Callahan sold the business to William Newell of Newtown and remained on as a part-time employee.[4][5]

Fire

The Newtown Hardware House was destroyed by fire on March 1, 1899. In addition to the Hardware store another store was completely burned. The loss was estimated at $80,000.[6] The fire was one of the worst in Newtown's history. It is thought burglars set the building on fire.[7] The building was rebuilt to the exact specifications of the original building and was reopened by Christmas of the same year and is still in operation. Today, when looking at the rear wall, lower left(Northern) portion of the structure, a distinct brick line exists that outlines surviving brickwork dating before 1899.

Oldest business in Newton Pennsylvania

The Newtown Hardware House has been in continuous operation for over 151 years, which ranks as the longest tenure for any single business in Newtown.[8] The hardware store announced it was going out of business in 2012:[9] City residents heard about the possibility that the hardware store may go out of business, so they organized a "Cash mob": a crowd of people arrived at the business to pump up sales.[10] In 2011 the store was in trouble, and by 2012 the store's owner Dave Callahan decided to go out of business.[11] Bill and Peggy Newell took over the hardware store. They purchased the business from Dave Callahan.[5][12]

Gallery

• 
  Newtown Library Company.
• 
  The Lower House.
• 
  The Margaret Thornton House.
• 
  The Godwin Building.
• 
  Court St.

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes Mrs. A.N. Gish, Jr. (n.d.). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Newtown Historic District" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-10-28., Joan Clancy Michalski (August 1986). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Newtown Historic District (Boundary Increase, N & S)" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-10-28.; and Kathryn Auerbach and Jeffrey Marshall (July 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Newtown Historic District (Boundary Increase)" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-10-28.
3. "Newton Hardware House". Newton Hardware. Newtown Hardware House. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
4. "Philadelphia Area Archives Research Portal (PAARP) Search Finding Aids". DLA Library. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
5. Werner, Jeff (11 October 2019). "Newtown Hardware House celebrates 150th year in business with good friends, birthday cake, sidewalk sale". Bucks Local News. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
6. "Big Fire at Newtown". Bristol Bucks County Gazette. 2 March 1899. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
7. "Burglars and Incendiaries." The New York Times 2 Mar. 1899: P.5.
8. Rounsavill, Brian E. Newtown Past and Present. Ed. C. David Callahan and Paul M. Gouza. Newtown: The Newtown Historic Association, Inc., 2006.
9. Sofield, Tom (20 September 2012). "Newtown Hardware House Set to Close". Patch Media. Newtown, PA. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
10. English, Chris (29 April 2012). "Cash mob hits hardware store". Doylestown Intelligencer. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
11. Mellane, J.D. (24 May 2011). "Hardware Store on the Brink". Doylestown Intelligencer. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
12. "Retired businessman and Newtown Borough historian David Callahan presented with Good Samaritan Award". Bucks Local News. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.

External links

• Newton Hardware House