Susan & William Tinsman, Jr. – 2005 Honored Citizens

Bill and Sue Tinsman’s service to Solebury Township has taken many forms. Both together and individually they have worked for historic preservation, conservation, education and the arts. Bill served as a township supervisor in the 50s and helped write the first zoning ordinance. They both served in the 50s with the Delaware Valley Protective Association, fighting a plan to turn the Delaware canal into a highway. They are founding members of the Paunacussing Watershed Assn. Sue served on the New Hope Solebury school board in the 60s and as the first woman president of the Bucks County Intermediate Unit.

The Tinsman family owns the oldest lumber yard in the country in Lumberville and has had generations of family members devote themselves to the township in many ways. Did you ever wonder how recycling started in Solebury Township? In 1957 the Tinsman family had a hole in the kitchen floor where they dropped glass and cans into a box in the basement. A number of the families in the village would consolidate their “recycling” and Bill would drive the Tinsman Brothers truck to Freehold, NJ, to the first recycling facility.

The Tinsmans probably started the first “Adopt-a-Highway” program in the township. Sue would call numerous locals to choose a section of road to pick up trash on a specific Sunday. Bill would then drive around and collect the bags of trash.

Both together and individually Bill and Sue have worked for historic preservation, conservation, education, and the arts.

Bill Tinsman passed away in 2009.

Click here to listen to an oral history interview of Bill and Sue Tinsman.