and factories for making carpets, wall paper and
patent leather. Bath Springs are located just outside the borough limits;
though not so famous as they were early in the 18th century, these springs
are still well known for the medicinal properties of their chalybeate
waters. Bristol was one of the first places to be settled in Pennsylvania
after William Penn received his charter for the province in 1681, and from
its settlement until 1725 it was the seat of government of the county. It
was laid out in 1697 and was incorporated as a borough in 1720; the present
charter, however, dates only from 1851.

BRISTOL, the shire-township of Bristol county, Rhode Island, U.S.A., about
15 m. S.S.E. of Providence, between Narragansett Bay on the W. and Mount
Hope Bay on the E., thus being a peninsula. Pop. (1900) 6901, of whom 1923
were foreign-born; (1905; state census) 7512; (1910) 8565; area 12 sq. m.
It is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford, and the Rhode Island
Suburban railways, and is connected with the island of Rhode Island by
ferry. Mount Hope (216 ft.), on the eastern side, commands delightful views
of landscape, bay and river scenery. Elsewhere in the township the surface
is gently undulating and generally well adapted to agriculture, especially
to the growing of onions. A small island, Hog Island, is included in the
township. The principal village, also known as Bristol, is a port of entry
with a capacious and deep harbour, has manufactories of rubber and woollen
goods, and is well known as a yacht-building centre, several defenders of
the America's Cup, including the "Columbia" and the "Reliance," having been
built in the Herreshoff yards here. At the close of King Philip's War in
1676, Mount Hope Neck (which had been the seat of the vanquished sachem),
with most of what is now the township of Bristol, was awarded to Plymouth
Colony. In 1680, immediately after Plymouth had conveyed the "Neck" to a
company of four, the village was laid out; the following year, in
anticipation of future commercial importance, the township and the village
were named Bristol, from the town in England. The township became the
shire-township in 1685, passed under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts in
1692, and in 1747 was annexed to Rhode Island. During the War of
Independence the village was bombarded by the British on the 7th of October
1775, but [v.04 p.0582] suffered little damage; on the 25th of May 1778 it
was visited and parti