The second hundred years

   As Bristol observed its Centennial in 1781, the Revolutionary War was still being fought. Bristol was a thriving market town, destined to become a famous resort and then a bustling commercial and industrial center.

    With the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the Revolutionary War ended and life settled back to normal conditions.

    Bristol was first famous as a resort, a "watering place" called the Bath Springs. Wealthy and distinguished people traveled by boat and stagecoach to the Bath Springs to enjoy the mineral springs and the fine accommodations. In 1810, Dr. Joseph P. Minnick built a hotel and a race course. Bristol's fame and fortune grew as hundreds of people came to vacation, to dine and to enjoy the horseraces at the Bath and Badger courses.

    As the Bath Springs were enjoying popularity and prosperity, Bristol's business community began what was to become a thriving shipbuilding industry. Located at the Wharf and Mill Street areas and at Jones Shipyard on Radcliffe Street, shipbuilding became the preeminent business in the area. Shipbuilders became wealthy, and success was enjoyed by merchants, traders, chandlers and hotelkeepers. Among the hotels serving vacationers and shippers were the Fountain House (originally the King George II Inn, it became the Fountain House, the Delaware House and then again, the King George II Inn), the General Brown, the King of Prussia, the Cross Keys, the Rising Sun, the Patton House, the Cottage Hotel (originally the Temperance Hotel but changed to the Cottage for want of patronage), the Farmers' Hotel, the Exchange Hotel (later the Clossen House), the Bath, and the Yellow Tavern.

    Not the least of those who flourished were Bristol's sailors and captains. Capt. John Green was the first American to carry America's flag to China. Othaer prominent Bristolians were captains Sims, Stackhouse, Fenton and Hawk. Among those building ships were John Reed and Stackhouse. Reed built The Morning Star, considered the finest schooner in America.

    As steam replaced sail, Bristol's location and business climate kept it at the forefront of the shipping industry. Such was Bristol's fame that John Fitch decided to test the first steamboat here in 1787.

    Besides industry and commerce, Bristol also led in government. The Court House which stood on Cedar St. was the Bucks County Seat in 1705. The county's first Post Office was opened on Mill Street in 1790 with Col. Joseph Clunn as Postmaster.

    Bristol, and the United States, developed and gained strength following the inauguration of Washington in 1789. That growth continued u nder Adams and Jefferson while Bristol continued to expand as a market town, a trade and shipping center, and a resort.

    During Jefferson's term, the famous duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton took place and Bristol played a small part in that saga. Following the duel, Burr fled through New Jersey and crossed the Delaware on the Bloomsdale ferry. He spent the evening at the Yellow Tavern on Radcliffe Street.

    During the early 1800's, Bristol continued to grow. The Bath Springs reached their height of popularity and business and industry thrived. The War of 1812 did little to slow that growth. The Farmers Bank, Bucks County's first, was opened in 1814. Joseph and Abraham Warner opened a wooden mill in 1815. In 1816, the first black church group, Bethel A.M.E. was formed

    In 1827, a major event occurred in Bristol's economic development when ground was broken for the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal. By 1830, when the New Hope to Bristol section of the canal was completed, Bristol was lively town of 1,200 people and a principal Eastern coal port. Active coal merchants were the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co., Asa Packer & Co., Lewis Audenreid & Co. and the Buck Mountain Coal Co. Coal merchants and shippers thrived, as well as retailers, barge workers and boatmen. Hotels, particularly the Beaver Meadow House on Radcliffe Street, were kept busy, and farmers did a good business selling grain and hay for the many horses used in the coal business.

    Because so many of its people were employed, still another business grew in Bristol. Building Associations were formed to grant mortgages to the many workers who desired to buy their own homes. The first of these was the Bristol Building Association, then came the Franklin, the Union, the Home, the Fidelity Building Association, and the Merchants & Mechanics' Building Association.

    During this period, Bristol's development continued. The Town Hall was built in 1831. By 1834, the horse-drawn railroad had arrived. Its route took it from Trenton down Market Street to the Wharf where passengers to Philadelphia boarded a steamboat for the balance of the journey.

    In 1837, the first public school house was built on Wood Street. James Anderson taught 126 boys and Annie N. Smith taught 120 girls in the disciplines of English grammar, geography, history, arithmetic, expositor, writing, spelling, reading and weighing. Mr. Anderson was paid $65 a month and Miss Smith $30 a month.

    A silk factory was opened at Radcliffe & Washington Streets in 1844. Mulberry trees were planted for several blocks and their leaves were used to feed the silk worms.

    By 1850, Bristol had grown to more than 2,500 people, Millard Fillmore was President, and Bristol citizens were getting their news in the town's first newspaper, the Bristol Gazette, published by William Bache.

