Boyd-Yardley House
Newtown Heritage Walk No. 17
This building sits on land that was on the edge of the Newtown Common next to the original townstead land of Christopher Taylor. This property was originally purchased in 1796 by James Boyd “Minister of the Gospel” of the Presbyterian Church for five shillings and the promise to pay yearly rent to the Trustees of the Newtown Commons. In addition to owning several properties in the area, Boyd was an important figure in the history of the church and Newtown. Serving as minister of the Presbyterian Church from 1769-1814, Boyd was well liked and respected. One of his first tasks was to build the new church on Sycamore Street. James Boyd was also committed to education and he was a founder, and for many years a teacher, at the Bucks County Academy and an original trustee of Dickinson College.
Boyd sold Lots 50 & 51 to brothers Joshua and Amos Yardley in about 1808 for $1 and the payment of back rent. Tax records indicate that the Yardley brothers were living in Newtown in 1807 and it is possible they on the property before they actually purchased it. Since 1742, this Yardley family had owned and farmed a large tract of land in Newtown Township near the Lower Makefield border. After the American Revolution, there was a movement in the country away from the farms and into towns, either because town life was seen as more attractive or because the land was worn out by over farming. This family seems to be typical of that trend. All of the children moved to the same block in Newtown and took up trades. Amos was a cooper, Enos and Joshua were carpenters and their sister Sarah married Isaac Reeder a harness maker.
The oldest section of the building was probably built in about 1808 by Amos Yardley and it is one of the earlier structures built on the Common. The structure was built in several sections with six winding staircases and eventually became two residences. In 1886, Michael Mann, a German immigrant and stone mason, purchased the property and members of the Mann and Keller families lived in the house until 1958. In 2003, the private residence was converted by the Tyrols into office space.
Marker is on Sycamore Street, on the right when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
