The first European settlers arrived in the area in the early 1700s and purchased several parcels of land from William Penn, the man credited for making the state of Pennsylvania. Most of these settlers were Quakers. Though the original homes and farms are no longer standing, U.S. Route 1 is laid over Baltimore Pike, which is one of the oldest maintained roads in the United States. A few years later, the local Quakers built a meeting house in 1728 called Hicksite, which was later expanded in 1788. This structure is still standing today and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Also, few other homes later built in the mid-1700s and after remain standing today and are in good condition.