Limerick History

The following is a general timeline of some of the important events throughout the township’s history. If you click on the graph to you right, you can see a detailed summary of the history of Limerick’s population growth:

early 1700s
First European settlement of what is now Limerick Township.

1726
Petition filed to place Limerick Township upon record as part of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, one of the three (3) original counties in the Commonwealth.

1736
Petition filed by the inhabitants in what was then Hanover Township to settle the border between Limerick and Hanover Townships.

1738
Oldest legible tombstone in the township dates from this year.

1777
George Washington stays at the Mordecai Evans house in Linfield.

1784
Limerick Township became a part of the newly-formed Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

1810s
Population surpasses 1,000 people.

1818
First permanent church edifice, the Limerick Union Church, hosting the Lutheran and Reformed (UCC) denominations, was dedicated.

1828
Dieter Bucher(t) becomes first postmaster in Limerick.

1839
First time a train rides through Limerick Township, on what is now referred to as the Reading Railroad, of Monopoly fame.

1840s
Population surpasses 2,000 people.

1852
Limerick’s first public school district formed.

1866
First major industrial presence in Limerick Township, March, Sisler & Co., moved its factory from Parkerford (across the river from Linfield, in Chester County) to Linfield.

1879
The Borough of Royersford incorporated out of Limerick Township.

1884-5
Linfield, or Limerick Station, in Limerick Township, attempts to become a borough, and fails.

1901
First time a trolley rides through Limerick Township.

1904
The Borough of Royersford annexed land from Limerick Township.

1909
The Borough of Royersford annexed land from Limerick Township a second time.

1909
Limerick Telephone Company founded, which was bought by Bell Telephone Company less than ten (10) years later.

1924
The Borough of Royersford annexed land from Limerick Township a third time.

1927
Limerick Airport created.

1929
Linfield, in Limerick Township, attempts to become a borough a second time, and fails again.

1950s
Population surpasses 5,000 people.

1955
Limerick becomes part of the Spring-Ford Area School District, along with Upper Providence Township, the Borough of Royersford (Montgomery County), and the Borough of Spring City (Chester County).

1985
First multi-lane, limited-access highway in the township, Route 422 (not to be confused with Old Route 422, or Ridge Pike), opens.

1986
First unit of the Limerick Nuclear Generating Station, a nuclear power plant in the corner of the township along its border with Lower Pottsgrove Township, came on line.

1990s
Population more than doubles, surpassing 10,000 people.

2000
The Isaac Hunsberger House, home of the Limerick Township Historical Society, is the first location in the township to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

2005
The William and Mordecai Evans House, in Linfield, is the second location in the township to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

2020
Population 20,458 more than triple the 1990 population.

Sources:

Muriel E. Lichtenwalner, Limerick Township: A Journey Through Time, 1699 – 1987 (Limerick, PA: Limerick Township Historical Society, 987).
William J. Buck, “Limerick Township,” Chap. LIX in History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, ed. Theodore W. Bean (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1884; Internet Archive, 2010).
U.S. Census Bureau.
Code of the Borough of Royersford, Pennsylvania (Montgomery County), Appendix A: Annexation of Territory.
US Department of Energy (DOE)’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), “Limerick Nuclear Generating Station, Pennsylvania,” Nuclear (3 October 2008).
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Court of Quarter Sessions, Road Papers.
“NPS Focus,” National Register of Historic Places.