Horsham Township, PA

Horsham Township is located in beautiful Eastern Montgomery County, PA - about 10 miles north of Philadelphia and 1 mile north of Exit 343 (Willow Grove) of the PA turnpike.

The township, incorporated in 1717, is one of the oldest original municipalities in Montgomery County, and is today a thriving, modern business-friendly community with a strong industrial base, a residential population of approximately 25,000 people, and the outstanding Hatboro-Horsham school system.

Money Magazine, in 2007, listed Horsham Township as number 15 on its list of best places to live in the US. US News and World Report, in June 2009, also recognized Horsham as One of the Best Places to live.

We think its a great place to live, work and play!

Named after the town of Horsham in Sussex County, England, Horsham Township is one of several townships in Montgomery County whose name and size were determined by master survey lines drawn by William Penn's engineers as they first plotted this part of the colony for sale and settlement.

In 1684, the entire township of 17 square miles was made available to individual purchasers. Samuel Carpenter, from the town of Horsham in Sussex County, England, after which the township is named, purchased five thousand acres, forty two hundred of them within the present boundaries of the township. In 1709, Carpenter, then Treasurer of Pennsylvania, began to sell tracts of land to migrating Quakers. In 1717, Horsham Township was established as a municipal entity by a vote of the people.

In 1718, Sir William Keith, then Provincial Governor of Pennsylvania, acquired twelve hundred acres of Carpenter's land on which he erected a house in keeping with the dignity of his office. This home (Keith House at Graeme Park) is the only surviving residence of a Colonial Pennsylvania Governor.

Easton Road, now US Route 611 and a major connector to Philadelphia, was initially consructed by Governor Keith to connect his home with the Old York Road near Willow Grove.

Much of Horsham's colonial heritage remains alive and visible today with over 100 homes and buildings in the township that are over 100 years old including the Quaker Meeting House (1803) and Pennrose-Strawbridge House (1721) which is currently being restored by the Horsham Preservation and Historical Association.

Horsham is also home to the Willow Grove Naval Air Station and Joint Reserve Base (NAS JRB). The air field was originally developed by Harold Pitcairn, the future founder of Eastern Airlines, in 1925 as a flight school and factory for his mail wing planes and autogyros which were promoted and flown by Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, and Eddie Rickebacker. Pitcairn sold the airfield to the US in 1945. The Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association is located just off the base and exhibits historical aircraft from the early days of Pitcairn field through the present.

Another long time part of Horsham is the College Settlement Camp which started in 1922. College Settlement offers camping and outdoor activities to 20,000 children a year from throughout the Delaware Valley on its 235 acre property off Witmer Road.

More information on the history of Horsham can be found at the Horsham Township website or at Horsham Preservation and Historical Association.

The School District of Hatboro-Horsham is one of the finest school districts in Pennsylvania. The district, with approximately 5,500 students, is a forward-thinking, progressive educational organization with a rich history of academic excellence.

All schools in the district have received blue ribbon honors from both the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the United States Department of Education for demonstrating excellence in education. Our students consistently demonstrate high achievement and strong performance on standardized testing, and many of our graduates move on to post-secondary educational institutions. One of the most recent accomplishments was being awarded with a Pennsylvania Department of Education Classrooms for the Future Grant that will enhance computer access and technology integration in all our High School classes.

Township Government and Services

The Home Rule Charter of Horsham Township went into effect in January of 1976 and prescribed that there shall be five Councilmen, elected at large, for a four-year term. The Council adopts legislation and grants final approval of many of the functions of Township Government at their regular monthly meetings which are generally held in the Township Building.

The township manager, celebrating 25 years with Horsham in 2009, is Michael McGee.

Horsham Township has an extremely low crime rate and is protected by a 40 member professional police force led by 36 year veteran Chief Robert Ruxton. The township broke ground in in December 2008 for a new 35,000 sf police station which is scheduled for completion in October, 2009.

The police department is complemented by its volunteer community policing partners Horsham ChATs.

Horsham Fire Company No. 1, a public department which has a combination of both career and volunteer personnel, protects Horsham Township from two stations. Station 15A, in the eastern, more densely developed area of the township, serves as headquarters of the Company. Station 15B is centrally located in the Township next to the Township Building. New buildings for both stations were completed in the last several years.

Federal Representation

Pennsylvania is represented in the United States Senate by Senators Robert P. Casey Jr. and Arlen Spector.

Horsham is in PA's 13th Congressional District which is represented in the US House of Representatives by Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz.

State Representation

Horsham is in PA's 12th Senatorial District and is represented by Senator Stewart Greenleaf.

