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Need to Know Information in Central Chester County
HISTORY
EARLY HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY AND THE EXTON REGION
Chester County is one of Pennsylvania’s three original counties along with Philadelphia, where William Penn settled in 1682, and Bucks County to the north of Philadelphia. As many as 2,000 settlers came from England along with Penn: Quakers like Penn who sailed to the New World to settle the wilderness and practice their religion in peace. Immigrants from England, Ireland, and Wales rapidly settled along Chester County’s rivers and within its gentle hills and magnificent forests. The English and Welsh settled in the central and southeastern townships (today’s Exton region) while the Scots-Irish inhabited the south and southwestern townships. German and Swiss immigrants, our Pennsylvania Dutch, settled in the northern townships. Because abundant sources of water power were readily available, milling was the county’s first industry. An iron industry was quickly established in Coventry, Warwick, and Valley Forge. Later, during the nineteenth century, major ironworks were established in Phoenixville and Coatesville. When the Pennsylvania Railroad was formed in 1846, Chester County’s flourishing iron industry was ready to forge the rails that helped expand the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Eventually, Pennsylvania’s General Assembly separated three new counties from the original Chester County: Lancaster County, Berks County, and Delaware County. Chester, the large naval shipbuilding city on the Delaware River, served as the county seat until 1786. The county seat was then moved to a more central location, a village called Turk’s Head, which was renamed West Chester in 1789.
As the English and Welsh settled the central parts of Chester County in the early and middle decades of the eighteenth century, the Exton region consisted of little more than a few farms. Some historians claim a local farmer, William Trimble, named the area where the Pennsylvania Railroad intersected the Lancaster Pike for his birthplace in Exton, England. Lancaster Pike, the main roadway from Philadelphia to Lancaster, also became known as the Lincoln Highway ELECTION DAY: November, 8th 2022 Polls are open 7 AM-8 PM All Mail-in ballots must be received by the County Board of Elections by 8:00PM • Last day to register to vote: October 24, 2022 • The last day to request a mail-in ballot is November 1, 2022
To find your legislator, visit www.legis.state.pa.us To find your voting status or to register to vote visit www. pavoterservices.pa.gov
and Route 30. No matter what its name, it ran straight through the center of the Exton region. As settlers from Philadelphia made their way west and north, many of those early settlers found the Exton area was just what they were looking for and many decided to stay, to purchase land, and to start farming the fertile soil. In 1851, James Beale opened a post office in Exton. Many of the Exton-area properties now included on The National Register of Historic Places are located along Route 30 and the Chester Valley Trail (the bed of the old rail line). These include (from east to west) Solitude Farm; St. Mary’s Chapel, which began as a livery stable; the Williams Deluxe Cabins, also known as Ichabod’s News/ Plaza; Ship Station; Turnpike Station House; the Jacob Zook House; the Zook (Owen) House; Sleepy Hollow Hall; Whitford Hall; Whitford Lodge; Ivy Cottage; Woodledge; West Whiteland Inn; and the Friends Schoolhouse, built near the intersection of Route 30 and Route 113.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS & IMPORTANT DATES
in Pennsylvania
2023 Election Information
• Primary Election: Date May 16, 2023* • General Election: November 7, 2023* Note: election dates are subject to change
Exton Region Chamber of Commerce TOWNSHIPS & BOROUGHS
TOWNSHIP
Borough of Downingtown Borough of West Chester Charlestown Township East Bradford Township East Brandywine Township East Caln Township East Goshen Township East Nantmeal Township East Whiteland Township Malvern Borough Upper Uwchlan Township Uwchlan Township West Goshen Township West Pikeland Township West Vincent Township West Whiteland Township Willistown Township
ADDRESS
4-10 W. Lancaster Ave. Downingtown, PA 19335 401 E. Gay St. West Chester, PA 19380 4030 Whitehorse Rd. PO Box 507, Devault, PA 19432 666 Copeland School Rd. West Chester, PA 19380 1214 Horseshoe Pk. Downingtown, PA 19335 110 Bell Tavern Rd. Downingtown, PA 19335 1580 Paoli Pk. West Chester, PA 19380 3383 Conestoga Rd. Glenmoore, PA 19343 209 Conestoga Rd. Frazer, PA 19355 1 E. First Ave., Suite 3, Malvern, PA 19355 140 Pottstown Pk. Chester Springs, PA 19425 715 N. Ship Rd. Exton, PA 19341 1025 Paoli Pk. West Chester, PA 19380 1645 Art School Rd. Chester Springs, PA 19425 729 Saint Matthews Rd. Chester Springs, PA 19425 101 Commerce Dr. Exton, PA 19341 40 Lloyd Ave., Suite 204/206, Malvern, PA 19355
PHONE
610-269-0344 610-692-7574 610-240-0326 610-436-5108 610-269-8230 610-269-1989 610-692-7171 610-458-5780 610-648-0600 610-644-2602 610-458-9400 610-363-9450 610-696-5266 610-827-7660 610-458-1601 610-363-9525 610-647-5300
FAX
610-269-1580 610-436-0009 610-240-0328
610-269-4157 610-269-9183
610-458-1970 610-648-0388 610-644-4504 610-458-0307 610-363-0518
610-827-9141 610-458-1603 610-827-9141 610-647-8156
WEBSITE
www.downingtown.org www.west-chester.com www.eastbradford.org www.ebrandywine.org www.eastcalntownship.com www.eastgoshen.org www.enant.wordpress.com www.eastwhiteland.org www.malvern.org www.upperuwchlan-pa.gov www.uwchlan.com www.westgoshen.org www.westpikeland.com www.westvincenttwp.org www.westwhiteland.org www.willistown.pa.us
If you are asking “what’s the difference between a township and a borough?” for the very first time, welcome to Pennsylvania! You now live in a borough, city, township, or the town of Bloomsburg, PA. Boroughs are small towns, Pennsylvania’s only official town operates like a borough, cities are large metropolises, and townships are well-defined geographical areas that fall between them. Each is a municipality that provides services like law enforcement, local street plowing and upkeep, codes and ordinance, sewer treatment, and trash removal.
