|
The first Whitpain (Zechariah Whitpaine, as near as I can find out) arrived with William Penn on the ship The Welcome in 1682. His father Richard Whitpaine had purchased the land as part of Penn's Holy Experiment, but never visited it himself.
Today, Whitpain Township is a composite of several small communities established before and after the Revolutionary War. They include West Ambler, Centre Square, Blue Bell, Broad Axe, Custer, Franklinville, Washington Square and Belfry.
I will be perfectly honest and state that I have never heard of "Custer, Franklinville, Washington Square, or Belfry," nor have I heard of sections of the township referred to by those names. These areas do not have their own ZIP codes, nor do they share ZIP Codes with one of the other communities in the township, such as Center Square does with Blue Bell.
The town of Blue Bell is named after the Blue Bell Inn, but had formely been called Pigeontown because of the huge flocks of pigeons that used to be hereabouts.
|