Moving To Durham, PA? Information
About Durham
History
Located in the north-eastern corner of Bucks County, Durham Township is bordered by tiny Riegelsville Borough and the Delaware River to the east, Nockamixon Township to the south, Springfield Township to the west and Williams Township in Northampton County to the north.
The second smallest township in the County, Durham is only 9.4 square miles but has a wealth of beautiful sights and interesting sites that have long attracted visitors and new residents, and define "home" for long-time inhabitants.
The Durham Hills, a range of small, rounded and heavily wooded mountains, none higher than about 800ft., frame fertile farm fields giving the Township a distinctly rural nature which belies its early industrial history.
According to the Durham Historical Society, the area's original settlers, the Lenni Lenape Indians, began mining iron to use for tool making and for trade in the surrounding hills. European settlers began mining iron ore at the Durham Mine by the late 1690s. In 1727, The Durham Furnace Company opened a blast furnace in what is now the Village of Durham to make pig and bar iron, and eventually iron tools and pots and pans. From 1741 until the furnace closed in 1791, the factory produced the popular "Adam and Eve Stove," which was similar to the more well known Franklin Stove. The furnace also produced shot and shell to supply the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
In the mid 1800s, two new blast furnaces, now powered by anthracite coal, were built in Durham to process the iron mined in the region. They operated until 1874. The industry brought the last of the blast furnaces into operation in 1876. The mine has long been closed but its main entrance and air shafts on Mine Hill can still be seen today.
While the iron industry was an essential factor in the economic viability of the area, it wasn't the only one. Farming was, and continues to be of major importance. In 1820, the Durham Gristmill was built to turn locally-grown grain into flour, and eventually produced animal feed. The 3-story stone structure, built into the foundations of the defunct Durham Furnace, produced grain products continuously until 1967. Today, the restored landmark looks as it did when it was built, and retains much of its original machinery. The 100 year-old, 40ft. Ceresota Flour mural on the side of mill , which is on the National Historic Register, was restored by the Durham Historical Society in 2003.
With the production of iron products came the need to transport them to market. In the early 18th century, Robert Durham built the first Durham Boat, a tide-propelled freighter, the Durham Boat carried its load on the Delaware River to Philadelphia. On the return tide came provisions and supplies to the towns along the banks. In addition to their role in industry and farming, the Durham Boats played a dramatic part in the American Revolution as they were the boats used by George Washington on his history-making crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas Day in 1776.
Durham's story isn't all industry and farming. Its natural heritage is equally significant. In addition to the Durham Hills, the woodlands and the farm fields, the Township boasts the Cooks Creek Watershed corridor, a 30 square mile limestone valley watershed with small, but important tributary streams that flow into the Delaware. The Watershed has been designated as an Exceptional Value Cold Water Fishery, and is the only wild brown trout and native brook trout fishery in Bucks County. The underlying geology is mostly limestone, and contain a high quality drinking water aquifer.
There are two major caves in Durham Township, named simply Cave #1 and Cave #2. Cave #1 is known for its archeological finds including flint arrowheads, stone tools, beads, pestles, human bones and fossil bones of extinct animals. In Cave #2, which includes the remnants of the Durham Mine, lives a community of endangered bats including the little brown bat, the big brown bat and the Eastern Pipistrelle. Some 1,500 bats benefit their human neighbors by eating as many as 1,200 mosquitoes per bat in an hour. The Durham Mine bat hibernarium is the second largest of its kind in Pennsylvania.
Durham Real Estate Insights
While Durham Township's rich history and natural resources make it a very special place, it is also home to a diverse and eclectic mix of residents. Families who have left more urban or suburban settings, old families who have owned farms and estates for generations and 2nd home and vacation home owners who crave the tranquility and physical beauty of the area can find a wide variety of home styles here.
There is only one development in Durham Township - Durham Hill Farms, a residential subdivision of detached, single family homes built from about 1980 through 1993. These homes range from 2,600 to more than 4,100 square feet on 1.4 to over 3 acre lots. Most lots are around 2 acres. Across Gallows Hill Rd. from Durham Hill Farms is a mini-development of four homes on large lots called Durham Meadows.
Properties don't turn over often in Durham Township - there were only five properties sold in 2008. In the past five years, there were two significant sales - a 56-acre newer construction home on 56 acres sold for $1.9 million, and a 13 acre hilltop contemporary overlooking the Delaware River, with a private dock, a beach, barns, and an old stone farmhouse converted to a guest house which sold for $1,650,000. Both properties are used as second homes.
In all, 15 properties have sold in Durham Township since 2004 including reproduction farmhouses, stone and cedar contemporary, colonial reproductions, a few capes and ranch houses, a few fixer-upper properties, and one reproduction of an arts and crafts design home.
The area is served by the Palisades School District.
Durham Township may be small, but it has much to offer full time residents, weekenders, retirees and visitors.
© Gail Nagele-Hopkins