Rohrbachs Sawmill

About forestry service, 17730, Dewart, PA, US, Pennsylvania

Bernville (Pennsylvania Dutch: Bannwill) is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 905 at the 2020 census. Bernville is bordered by Penn Township to the north, east, and south and by Jefferson Township to the west. The borough would have been a county seat of a small county allegedly with borders going as far west as Myerstown and as north as Meckville. Although no official source states it, it's said the county name would have been Tulpehocken County. == History == Before European settlers arrived in the Tulpehocken Creek valley, the area was inhabited by the Lenape people. In 1723, thirty-three Palatine families from Schoharie, New York, moved to the confluences of the Tulpehocken and Northkill Creeks. By 1735, a saw and grist mill was located three and a half miles up the Tulpehocken river from Bernville. In 1737, Stephanus Umbenhauer immigrated from Bern, Switzerland, and purchased 220 acres (0.89 km2) from Thomas Penn. In 1819, Stephanus' grandson, Johann Thomas Umbenhauer, set aside 46 acres (190,000 m2) to be divided into 62 lots.