At one time the land that is now Shrewsbury Borough was part of one large area called Shrewsbury Township. In 1797, Baltzer (Balthaser) Faust began to develop the village by laying out lots on both sides of Joppa Road (later the York-Baltimore Turnpike and now Main Street). The early settlers were mostly German and the town was called Strassburg, which means “the town by the street or road.” By 1830 there was enough of an influx of English people to reinstate “Shrewsbury” as the official name. On August 9, 1834, the Borough of Shrewsbury was incorporated by an Act of the General Assembly.
The area delineated was approximately one mile long and one-half mile wide, stretching lengthwise along the turnpike, with the borough center located at the crossroads. Shrewsbury was honored on March 22, 1984, when the Historic District was entered on the National Register of Historic Places, which is kept by the Untied States Department of the Interior as the official list of the nation’s cultural resources worth of preservation and includes properties significant in architecture, American history, archaeology, culture and those embodying the precious heritage of the United States of America.
Photos courtesy of Neal Panzarella – taken early 1970s.
