Historic Langhorne

The house on the southeast corner of Maple and Bellevue went up in 1763 for Gilbert Hicks, a local magistrate who served the British Crown. Few buildings in Langhorne are older, and few have seen as much history.

Loyal to the King

Gilbert remained loyal to the British Crown as revolution spread. In 1776 he opened court in the King’s name, an act many neighbors considered treason. Tipped off by fellow Loyalists, he stayed away from the courthouse, and local tradition says he hid in a neighbor’s attic before slipping out of the area. He made his way to Nova Scotia, received land and a pension from the Crown, and never returned. His Langhorne property was seized.

The house soon had unexpected guests. With the Hicks property seized, Gilbert’s son Isaac and his family lived upstairs while the ground floor served as a hospital, and on December 26, 1776, Isaac allowed the New Jersey Legislature, forced out of its own state by the fighting, to meet there “to consider the state of the country.”

A hospital for Washington's soldiers

In late 1776, Dr. William Shippen Jr., Washington’s director of hospitals west of the Hudson, chose Four Lanes End for a hospital to care for soldiers suffering through that harsh winter. When the troops arrived on December 8, the Hicks House, the tannery, and the Quakers’ meetinghouse and schoolhouse all became sick wards, while officers and surgeons lodged in the Richardson House across the street. Records suggest no other Army hospitals operated north of Philadelphia at the time.

About 166 soldiers, from seven of the original thirteen colonies and from the battles of Trenton and Princeton, died here, most from disease and starvation rather than wounds. Eleven-year-old Jane Richardson watched from her window as sleds carried coffins from the Hicks House to a burial ground down the street, where the men were laid three or four to a grave. The troops finally left on May 15, 1777.

One story from that account has been handed down for generations: a grieving father who had traveled from Boston to see his dying son at the hospital, a son he said was the ninth he had lost in the war. For about two hundred years the burials were known only through stories like this one. Then, in 1992, an archaeological survey of the site found rose-head coffin nails still attached to wood and the remains of young men, confirming the story. The burial ground at South Bellevue and Flowers Avenues is now preserved in their honor.

From home to Parry Building

The house stayed a private home until around 1902, when William B. Parry bought it and turned it into shops and offices. A major expansion followed in 1912, and a local newspaper of the day reported that the enlarged building would hold eight stores, 21 offices, two apartments and a restaurant. Over the years the corner storefronts held local businesses such as Langhorne Drugs, and today a restaurant is back in the building with El Limon.

The house's original address was 106 S. Bellevue Avenue. As the property grew, more commercial addresses were added, and today El Limon welcomes guests at 108 S. Bellevue Avenue.