Halloween Ball

Chester County History Center 225 North High Street, West Chester, PA, United States

Chester County History Center's Third Annual Halloween Ball! Join us for a Spooktacular night of fine foods and ghastly ghouls! About this event: The Spirits are Haunting, The Monsters will Crawl. It’s time to get ready, For Our Halloween Ball! Join Chester County History Center for a Spooktacular Evening featuring: live auction, music , costume contest, […]

Abandoned PA

The stories that abandoned homes tell captivate Robyn and Michael Hodgson. Over the past six years of traveling the northeast and exploring hundreds of abandoned locations, they have learned there is not one reason people vacate their homes. Then, there are the historical properties, mansions from the Colonial Era to the Victorian Era, still rich […]

Book Discussion: The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee

Join Chester County History Center's curator Ellen Endslow to discuss thought provoking books and connect with others in the community. David Treuer melds history with reportage and memoir to produce a sweeping history—and counter-narrative—of Native American life from the Wounded Knee massacre to the present. The story of American Indians since the end of the […]

Weird Christmas: A Journey Into the Dark Heart of the Holiday Season

Chester County History Center 225 North High Street, West Chester, PA, United States

Merry and bright? Goodwill toward men? Not so much. At least that's what research has revealed to author Matt Lake (Weird Pennsylvania, Night of the Krampus, and the forthcoming Christmas Night of the Living Dead). Marvel at the gruesome tales of the saints we celebrate during December, and the monsters that roam the hills and […]

Holiday Market and Green Sale

Chester County History Center 225 North High Street, West Chester, PA, United States

  Mark your calendars for the Chester County History Center's Holiday Market and Green Sale with local vendors, live greens, crafts and much more! Join us December 4th, 10a-4p, at CCHC and Evans Alley and explore the incredible artists and greens of Chester County.

Gilded Age Cocktails: History, Lore, and Recipes from America’s Golden Age

Chester County History Center 225 North High Street, West Chester, PA, United States

The decades following the American Civil War burst with invention―they saw the dawn of the telephone, the motor car, electric lights, the airplane―but no innovation was more welcome than the beverage heralded as the “cocktail.” The Gilded Age, as it came to be known, was the Golden Age of Cocktails, giving birth to the classic […]

The Big Dig!

The Big Dig! The Library and Photo Archives will be closed to researchers during the month of January 2022. January is the 6th annual Big Dig in the library and photo archives! We focus on behind-the-scenes work to process and rehouse manuscripts and photographs to make more information available to patrons. To accomplish these goals, […]

Chats from the Stacks: The Big Dig

The CCHC Library and Photo Archives were closed to researchers during the month of January to catch up on the ever-growing backlog of projects. The staff has been busy processing new collections, rehousing manuscripts and photographs, and making their collections more searchable and accessible to researchers. Chat with the CCHC librarians and Photo Archivist to […]

Camp Elder: The Strange Story of Westtown’s Union Prisoner of War Camp

Join local historian David Walter for an virtual exploration of a Chester County Civil War POW camp. After the Battle of Gettysburg, almost 2,000 prisoners of war who had been captured by the Confederate Army were returned to the Union Army under the condition that they would not be returned to the front. Instead, they […]

Virtual Book Discussion – Hell and Other Destinations

Join Chester County History Center's curator Ellen Endslow to discuss thought-provoking books and connect with others in the community. Since leaving the State Department, Albright has blazed her own trail—and given voice to millions who yearn for respect, regardless of gender, background, or age. Hell and Other Destinations is the tale of our times anchored […]

The Cassatts at Home: West Chester and Beyond

Join Dr. Nancy Mowll Mathews for a look at the Cassatt family while they lived in Chester County, and artist Mary Cassatt's early life. This talk will visit the Cassatt family, including artist Mary Cassatt, in their many homes in Pennsylvania and France. We will get to know their friends and family, gathering amidst the […]

Chats from the Stacks: Big Dig

The CCHC Library and Photo Archives were closed to researchers during the month of January to catch up on the ever-growing backlog of projects. The staff has been busy processing new collections, rehousing manuscripts and photographs, and making their collections more searchable and accessible to researchers. Chat with the CCHC librarians and Photo Archivist to […]