Springfield's first known school dates back to at least 1752 when John Morton's famous 1752 map of Springfield showed a schoolhouse on the Old Central School site. This original "Yellow School House" was torn down in 1852 to make way for a new schoolhouse, and a datestone in the front chimney proclaims "Springfield Central School - 1852." The first teacher in this new building was Dr. J. L. Forwood who in the 1880's became Mayor of Chester. Until 1921 it was used continuously as a school when the then-new-but-now-demolished Central School was constructed on the corner of Saxer & Powell, on the field facing today's firehouse. In 1923, the old schoolhouse reopened to accommodate "overflow" students from the new Central School, but by 1927 the last classes where held here. For many years the American Legion used the building, and more recently Springfield Athletic Association has made it headquarters. The schoolhouse now hosts gatherings of many community organizations, including those of the Springfield Historical Society.

This imposing home appears as a three-story stone house with mansard roof in the style of the 1870's, but that is only its latest style. About 1744, on what was a 117-acre farm an original farmhouse was built, a smaller two story structure that was subsequently connected with today's imposing Victorian stone house. The original home, built by George Maris, Jr., probably was used at first by a tenant farmer. At the time of the Revolution, the James Rhoads family purchased the house/farm and it remained in the Rhoads family for almost 100 years. Samuel Hart or his heirs owned it 1873-1911 and during that time the larger "new" section of the house was added with the stylish mansard roof with windows projecting through the "fish scale" slate shingles. There are fireplaces in almost every room and a second floor ballroom.

The Township Building was designed by Springfield architect T. Norman Mansell and built in the 1950's on the former Bennett Farm site. Their beautiful farm with an 18-room farmhouse had a formal gardens, a sun dial, and sprawling veranda. On the site of today's police station stood a windmill. About where the Library is located was the Bennett's barn, and across Powell Road there was a race track. At the foot of the hill, near the boulders and along Brookside Road, there was a pond used by wintertime ice skaters.

These 18 homes of stone/stucco date from 1926 and are a fine example of Elizabethan Tudor Revival style. Designed as a reproduction of the English village near Windsor Castle, they are an example of an early planned suburban community. Notable architectural elements include terra cotta, roofs, gateways, and garden walls. Standing on former Wilcox Farm land, they were built by Wilcox with assistance from Red Arrow Lines President Merritt Taylor. Taylor and his Springfield Real Estate Co. built many 20th century homes here, partly to provide ridership for the new trolley line!

The Springfield Real Estate Company built this as their office in 1911. By the 1930's it was owned by an individual who began a private, subscription library for Springfield residents. In 1936 residents petitioned the Board of Commissioners to provide public support for library services, and they agreed. This lead to our first public library which opened in the then Township Building, a stone building where the new Fire House stands on Saxer Ave.

This two and one-half stone house appears on the 1752 Morton map and probably was built shortly before that date by Jonathan Taylor. From about 1838 to 1920 it was the farmhouse of the Charles Powell family and then served as a well-known "Speakeasy" during Prohibition. It later was vacated and vandalized, but has been extensively rebuilt with greystone, large additions and pillared wing.

A few years after the Civil War the Johnston family bought this land as well as that down to Powell Road. Within a short time granite quarrying began here. For over 50 years, the Johnston operation cut blocks of stone for construction of homes, curbing along some Springfield streets, the massive dam at Springton Reservoir (near Community College), and other purposes. Quite surprisingly, early this century the quarry also served as a movie location for dare devil parts of wild west movies, filmed here by one of America's first filmmakers, Siegemund Lubin. Those were the days when the Philadelphia area was the major center for filmmaking, before Hollywood! In the late 1920's quarrying came to an end because they hit the water table and a small lake formed. In 1931 the Township bought the abandoned quarry to create a town dump and for 25 years all manner of trash - including some broken-down Model T pickup trucks - went into the Big Hole. Unfortunately, also came hordes of rats and nesting pigeons, so a legitimate landfill program was inaugurated to create a usable piece of ground. On the recommendation of the Parks Board and the Garden Club a park was created in 1959.