How did Davisville, Pennsylvania get it’s name? This page provides a brief history about the naming of Davisville, Pennsylvania, the people who settled it, and the industry rising within it.
Village on the Upper Southampton-Warminster Township line on Route 252. It was named for General John Davis, veteran of the second war with Great Britain, son of John Davis, veteran of the Revolution, and grandson of William Davis, of Welsh-Irish antecedents, who came from Great Britain to America about 1740 and settled in Solebury Township, near Neely’s Mill. The village took its name Davisville when General Davis was appointed first postmaster in 1826. The post office was removed to Southampton June 16, 1865, but after a year of strenuous opposition by the villagers it was returned to Davisville November 1, 1866, when Mrs. Rachel Hart was appointed postmistress, and it has been a post office ever since. General Davis was actually the founder of Davisville, as its growth dates from the year 1827 when he built his store and dwelling. A saw mill had thrived here for a century before it closed down, power being supplied by a branch of Pennypack Creek. A “select school” for girls, opened by Isabella McCarren in 1834, was the village’s first educational institution. Davisville Seminary opened its doors in 1834. Davisville Baptist Church was organized March 31, 1849. The first experimental exhibition of his steamboat invention was made by John Fitch on a stream or pond within a few minutes’ walk from the church, on land owned by Joseph Longstreth, with whom Fitch lived for some time after the Revolution.