Editing Marple Township, Pennsylvania (section)

== History ==
[[File:1687HolmeMapProvRoad.jpg|thumb|left|Portion of 1687 Holme map. Marple Township is on the right side of the map, below Newtown and above Springfield.]]
The Delaware County area was first settled by [[Quakers]] who came to Pennsylvania by the [[Delaware River]] on September 29, 1683. The ship they used was called the ''Endeavor.''<ref name="Thomas Massey House">{{cite web|last=Neal|first=Aaron|title=Thomas Massey House|url=http://www.thomasmasseyhouse.org/|publisher=ThomasMasseyHouse.org|access-date=19 March 2012}}</ref>  Marple Township was originally settled in 1684 and was recognized as a township in the same year.<ref name="Delaware County History">{{cite web|last=Lockhart|first=Keith|title=Delaware County History|url=http://delawarecountyhistory.com/marpletownship/index.html|publisher=Delaware County (PA) History|access-date=19 March 2012}}</ref> The original spelling of the township was Marpool, but the spelling was changed to Marple in the Thomas Holme map of 1687. The Marpool spelling may have been an error.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ashmeade|first1=Henry Graham|title=History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania|date=1884|publisher=L.H. Everts & Co.|location=Philadelphia|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924006215655/page/n792 579]|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924006215655|access-date=9 June 2017}}</ref>

One of the settlers who arrived on the ''Endeavor'' was [[Thomas Massey House#Thomas Massey|Thomas Massey]]. He obtained a 300-acre plantation in the township from [[William Penn]]. The [[Thomas Massey House|house]] he built on the land is still preserved today, as well as some of its surrounding gardens. Another historical family known as the Van Leers built several historical sites and lived in the area. Dr. [[Bernardhus Van Leer]] owned the nearby [[Van Leer House]] and his family built the nearby [[Van Leer Cabin]].

In 1948 Marple Township got its first police station. Before, there was no local branch, no patrols of the police, and only a county sheriff. Crimes were mostly settled between victims and perpetrators themselves.<ref name="police">Marple Township Police Department: ''[http://marplepolice.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17&Itemid=20 Brief Department History]''</ref>

Marple became a first-class township in 1961.