History · Bristol

A history of Bristol,
since 1681

Postcards, papers and photographs of Bristol from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.

1681established
16old images & papers
2recent photos
From Bristol’s archive · credits on each photo

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Samuel Clift founded the Borough of Bristol, having received a land grant from Edmund Andros, who was then governor of New York. The grant became effective on March 14, 1681 (new style) or March 4, 1681 (old style) at the same time as William Penn's Charter from Charles II became effective. Clift was required by the grant to maintain ferry service across the Delaware River to Burlington, New Jersey, and to run a public house or inn. The inn later became known as the George II.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

built from the dates on the items below
1681Established
1776Verbindnis eines LehrjungenDocument
1800s5 items · Road from Philadela. to New York, seg…Document
1870Ed. H. Radcliffe's (Frankford, Pa.) business ma…Map
1880s2 items · 1940 Census Enumeration District Maps…Commons
1891Atlas of Bucks Co., PennaMap
1906PRR 2443 Bristol 1906Commons
1920s2 items · Bristol PA Presby Ch PHS085Commons
1930s2 items · Pennsylvania Railroad : Locomotive PR…LOC
1956Farmbrook Frolics by Ruth Truett in The Bristol…Commons
1960–1999Nothing yet. Family albums go here.
Help out

Finish Bristol’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

4 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District …, 1880: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from Bristol

See all 35 →
By decade

Bristol, decade by decade

Then & now

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as 1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Bucks County - Bristol - ED 9-11 - ED 9-24 (1880) and it appears here side by side.

🔁 Retake this view · +15

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history

From Wikimedia Commons (17) and the Library of Congress (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Bristol

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01