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Springfield
History
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Springfield's first established white settlement was made by the
Quaker pioneers who came with William Penn in 1682. They were mostly English
and Welsh, with a mixture of Scotch-Irish, Dutch, Swedish and German. The
main occupations were farming and grazing of cattle. The white newcomers
didn't have much trouble with the Indians, probably because of William
Penn's principles for dealing with the natives. Eventually, as more people
came, Indian trails were replaced by roads. Darby Road or the road to
Amosland, as it was called sometimes, was laid out in 1687. Today we know
this road as Springfield Road. The Delaware County Turnpike was opened in
1701 and is also known as Baltimore Pike. Even in colonial days, this was a
busy road. Since there are other settlements in the English colonies with
the same name of Springfield, it's possible that some of the homesick new
arrivals wanted to keep the familiar name of their village.
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