Samuel Eastburn – 2003 Honored Citizen

Samuel Eastburn was born in Yorkshire England in 1702, the year Solebury Township was established, and immigrated to America with his parents in 1713.

In 1736 Samuel purchased 250 acres of land near the center of Solebury Township, the area approximately bounded by Sugan Road, Upper York Road, Comfort Road, and Laurel Road. A blacksmith by trade, he cleared the land for farming and constructed a rough log homestead “on high ground” just east of the village of Center Hill, now known as Solebury Village. Upper York Road (Rt. 263) had been cut through in 1711 and gave the family access to the river and to Willow Grove. The property remained in the Eastburn family until 1839.

Samuel traveled widely in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the ministry of the Society of Friends. The Eastburns were faithful members of the Buckingham Friends Meeting and were aware of the need for schooling for their own children and those of other families. Thus, in 1755 Samuel sold a lot of one-half acre to the meeting for 5 shillings. The location was on the southwestern corner of his tract at the junction of Sugan Road and Upper York Road. On this corner a stone one-room schoolhouse was built. It opened in 1756 and was called the Center Hill School. This is the one-room schoolhouse that today is the home of the Solebury Township Historical Society.