Newtown Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Twining Farm
Newtown Heritage Walk
Photographed by Pete Skillman, December 23, 2024
1. Twining Farm Marker
Inscription.
Twining Farm. . The land where this farmhouse sits was once part of a tract of 500 acres of land originally patented to Thomas Rowland that was bounded by Swamp Road, the Neshaminy Creek and Newtown Creek. This was one of the first patents granted in the area and it was considered particularly valuable because it was fertile farmland and it had direct access to the Neshaminy and Newtown Creeks.
Between 1896 and 1702, Stephen Twining purchased 690 acres of land in the area including the entire original Rowland tract. Stephen Twining was a leader of the Friends community in Newtown. David Twining was another notable member of this family who also owned property in Newtown in the middle of the 18th century and was an important figure in Newtown history. He served two terms in the State Legislature, the Newtown Library Company was housed in his home, he was one of the largest land owners in the area and on his property he built an early tannery and one of the first grist mills. In addition, David and his wife raised the painter, Edward Hicks, after his mother died.
The original Twining homestead was probably built on the Stephen Twining tract but the oldest dateable section of the Twining Farmhouse was built about 1750 by Stephen's son Nathaniel Twining. This farmhouse was built in at least five sections (1750, 1800, 1850, 1920, 1925) and is typical of the additive nature of many buildings in the area. When a family grew in size or wealth, a new section was simply added on to the end of the structure. This farmhouse remained in the Twining family until the middle of the 19th century. It had several owners until 1940 when Charles D. Lownes, Sr. purchased the 136 acre "Klett Farm" property from Robert Kenderdine and Raymond Cornell. He and his sons Charles Jr., Harold and William farmed the property up until it was sold in 1985 and it is now part of the shopping center.
Site Sponsor: The Corners at Newtown Place - Managed by The Quaker Group
Design and layout donated by Mike DiFiori, www.BuzzGraphicDesign.com, Newtown, PA.
[Captions]: The Residence of David Twining by Edward Hicks, 1845-1847, located off Barclay Street depicting David and Elizabeth Twining and a young Hicks (lower right) Courtesy, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
View of the Lownes Farm circa 1950.
The land where this farmhouse sits was once part of a tract of 500 acres of land originally patented to Thomas Rowland that was bounded by Swamp Road, the Neshaminy Creek and Newtown Creek. This was one of the first patents granted in the area and it was considered particularly valuable because it was fertile farmland and it had direct access to the Neshaminy and Newtown Creeks.
Between 1896 and 1702, Stephen Twining purchased 690 acres of land in the area including the entire original Rowland tract. Stephen Twining was a leader of the Friends community in Newtown. David Twining was another notable member of this family who also owned property in Newtown in the middle of the 18th century and was an important figure in Newtown history. He served two terms in the State Legislature, the Newtown Library Company was housed in his home, he was one of the largest land owners in the area and on his property he built an early tannery and one of the first grist mills. In addition, David and his wife raised the painter, Edward Hicks, after his mother died.
The original Twining homestead was probably built on the Stephen Twining
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tract but the oldest dateable section of the Twining Farmhouse was built about 1750 by Stephen's son Nathaniel Twining. This farmhouse was built in at least five sections (1750, 1800, 1850, 1920, 1925) and is typical of the additive nature of many buildings in the area. When a family grew in size or wealth, a new section was simply added on to the end of the structure. This farmhouse remained in the Twining family until the middle of the 19th century. It had several owners until 1940 when Charles D. Lownes, Sr. purchased the 136 acre "Klett Farm" property from Robert Kenderdine and Raymond Cornell. He and his sons Charles Jr., Harold and William farmed the property up until it was sold in 1985 and it is now part of the shopping center.
Site Sponsor: The Corners at Newtown Place - Managed by The Quaker Group
Design & layout donated by Mike DiFiori, www.BuzzGraphicDesign.com, Newtown, PA.
[Captions]:
The Residence of David Twining by Edward Hicks, 1845-1847, located off Barclay Street depicting David and Elizabeth Twining and a young Hicks (lower right) Courtesy, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Colonial Williamsburg
Photographed by Pete Skillman, December 23, 2024
2. Twining Farm Marker - wide view with house
Foundation.
View of the Lownes Farm circa 1950.
Erected 2007 by Newtown Historic Association. (Marker Number 9.)
Location. 40° 13.629′ N, 74° 56.339′ W. Marker is in Newtown, Pennsylvania, in Bucks County. It is in Newtown Township. It is on South Sycamore Street south of Richboro Road, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 125 S Sycamore St, Newtown PA 18940, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Pennsylvania and in Greater Philadelphia. It is also in the American Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, New Netherland, and one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Credits. This page was last revised on July 19, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 24, 2024, by Pete Skillman of Townsend, Delaware. This page has been viewed 566 times since then and 100 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on December 24, 2024, by Pete Skillman of Townsend, Delaware.