    Towards 1860, Bristol's fortunes took a decided turn for the worse. The Bath Springs no longer enjoyed great popularity and the market town was not what it once was. Worst of all, Bristol had declined drastically as a coal port because of competition from other ports and from the railroads. To match Bristol's sad decline, the country itself was in turmoil. It was 1861 and the United States was torn by the Civil War.

    Heeding the call of Lincoln and of the country, Bristol men fought in great numbers and with much gallantry. From a town of only 3,000 people, 505 soldiers and sailors, and 34 officers answered the call to arms. So great was Bristol's turnout that three full companies were formed with just Bristol men. Those proud companies were:
            Company I, 3rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserves
            Company I, 17th Regiment, Reynold's Division of Pennsylvania Militia
            Company G, 43rd Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division was Capt. Burnet Landreth.

    In command of Co. I, 17th Regiment, Reynold's Division was Capt. Burnet Landreth. Although proud of the courage and spirit of his men, he was not above some mild criticism of their vanity. Said Landreth, "How vain were many of these Officers in their new blue coats with brass buttons and shoulder straps sometimes sashes, swords and spurs. "

The highest ranking Bristol man was Brigadier Gen. William H. Montgomery, a West Point graduate and commander of the 1st New Jersey Brigade.

CharlesEllet, Jr.,born in Falls Township, moved to Bristol at the age of eight. Trained as a civil engineer, he was asked by Secretary of War Stanton to assist in the technical aspects of the war. Ellet devised ram-boats which were instrumental in taking Fort Pillow and later, the City of Memphis. For this great contribution, Ellet was commissioned a colonel in the Union Army.
Charles Augustus Conn, a Bristol shoemaker and barber, served under Gen. Mott of Bordentown and Col. burling of Burlington. Conn was wounded at the Battle of Olustee in 1864. In later years, he served as Steward, Sunday School Superintendent and Trustee of the Bethel A.M.E. Church on Wood Street.

By all accounts Bristol's greatest Civil War hero was Capt. Henry Clay Beatty. A successful lawyer, Beatty was among the first to join the Pennsylvania Reserves at the outbreak of the war. He was assigned to Company I, 3rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserves and was soon named company commander.

Beatty and his company fought gallantly at Richmond. Later, at the Battle of White Oak Swamp, Beatty was severely wounded but stayed with his men throughout the fighting. Such was Beatty's courage that the Regimental Commander, Col. Sickles, wrote a letter of commendation to Gov. Curtin citing the Bristol captain's devotion and spirit.

At Bull Run, Beatty was again wounded while leading his men. Again, he stayed on the front throughout the battle. So serious was his wound that Beatty's arm had to be amputated the next day.

Unable to continue as a fighting soldier, Beatty was assigned to Washington but illness and injury had taken a devastating toll. He died quietly during the steamship journey. Henry Clay Beatty was brought back to Bristol and was buried in St. James Cemetery.

As the Civil War ended, Bristol faced the task of rebuilding its spirit. The Bath Springs were little more than a memory. The coal port and shipbuilding businesses had waned.

Into this breach stepped Bristol's great industrialists - first Joshua Peirce, and the William H. Grundy, Thomas B. Harkins, Charles Peirce, James M. Slack, Thomas Hughes, Samuel Appleton, Frederick Nevegold, Joseph Sherman, Francis Fenimore and William Wilson.

In 1876, Joshua Peirce founded the Bristol Improvement Co. and that organization went on to develop the Keystone Mill, the Star Mills, The Wall Paper Mills, The Corona Leather Works, the Patent Leather Co. and the Standard Cast Iron Pipe & Fondry Co. The Bristol Carpet Mills were built for Thomas L. Leedom & Co. and the Bristol Forge, the Keystone Forge Co. and the Bristol Woolen Mills were founded. More new businesses flourished - the Livingston Mills, the Bristol Foundry, the sash mill of Peirce & Williams and the Bristol Rolling Mills. The Bristol Worsted Mills were founded and were later taken over by William H. Grundy & Co. Mill Street was a brisk retailing center and the entire community boomed.

As Bristol closed its second hundred years, the town was a vibrant industrial and commercial center. Swain, Linden, Locust and Maple Streets had just been opened and a new grist mill was operating at Mill and Pond Streets. Bristol had two brass bands and a drum corps, and its best baseball team was the Keystone Club. A waterworks had been built, there was a circulating library and the town had three weekly newspapers.

By 1880, Bristol was a busy town of 5,000 people, Allen L. Garwood was its burgess and Rutherford B. Hayes was the country's president.