Blockley Township, Pennsylvania Explained

Blockley Township
Settlement Type:Former Township
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Pennsylvania
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Philadelphia
Pushpin Map:USA Pennsylvania#USA
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Blockley Township in Pennsylvania
Coordinates:39.975°N -75.2306°W
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone1:EST
Utc Offset1:-5
Timezone1 Dst:EDT
Utc Offset1 Dst:-4
Area Codes:215, 267, and 445

Blockley Township was a township that was located in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Incorporated in 1704,[1] the township was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia under the 1854 Act of Consolidation.

History

An irregularly shaped area of 7,580 acres (31 km), Blockley Township was located on the west side of the Schuylkill River, north of Kingsessing Township; bounded on the east by the Schuylkill; extending south from the county line, opposite to, but a little below, the mouth of the Wissahickon, down to the Nanganesy or Mill Creek, below the Woodlands; then by the same creek up to Chadd’s Ford Turnpike, known in later years as the Baltimore Pike; along the same to Cobb’s Creek; then by the courses of the same to the county line adjoining Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, and along the same to the Schuylkill River.

Within its boundaries were the villages of Hamilton, Mantua, West Philadelphia, Hestonville and Haddington.

It was traversed by the Darby Road (today's Woodland Avenue) and Chadd’s Ford or Baltimore Pike, the road to West Chester, to Haverford and to Lancaster.

The name is derived from Blockley, a parish in England in Gloucestershire from which the township's founder, William Warner, hailed. In Philadelphia, "Blockley" was synonymous with the Blockley Almshouse that opened here in 1832. The township also contained The Woodlands; the former estate of William Hamilton, grandson of Andrew Hamilton, which was converted in 1840 to the Woodlands Cemetery.

The boundaries and area changed on February 17, 1844, when the area encompassing Mantua and Hamilton were incorporated into the Borough of West Philadelphia, dividing the remaining township into two almost unconnected sections.

The township was incorporated into Philadelphia proper by the 1854 Act of Consolidation.

Resources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Chapter 1: Pre-History to 1854 . University Archives of the University of Pennsylvania . WEST PHILADELPHIA: THE BASIC HISTORY . 26 August 2013 . Sullivan, Promise and Kim Franklin.