Middletown Township

Middletown Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 44,141 at the 2000 census. Many sections of Levittown, Pennsylvania, are located in the southern end of the township. The municipality surrounds the boroughs of Langhorne, Langhorne Manor, Penndel and Hulmeville; much of the township beyond Levittown uses Langhorne, Pennsylvania as a mailing address.

Also located within the township is Core Creek Park. The township also has many acres of protected woods, the largest being the woods behind Neshaminy High School. The Neshaminy Creek flows through these woods. There are also a few protected farms, significantly that of Styer's Orchards, which was saved from turning into the site of 632 homes in the late 1990s.

School District: Neshaminy

Homes for Sale in Middletown

Neighborhoods in Middletown Township

Location of Middletown Township in Bucks County

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 19.4 square miles, of which, 19.1 square miles of it is land and 0.3 square miles of it is water.

Housing

Middletown has a large mix of housing construction and time periods, which range from the fifties to the present time. Almost all the development that occurred in the fifties were the Levittown sections. Housing ranges from cheap single-family housing to exorbitant single-family living, townhomes, condos, assisted living, apartment complexes, deluxe apartment complexes, and 55+ housing. There are no trailer parks in Middletown. However there are a handful of homes constructed before 1950, even a few dating back to the 1700s, however they are individual homes and scattered, due to Levittown being the first planned development. The most significant area with scattered housing periods is the area of Parkland. Houses date from every decade of the twentieth century, and the 21st. Parkland has the lowest land value and family incomes than any other area of Middletown.

History

Middletown Township began as a farming community, with close proximity to trading towns such as Langhorne and Newtown. There are not many historical places located in the township apart from some homes constructed in the late 1700s.

Middletown Township was sparsely populated before 1950: there were only a little more than 2,000 people in 1940, compared to about 48,000 in 2006. Then William Levitt began his second Levittown, which included land of four municipalities, including that of Middletown. Over eight developments were constructed, each containing hundreds of homes. This marked the first planned housing division in the township. Meanwhile Langhorne Terrace was being constructed out of the Neshaminy Woods. As the decades worn on, hundreds and hundreds of acres of pristine woods, rolling countryside, and productive farms were swallowed into homes and businesses. In the 1970s, the Oxford Valley Mall was constructed, and at the time was named the country's largest mall for a short time. Middletown has taken action, and has preserved hundreds of acres now known as Core Creek Park, which includes the sprawling Lake Luxembourg. Many woodlands and a few farms have also been saved. The township has transformed from a bucolic, rural area to a highly desirable and well-planned community, with low crime and an award-winning school district. This is why the township is still seeing a growing population, attracting many out-of-state residents and international migrants. Middletown also benefits from its convenient location. Located in the near center of the county, Middletown is close to almost any other municipality nearby, including the cities of Philadelphia, Trenton, and Princeton. Both I-95 and U.S. 1 pass through the township, offering its residents an easy commute, with the exception of rush hour traffic, which too has been greatly reduced and continues to be in ongoing road projects.

History of the Middletown Township Police Department:

Middletown Township was incorporated in 1692, but it was not until August 1952 that a full-time police department was established with the hiring of Chief Howard C. Shook. Chief Shook was the first police officer and police chief in Middletown Township. He was sworn in 8/17/1952 and worked out of the township building on Hulmeville Road and West Richardson Avenue. Chief Shook had been with the Pennsylvania State Police prior to taking control of the newly established Middletown Township Police Department. The department's first police vehicle, a 1952 Ford Deluxe, was provided to Chief Shook in October 1952.

There were no police radios before 1955 so officers had an interesting way of learning the public needed assistance. If the public needed the police then they had to call a number that was answered by an employee of Penndel Body Works. Penndel Body Works was one of the few businesses that was staffed twenty-four hours a day. The police officer had to drive past Penndel Body Works, which was located on East Lincoln Highway where Bucks County International is currently situated, and look to see if a signal light was lit. If the light was lit then the officer knew he had a call. He would then stop in to the business and get the call.

In 1959 the police department was relocated to 700 New Rodgers Road. The police department shared space with the township administration in the new building that was built at a cost of $190,000. At the time the department had the only jail with air-conditioned cells in the county. There were fifteen police officers on the force when they moved into the building. In 1965 an addition was added to the building but it was still shared by the township administration.

In 1982 the township purchased a new building at 2140 Trenton Road and moved the township administration offices to that location. The police department then took over the entire building at 700 New Rodgers Road.

In the spring of 2002, both the police department and the township offices were reunited again in a new municipal center located behind the Shoppes at Flowers Mill on Municipal Way. The new facility houses a state of the art multi-media training room, and an indoor firing range and is home to 53 full time police officers and administrative staff.

In 1983 Chief Howard Shook retired after more than thirty years of service. Chief Shook had served as President of the International Chiefs of Police Association and was a respected member of the law enforcement community. By 1983 the police force had grown to 45 sworn officers, including the Chief, (6) Lieutenants, (3) Sergeants, (5) Detectives and (30) Patrol Officers. Lt. James Duncan was named the Acting Chief of Police from 1/1/83 until 8/2/83 when Chief Michael J. Chitwood was named the department's second Chief of Police.

Chief Chitwood had previously been a homicide detective in Philadelphia and was the most decorated officer in that department's history. He served as Police Chief from 8/2/83 until 4/1/88 when he left to become Chief of Police in Portland, Maine. Lt. Frank X. McKenna became the Acting Chief of Police and in 1989 was promoted to Chief.

Chief McKenna was hired in 1957 and worked his way up through the ranks of the police department. He established most of the neighborhood watch associations that exist in the township. The department also established a bicycle patrol and Special Response team under his leadership.

The Middletown Township Detective Division has made several of the area's largest narcotics arrests in terms of drug forfeiture value. They were recently responsible for Bucks County's first major gang/drug bust when they shut down the notorious Bloods of Trenton resulting in numerous arrests.

In the fifty years of its existence the department has grown from one officer answering calls from signal lights to over fifty officers using digital radios and personal computers in their vehicles.

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