Bristol Township is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 54,582 at the 2010 census, making it the 13th largest municipality in the state. Bristol Township, along with Bristol Borough, is a cultural hub for Lower Bucks County, hosting celebrations of African and Latino heritage. Parts of the township consist of the neighborhoods of Fairless Hills and

Levittown Levittown is the name of several large suburban housing developments created in the United States (including one in Puerto Rico) by William J. Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. Built after World War II for returning white veterans and thei ...

History

Before Bristol Township was settled, it was populated by

Delaware Indians The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

. It was formed as Buckingham Township in 1692 and was renamed Bristol Township in 1702. The springs at Bath, in Bristol Township, were popular among wealthy Philadelphians for a time, but lost popularity to those in Saratoga Springs, New York. The

Delaware Canal The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, more commonly called the Delaware Canal, runs for parallel to the right bank of the Delaware River from the entry locks near the mouth of the Lehigh River and terminal end of the Lehigh Canal at E ...

was built in 1831 and connected Bristol to Easton, 60 miles to the north. Still, until the 1950s, Bristol Township was largely agricultural. In 1952, William Levitt began construction of his

, which was located partly in Bristol Township. The Phineas Pemberton House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The War Dog Memorial, located in front of the Bristol Township Municipal Building, was dedicated in 2006.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (6.33%) is water. Bristol Township is located at a crossroads of

U.S. Route 13 U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to US 1 in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville. ...

Pennsylvania Route 413 Pennsylvania Route 413 (PA 413) is a , north–south state highway in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The route runs from the New Jersey state line on the Burlington–Bristol Bridge over the Delaware River outside Bristol, where the road continue ...

, the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 276), Interstate 95, and Interstate 295. Some of these roads mentioned originated as Lenni Lenape river trails along the Delaware River. This has made Bristol Township an ideal location. Named places, past and present, in Bristol Township include Bath,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensive ...

, Edgely, Emilie, part of Levittown, Midway, Newportville, Pickpocket, and Pine Grove.MacReynolds, George, ''Place Names in Bucks County, Pennsylvania'', Doylestown, Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, PA, 1942 Natural features include Mill Creek,

Neshaminy Creek Neshaminy Creek is a United States Geological Survey. National Hydrography DatasetThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 stream that runs entirely through Bucks County, Pennsylvania, rising south of the borough of Chalfont, where its north a ...

, and

Queen Anne Creek Queen Anne Creek is a tributary of Mill Creek, part of the Delaware River drainage basin in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Rising just north of Fallsington, it meets with its confluence with Mill Creek in Bristol Township.MacReynolds, George, ''Pl ...

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, the township was 77.3% Non-Hispanic White, 10.2% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 2.8% Asian, and 2.8% were two or more races. 7.4% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of the census of 2000, there were 55,521 people, 19,733 households, and 14,503 families residing in the township. The population density was 3,439.4 people per square mile (1,328.2/km²). There were 20,486 housing units at an average density of 1,269.1/sq mi (490.1/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 86.13% White, 8.45%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

, 0.21% Native American, 2.14% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oce ...

, 1.55% from other races, and 1.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.85% of the population. There were 19,733 households, out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.3% were married couples living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.26. In the township the population was spread out, with 25.8% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males. The median income for a household in the township was $48,090, and the median income for a family was $54,308. Males had a median income of $38,112 versus $28,797 for females. The per capita income for the township was $19,090. About 5.4% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.8% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Bristol Township students attend schools in the

Bristol Township School District Bristol Township School District is a public school district located in Levittown, Pennsylvania (U.S.). It covers Bristol Township in Bucks County. It has 5,971 students in grades PK, K-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 15.23 to 1. The distric ...

, and the notable public high school is Harry S. Truman High School. Until 1990, for a period of over 12 years, the Lower Bucks Christian Academy leased the Benjamin Franklin Junior High School facility. That year, the school district denied renewal of the lease since it wished to repurpose the building as an elementary school.Gallagher, David F.
School's Prospects More Dim

Archive
. '' The Philadelphia Inquirer''. June 27, 1991. Retrieved on November 29, 2015.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Bristol Twp has a Humid subtropical climate (''Cfa''). ''Cfa'' climates are characterized by all months having an average mean temperature > , at least four months with an average mean temperature ≥ , at least one month with an average mean temperature ≥ and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. Although most summer days are slightly humid in Bristol Twp, episodes of heat and high humidity can occur with

heat index The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is al ...

values > . Since 1981, the highest air temperature was on 07/06/2010, and the highest daily average mean dew point was on 08/13/2016. The average wettest month is July which corresponds with the annual peak in thunderstorm activity. Since 1981, the wettest calendar day was on 08/27/2011. During the winter months, the average annual extreme minimum air temperature is . Since 1981, the coldest air temperature was on 01/22/1984. Episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with

wind chill Wind chill or windchill (popularly wind chill factor) is the lowering of body temperature due to the passing-flow of lower-temperature air. Wind chill numbers are always lower than the air temperature for values where the formula is valid. When ...

values < . The average annual snowfall (Nov-Apr) is between and .

Ice storm An ice storm, also known as a glaze event or a silver storm is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least of ice on ...

s and large snowstorms depositing ≥ occur once every few years, particularly during

nor’easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use o ...

s from December through February.

Ecology

According to the

A. W. Kuchler August William Kuchler (born ''August Wilhelm Küchler''; 1907–1999) was a German-born American geographer and naturalist who is noted for developing a plant association system in widespread use in the United States. Some of this database has bec ...

U.S.

potential natural vegetation In ecology, potential natural vegetation (PNV), also known as Kuchler potential vegetation, is the vegetation that would be expected given environmental constraints (climate, geomorphology, geology) without human intervention or a hazard event ...

types, Bristol Twp would have a dominant vegetation type of Appalachian Oak (''104'') with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern Hardwood Forest (''25''). The plant hardiness zone is 7a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of . The spring bloom typically begins by April 7 and fall color usually peaks by November 4.

Transportation

Bristol Township is the location of a major highway junction between Interstate 95, the

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's we ...

( Interstate 276), and Interstate 295. This interchange is still partially under construction, with the project to build it ongoing. Interstate 95 follows the Pennsylvania Turnpike between the interchange and the

Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge The Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge is a four-lane, steel through arch bridge crossing the Delaware River between Burlington Township, Burlington County, New Jersey and Bristol Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. As a part of Interst ...

over the Delaware River. Other highways serving Bristol Township include

, which runs southwest–northeast through the township along Bristol Pike, and

, which runs north–south through the township along Veterans Highway and leads to the Burlington–Bristol Bridge over the Delaware River. SEPTA provides bus service to Bristol Township along Suburban Bus routes , and . SEPTA Regional Rail's Trenton Line serves the

section of the township at Croydon station, with other nearby stations including Bristol station in the borough of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and Levittown station in the borough of Tullytown.

References

External links

Bristol Township
{{authority control Townships in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania populated places on the Delaware River