
06/19/2024
YARDLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL WORK SESSIONTUESDAY, June 18,, 2024 | 7:30PMMEETING AGENDAI. CALL TO ORDER โ Caroline Thompson - PresidentII. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCEIII...
Tradition. Innovation. Community
Yardley, PA
19067
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Yardley was founded by William Yardley, who emigrated to America in July 1682 with his family. He made an agreement with William Penn, before leaving England, to buy 500 acres (2.0 km2) for ten pounds. A survey was completed in October 1682, and the area William Yardley settled was called "Prospect Farm." It was located just outside the present Yardley Borough. William Yardley died in 1693, and his family in 1702-1703, possibly of smallpox. The family's burial plots are located in Slate Hill Cemetery, one of the oldest Quaker burial grounds in the state. Video
A nephew, Thomas Yardley, came to America in 1704 to settle the estate and never returned to England. He opened a ferry line which started operating in 1710 from Letchworth Avenue, the lower boundary of the village and landed in New Jersey further downstream. This was an important link between West Jersey and the three roads leading to Philadelphia by way of Falls, Langhorne and Newtown. The Yardley family occupied the land for more than 150 years.
When Yardley was founded there were already small settlements at nearby Burlington, Bristol, and Falls Ferry.
Yardley began to develop into a village about 1807, and by 1880 had a population of 820. Early industries included a spoke and handle factory, sawmill, felloe factory, plate and plaster mill, and two flour mills. The first post office, established in 1828, used the name "Yardleyville." The name became "Yardley" again at the time the Reading Railroad came through the area in 1876.