How did Cornell, Pennsylvania get it’s name? This page provides a brief history about the naming of Cornell, Pennsylvania, the people who settled it, and the industry rising within it.
An old settlement on the boundary line between Northampton and Southampton Townships. Bristol Road at this point crosses a road from Southampton to Richboro, sometimes called Middle Road. The hamlet is a mile northwest of Churchville. It was first known as Blue Bell from a tavern by that name, located on the Southampton side of Bristol Road. Little information has survived about the old inn except its name. The building was torn down many years ago and a store was built on its site. The hamlet was next called Springville, and that name appears on maps down to 1891. A post office was established in March, 1883, when the name was changed to Cornell, in honor of a prominent Huguenot-Dutch family, resident in that part of the county for more than two hundred years.
Source: MacReynolds, George. Place Names in Bucks County Pennsylvania, 2nd Edition. Doylestown, PA: The Bucks County Historical Society, 1955.