In 1928, PA 263 was designated to run from US 611 (now PA 611) in Willow Grove to the Delaware River in Centre Bridge. The Upper York Road portion of PA 263 was paved by 1940. By 1970, work was underway on widening PA 263 to a four-lane highway between County Line Road and PA 413 in Buckingham. The widening was complete by 1971. As part of this widening, PA 263 was realigned in two places. The route was shifted to a new alignment bypassing the center of Hartsville to the east and heading across Little Neshaminy Creek, with the former alignment now Old York Road, and was shifted west to a new alignment crossing the Neshaminy Creek, bypassing the now-closed Bridge Valley Bridge.