The following history of North Hopewell Township is taken from excerpts from the book: History of York County, Pennsylvania, by George R. Prowell 1907:
The area now embraced in Hopewell, East Hopewell and North Hopewell townships, was included in the township of Hopewell, which was laid out inthe year 1767. From 1743 to 1767, Hopewell formed a part of Shrewsbury Township.
A petition signed by a large number of persons May 5, 1883, was presented to the court at York, presided over by Hon. John Gibson, asking for a division of Hopewell into two townships. It was decided however that it was best to divide Hopewell into three townships. In order to accomplish this object, a second partition was presented in August, 1884, to the court, signed by a large number of landowners, asking for the division of Hopewell into three townships to be known as Hopewell, East Hopewell and North Hopewell.
Schools
North Hopewell Township One-Room Schools – Click on the hyperlink to be taken to the page with more information on many of the one-room schools that were in North Hopewell Township
Churches
St. Paul’s Lebanon Lutheran Church – Lebanon, at first called Flinchbaugh’s, and sometimes known as Stabley’s was organized in 1812, as a union church (German Reformed and Lutheran). The original tract of land, at first consisting of little more than an acre, was deeded by Frederick Flinchbaugh and John Stabley for the sum of $30.
Rev. John Herbst organized the Lutheran congregation, Michael Sechrist and George Barshinger were the trustees. The first Reformed clergyman was Rev. F. A. Sholl. The original building stood until 1859, when a new and commodious church was erected. Benjamin Tyson was one of the trustees at the time of erection. Some of the oldest members of the church and officers were Frederick Flinchbaugh, John Stabley, Jacob Diehl, Henry Sentz, Michael Sechrist and George Barshinger. The Reformed congregation which worshipped in the church sold their interests in 1892 to the Lutherans and erected a handsome brick church about a half mile southward.
Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church – Situated in the southern part of North Hopewell Township, Mt. Pleasant Church was founded in 1857 and organized by Rev. Andrew Berg. A church building was erected that year upon land deeded to the church by Abraham Miller. Before the establishment of this church, a Sunday School was conducted in Miller’s stone school house just down the road. This caught the attention of Rev. Berg who encouraged the organization of a congregation and the building of a church.