Your borough, city, town, or township—not just your zip code—determines your school district and which public schools your children may attend. You also need to know your school district for tax purposes. Boroughs, cities, towns, and townships make up Pennsylvania’s counties. Counties also collect taxes and provide services. Chester County provides many human services, funds an extensive library system, maintains open space and parks, oversees the court system and sheriff department, and staffs an emergency alert system for the citizenry. This area of Pennsylvania is rich in history so you may find conflicting map and GPS information. For example, “Exton Crossroads” is so named because it is where the major east-west and north-south roads in our region intersect at PA 100 and PA 30. Street signs, however, may call this Pottstown Pike (going north to Pottstown) and Lancaster Pike (going west to Lancaster). Exton itself appears as a “village” on some historical maps, as a couple square miles clustered near the Exton train station on several Internet maps, and as a large thriving business and residential community when you consider all the 19341 zip code has to offer.
One last note on Pennsylvania place names: Pennsylvania has retained the colonial title “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” Despite the name, our government still functions as a state.
info@downingtown.org info@west-chester.com admin1@charlestown.pa.us info@eastbradford.org ebtwp@ebrandywine.org manager@eastcalntownship.com egtadmin@eastgoshen.org eastNant@ptd.net info@eastwhiteland.org malvern@malvern.org cvargo@upperuwchlan-pa.gov kchurchill@uwchlan.com twp@westgoshen.org TownshipManager@westwhiteland.org dburman@willistown.pa.us
POP.
8,000 18,461 5,671 9,942 6,000 4,874 18,026 1,787 10,650 2,998 8,150 18,750 21,866 4,026 4,567 18,688 10,497
SQ. MI.
2.2 1.85 12 15.1 11 4.4 10.2 16.4 12 1.2 12.12 10.4 12 10 17.9 13.26 18.2
TYPE OF GOV’T
Mayor and Council (6) Mayor and Council (6) Board of Supervisors (5) Board of Supervisors (3) Board of Supervisors (3) Board of Supervisors (3) Board of Supervisors (5) Board of Supervisors (3) Board of Supervisors (3) Mayor and Council (7) Board of Supervisors (3) Board of Supervisors (3) Board of Supervisors (5) Board of Supervisors (5) Board of Supervisors (3) Board of Supervisors (3) Board of Supervisors (3)
ELECTED LEADER
Mayor Phil Dague Mayor Lillian L. Debaptiste Frank A. Piliero, Chair John D. Snook, Chair Kyle Scribner, Chair Donald P. Ash, Chair Michele Truitt, Chair Chair: Edward P. Loomis , Jr. Scott Lambert, Chair Amy Finkbiner, Council Pres. Sandy M.D'Amico, Chair Chair: Mayme Baumann Shaun Walsh, Chair Carin Mifsud, Chair Chair: Bernie Couris Rajesh Kumbhardare, Chair William R. Shoemaker, Chair
ADMINISTRATIVE LEADER
Mayor Phil Dague Mayor Lillian L. Debaptiste Frank A. Piliero, Chair John D. Snook, Chair Kyle Scribner, Chair Donald P. Ash, Chair Michele Truitt, Chair Chair: Edward P. Loomis , Jr. Scott Lambert, Chair Amy Finkbiner, Council Pres. Sandy M.D'Amico, Chair Chair: Mayme Baumann Shaun Walsh, Chair Carin Mifsud, Chair Chair: Bernie Couris Rajesh Kumbhardare, Chair William R. Shoemaker, Chair
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