AREA HISTORY:  Newberry Township Formed, York County, PA

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Kathy Francis

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History of York County, Pennsylvania.  John Gibson, Historical Editor.
Chicago: F. A. Battey Publishing Co., 1886.
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TOWNSHIP FORMED – Page 624

Newberry Township was officially laid out by the authority of the court at 
Lancaster, in 1742, and previous to the erection of York County.  It then included 
within its boundaries nearly all of Fairview and the eastern third of Conewago.  In 
1783, when its boundaries were still unchanged, it contained 33,107 acres of 
assessed land, had 15 grist and saw-mills, 296 dwelling houses – 3 more than the 
town of York then, and more than any other township in the county.  The population 
at this period was 1,704, a large proportion of whom were English Quakers, and an 
intelligent and industrious people.  Even though of a non-resistant class, they 
early in the Revolution championed the cause of American freedom, and many of the 
sturdy sons of this township bravely fought in that war.  Since the formation of 
Fairview from it in 1803, and of eastern part of Conewago, in 1819, its area is less 
than one-half of the original size.  It is at present of an irregular shape.  Its 
northern boundary, separating it from Fairview, is an artificial line; on the east 
is the Susquehanna River; on the south Manchester and Conewago Townships, with the 
Conewago Creek as the boundary line; on the west is a portion of Fairview and 
Warrington, with the Stony Run as a dividing line.

Newberry Township contains much fertile land, but the vast portion of it is quite 
hilly, and there is considerable woodland.

In 1884 there were 672 taxable inhabitants, with a property valuation of $727,645, 
County tax, $2,578.

The population in 1880 was 2,244.