Villages

In addition to its basically rural character, much of the Wrightstown Township's charm is due to its five villages: Penns Park, Pineville, Rushland, Wrightstown and Wycombe. The villages of Penns Park and Wycombe are registered as Historic Villages on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Villages from "Wrightstown Township - A Tricentennial History"

 

Penns Park

Penns Park is the oldest village in Wrightstown Township and is in the center of the township. The zip code is 18943. The crossroads village was known as Logtown as early as 1716 and Pennsville in the early 19th century. In 1862 the village name was changed to its current one. Just outside the village, at the intersection of Penns Park Road and Mud Road, there is still a solitary log house known as the Smith House, often called the oldest house in Bucks County. To the southwest of the village is the "old grave yard" where many of the township's first settlers are buried. The Penns Park Historic District and Penn's Park General Store Complex are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Pineville

Pineville is one of two villages which are located astride the township line between Buckingham and Wrightstown. One was the first buildings in the village was a schoolhouse located on a small lot near the intersection of Durham Road and Township Line Road. The village was first known as "The Pines" due to four pine trees that surrounded the village's school. The post office was established after 1830, with Samuel Tomlinson serving as the first postmaster and the name was formally changed to Pineville. The zip code is 18946.

 

Rushland

The town of Rushland developed quickly after the arrival of the Northeast Pennsylvania Railroad in 1891. On December 29, 1883 a post office was established under the name Rush Valley. In 1894 the name was changed to Rushland. The zip code is 18956. The New Hope & Ivyland Railroad passes through Rushland on the former Reading New Hope Branch and the old depot still stands today.

 

Wrightstown

Wrightstown is a small, predominantly residential and service-oriented village that developed in the first half of the nineteenth century. The village was not planned out in advance but developed around the Quaker Meeting house that was erected in 1721. On September 19-20, 1737, the village of Wrightstown was the beginning point of the Walking Purchase which added between 500,000 and 750,000 acres of prime Indian Hunting lands to the Penn Proprietors' holding. The only commercial venture remaining in the village today is the Wrightstown Trading Post which once housed the Wrightstown Post Office.

 

Wycombe

The village of Wycombe straddles the township line between Buckingham and Wrightstown. Despite having an operating gristmill from the early eighteenth houses, and a small number of stone houses, Wycombe only developed after the opening of the Northeast Pennsylvania Railroad in 1891. One of the first enterprises completed after the railroad station was the coal and lumber yard which boasted the village's first store and post office. The villagers originally wanted their town called Lingohocken which was the area's Indian name, but postal authorities felt it would be confused with the town of Wingohocken, another post office in Pennsylvania. The name Wycombe was then adopted. The zip code is 18980. The first meeting to form the Lingohocken Fire Company occurred at Thompson's Hotel, later known as the Wycombe Inn, on August 6, 1931.