Quakers settled the Richland Centre (now the middle of Richland Township) in the 1700s, situated at the roads going to Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley, and Pottstown. In 1803, a post office was started bearing the name Quakertown. Since the village was situated at a crossroad with a tavern, it became a stopping point for travelers between Allentown and Philadelphia. The Liberty Bell was hidden in Quakertown while being shipped from Philadelphia to Allentown during the American Revolution. Construction of the North Pennsylvania Railroad in 1855 accelerated the growth of Quakertown. National expansion and the railroad turned Quakertown from a rural settlement to a manufacturing hub during the post-Civil War period. The Quakertown Farmers Market has 120 indoor and 450 outdoor vendors. Visitors can go to Liberty Hall, where the Liberty Bell was hidden, walk or cycle on the Upper Bucks Rail Trail, part of an 800-mile trail network across the Greater Philadelphia area, shop at the Promenade in nearby Center Valley or get some green at Lake Nockamixon.