The township is part of the 151st, 152nd, and 144th State congressional districts which are represented by Katherine Watson (144), Rick Taylor (151), and Thomas P Murt (152)

Horsham has recently added and/or improved a number of public facilities. Each of these has been financed with no tax increase and without the incurrence of any debt. These include:

New Horsham Library - Horsham completed construction of our beautiful, new 25,000 SF public library in 2004. The library includes both small and large meeting spaces which are available for use by companies or groups. The library is supported by The Friends of the Library a group of interested citizens and library users who donate their time, money and expertise to help assure that our library is a "topnotch" resource for the community. Click here for an info sheet on the design and use of the library.

New Horsham Township Community Center - The township in 2005 converted its old public works building into a modern community center. The building houses the township Parks and Recreation department and also offers a large meeting space that is available for use by local businesses or community groups. (more ...)

New Police Station- In December 2009, Horsham Township Council unvieled the new Horsham Township Police Station located on the property adjacent to the Municipal Building at 1025 Horsham Road. The new 14,020 square foot one story building includes many new features: a secure area for prisoner and evidence processing, work stations with computer access for the patrol officers, a roll call room, interview rooms for the accused as well as the victims of crime, full size lockers for the officer's equipment, and a sally port with an attached garage for secure transport of prisoners. In addition to providing the appropriate work space for the department, the site will incorporate many storm water control improvements.

In addition, the township has recently created a new Public Works Facility, and has contributed to the construction of 2 new Fire Stations.

Horsham Township has more than 815 acres of parkland, the most of any municipality in Montgomery County including a trail system which is being expanded to provide walking access to most areas of the township.

The park system includes:

Everybody's Playground at Lukens Park a handicapped accessible playground for children of all abilities developed by the Rotary Club of Horsham . had its groundbreaking in June of 2003. The playground has equipment designed to used by children of all abilities including a swing equipped for children in wheelchairs. The park has recently been with the addition of a basketball court that is wheelchair accessible from the parking lot and has nets that can be lowered for wheelchair athletes. (more...)

Kohler Park/Werner Fricker Fields - home to the Horsham Soccer Association and main location for the annual Colleen Reilly Girls Invitation Soccer Tournament. The 71 acre park also includes 2 playgrounds, fishing pond, gazebo, street hockey rink, and a recently expanded walking trail which will soon connect to the cross-township Power Line Trail

Deep Meadow Park - home to Horsham Little League with nine diamonds, walking trail and playground.

Carpenter Park - with basketball, beach volleyball, tennis, baseball diamonds, and soccer/football/lacrosse fields. Home to Horsham Girls Lacrosse Club

Pennrose-Strawbridge property adjacent to Graeme Park, open space and 1721 farmhouse under restoration by Horsham Preservation and Historical Association.

Graeme Park - a 42-acre historic park operated by the Pennsylvania Museum and Historical Commission with assistance from the Friends of Graeme Park, featuring the Keith House, the only surviving residence of a Colonial Pennsylvania Governor. The mansion has remained virtually intact since the late 18th century. A visit to Graeme Park is nature trails, a picnic lunch, and a visit with the politicians, physicians, patriots, loyalists, poets, and writers who frequented the Keith House, including Horsham's most famous ghost Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson.

Chestnut Creek Park - home to the Horsham Hawks Pop Warner Football and Cheer and Horsham Lacrosse Club

Click Here for information on Horsham's other parks and open spaces.

Horsham has had tremendous growth due to the vision of its leaders in the 1960s who zoned much of the area industrial.

The result of this zoning are a number of industrial parks/corporate centers located in the central part of the township.

Additional details coming soon...

Public Transportation in Horsham is provided by the Southeastern PA Transportation Authority (SEPTA).

55 Bus - SEPTA's Route 55 bus connects Horsham to Doylestown to the North and Willow Grove and SEPTA's Olney Transportation Center to the South. The route travels Easton Road (Rt 611) through Horsham.

Horsham Breeze - SEPTA's Route 310 bus (Horsham Breeze) runs from the Willow Grove Mall through Horsham's Business Parks.

R2 Commuter Rail - SEPTA's R2 runs between Warminster and Phildelphia with stops to the east and south of Horsham at Hatboro and Willow Grove. Several stops on this route link to the SEPTA R1 line running to Philadlphia International Airport.

R5 Commuter Rail runs between Doylestown and Philadelphia with stops to the west of Horsham at Ambler at Fort Washington.

AMTRAK has stations in Philadelphia and in Trenton, NJ servicing the Northeast Corridor connecting to New York and Washington DC.

Air Horsham is within driving distance and/or rail travel to International Airports in Philadelphia, Allentown (PA), and Newark (NJ).

Horsham is 1 mile north of Exit 343 (Willow Grove) and convenient to Exit 339 (Fort Washington) of the PA Turnpike US 276 and convenient to Exits 31 (Lansdale) and 44 (Quakertown) on the Turnpike's Northeast Extension Rt 476.

Major north-south highways are Easton Road (Rt 611) and Route 309.

County Line Road, Horsham Road (Rt 463) and Welsh Road (Rt 63) cross the township east-west.

Maps of Horsham Township