Fairless Hills began its modern life circa 1951 when developer Danherst Corporation began erecting pre-fabricated homes built by Gunnison.
Gunnison Magichomes, Inc. was established in 1936 and enjoyed a moderate success prior to World War II. Early in 1944 US Steel acquired a majority interest in the company, and in 1946 constructed a brand new manufacturing facility.
U.S. Steel financed the development of Fairless Hills with a loan of $50-million. The name was bestowed in honor of Benjamin Fairless, then president of U.S. Steel; he was also the namesake of the "Fairless Works" the plant which employed most of Fairless Hills' new homeowners. Ownership in the Danherst development was not restricted to plant employees.
Median age of Fairless Hills homes is circa 1953. Interior living space ranges from less than 1,000 to more than 4,000 sqft., many of the homes having been (and continuing to be) extended over the decades. The median interior living space is approximately 1,250 sqft. Lot sizes range from approximately one-tenth to nine-tenths of an acre with a median of approximately 0.18 acre.
One story (unconfirmed) suggests that the homes along Canterbury Road were built somewhat larger and on roomier lots, intended for purchase by Fairless Works management. (Typical lot in the development was less than 1/4 acre; Canterbury lots seem to almost 1/2 acre.)
Fairless Hills is roughly bounded by Old Lincoln Highway (Business Route 1) and Oxford Valley Road on the North and East, and by the Pennsbury school campus and Levittown's Vermilion Hills on the south and east.
Main thoroughfares through Fairless Hills are Trenton Road, Olds Boulevard, Oxford Valley Road.
Falls township is home to National Register Properties. The Fallsington Historic District (a well preserved 18th century village) is located in the northeastern part of the township, and the Sotcher Farmhouse (aka Three Arches, circa 1712) is what remains of Clover Hill Farm, the site of the original 1,500-home (or so) Danherst development. Pennsbury Manor is a 1938 reconstruction of William Penn's "country home" built circa 1680s.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Andover Circle • Andover Road • Antler Court • Auburn Road • Austin Circle • Austin Drive • Beaumont Road • Bedford Road • Berkshire Road • Blough Court • Blough Road • Brentwood Road • Buck Drive • Canterbury Road • Cardiff Road • Chatham Road • Chelsea Place • Chelsea Road • Chesterton Road • Chilton Way • Collingswood Road • Coventry Road • Devon Road • Doe Run Drive • Doone Place • Doone Road • Dunbury Road • Dunedin Road • Durham Court • Edgemont Road • Eldridge Road • Elmwood Road • Fairfax Road • Fairfield Road • Glenmar Circle • Glenmar Road • Gloucester Road • Goble Court • Guilford Road • Hanford Road • Hood Boulevard • Indianola Road • Ingram Road • Kavanaugh Road • Lebbie Lane • Olds Boulevard • Oxford Valley Road • Parkway Circle • Parkway Drive • Pheasant Lane • Placemont Road • Queen Anne Drive North • Queen Anne Drive South • Raleigh Way • Southway Drive • Stanford Road • Stanwood Road • Suffolk Road • Tewksbury Road • Trenton Circle • Trenton Road • Unity Drive • Valmore Road • Waltham Road • Warwick Road • Welsford Road • Winfield Court • Wistar Road • Wyandotte Road • Yorkshire Lane • Yorkshire Road