Warminster Marks Tricentennial with Detailed Book

As 2011 nears, Warminster enters its 300 years as a township. Events to celebrate are unfolding and unique commemorations of Warminster's growth and change have been sent to the presses.

Local historian and author, Kathleen Zingaro Clark, has followed the township's growth and compiled her latest book, which is part of Arcadia Publishing's Images of America Series, entitled, Warminster Township.

When 5-year-old Clark dreamed of becoming an archeologist, she had no idea what path she would be carving into Bucks County history. She also knew someday she would be writing.

Her love of everyday people and what life was like in the past is what motivates her historical projects.

Clark is inspired by the people who have etched their legacies into Bucks County's townships.

Clark also authored Bucks County (2006) and Bucks County Inns and Taverns (2008).

Warminster Township is 128 pages, with 230 vintage photographs that reflect the people and progress in Warminster during the late 19th century to the mid 20th century. Some photographs were obtained from Craven Hall Historical Society in Warminster, a restored manor house, and also borrowed from many people across the township.

"I was a stranger to these people, but they understood the project of preserving history," stated Clark.

"They were very helpful and welcoming-they worked with me to develop captions, verify information and I was fortunate to meet so many nice people," she added.

And what was Clark's most interesting discovery about Warminster? "I was surprised by how many people lost their homes to eminent domain as Warminster grew," Clark stated.

Because of the Naval Air Development Center, thousands of people were brought in to work which resulted in Lacey Park being built to accommodate housing needs.  People lost their farms as land was needed for schools and hospitals. In some of the book's aerial photos, just fifty years ago, there was virtually nothing in Warminster but farmland.  Clark said she was amazed how quickly a community can change under circumstances like that.

The Naval Air Development Center, referred to by some residents as "Johnsville," employed many people who lived in Warminster. They also trained a number of our first astronauts, and part of the Naval Center included what is now Ann's Choice.

The Johnsville Centrifuge & Science Museum houses the largest human centrifuge ever built and where the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts trained to understand the effects of high G-forces on the human body

And for the many people who now live in the "Speedway" but never knew why it's called the Speedway, Clark's book offers rare photographs and information explaining its origins.  Not many people know this "almost speedway" was actually going to be a racetrack that was to rival the Indianapolis Speedway.  The grand plan began construction in 1914 with 4,000 investors.  Clark obtained photos showing the original layout.

The racetrack was to be a country club for wealthy Philadelphians, however, stated Clark, "the war ruined it all."

The projected opening date of Oct. 7, 1916 never materialized due to labor and material problems. The project was killed and after years of the land remaining vacant, some people that were on the Speedway Board were able to buy the land and put up a housing development.

Warminster also has many ties to the revolutionary war. General George Washington camped with 11,000 men at the Moland House off route 202 before the Battle of Brandywine.

Other historical figures Clark includes in her book that figure into national prominence include Mason John Fitch, who invented the world's first commercial passenger steamboat. In 1790, Fitch's steamboat business conducted dozens of trips between Philadelphia and Trenton.

In the 1700s, William Tennent, a reverend, established the Log College theological Seminary and the Christ Children's Home, which Clark said is "another world."

"With all the business of Warminster," she said, "the Christ Home is a respite of the world; springtime, trees, quiet, and a nice place to visit and know children are given this gift of being raised there."

Has writing this book changed Clark?  "It's given me a lot more pleasure in my everyday life," she said, adding her objective would be that when everyone is done with Warminster Township, they have a good sense of the history of this area.

"I wanted to make it a fun read, including photos of women doing things we might not think of them doing in the past-these are everyday people doing things," explained Clark.

Clark refers to how different things were back then - things from transportation to how people dealt with snowstorms, hand shoveling their way down the streets. The photos Clark dedicated herself to finding is a compilation that reflects how far Warminster has come.

Look for Clark's future projects that she anticipates to be on a larger scale that goes beyond the local region. 

You can meet Clark at her next book signing on December 18th at the Doylestown Bookshop located at 16 South Main Street, Doylestown from 1-3 p.m.

Copies of Warminster Township can be found at the township office, library, parks and recreation building and area bookstores.