The place was on the route of an old
Lenape trail to New York and developed into a typical colonial crossroads, with inns, stables, blacksmiths, and wheelwright shops.
William Penn granted land to physician Nicholas More and the tract became known as the "Manor of Moreland" and later,
Moreland Township. The place dates to the year 1711 when the
Old York Road was laid out from
Philadelphia to
New Hope where the
Delaware River was crossed at Coryell's Ferry. In 1792, mapmaker Reading Howell was said to remark upon the abundance of "willow trees in the marshy land" and the name "Willow Grove" stuck. During the
American Revolution, inn keeper Joseph Butler, proprietor of the Red Lion Inn at Willow Grove tended to wounded American soldiers. He was later arrested by the British and held prisoner in Philadelphia. In 1778, British troops under Lt. Col. Abercromby marched through Willow Grove to the
Battle of Crooked Billet in
Hatboro.
19th century By 1850, the village was a major crossroads and stage coach stop with five stage lines a day. George Rex, a blacksmith from
Germantown, had developed the Mineral Springs Inn in the early 19th century. The springs contained a high concentrate of minerals, like iron and sulfur, which had a reputation of curative powers. There was a recreational park with walking trails and gardens, mineral spring water baths and stables for 100 horses. It was likely at these stables that the
Irish emigrant Thomas Carolan (1806–1870) found work as a blacksmith and
farrier. In 1847, Carolan, wife Elizabeth Smyth (1817–1876) and their children had fled the
Great Hunger in Ireland aboard the
Patrick Henry. They made their way to Willow Grove where they lived until taken in by an elderly
Quaker couple with a 100-acre farm a mile to the north east of the village. They moved to a farm near
Fitzwatertown by 1865. In 1896, Willow Grove Park was established by the owners of the
Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company as an escape from the hot summers in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania &
Reading Railroad erected a station in Willow Grove. Soon it became a popular music venue where band leaders like
John Philip Sousa drew as many as 50,000 people a day to the concerts. The park later featured amusement rides and, for a time, was referred to as the "Music Capital of the World". ==Demographics==