In 2020, the Chester County Archives staff unveiled their award-winning 1777 Chester County Property Atlas. This project highlights property owners, roads, and notable sites of interest (mills, taverns, places of worship, etc.) in existence in September 1777 during the Battle of Brandywine and succeeding events of the Philadelphia Campaign. Learn more about how this project […]
This walking tour will explore the origins of Oaklands Cemetery and the famous (and infamous) people buried there. Admission $20, CCHC members 20% discount with member code. Register Here!
Joel T. Fry, Curator at Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia, will explore the lives of botanists & cousins John Bartram and Humphry Marshall. Pennsylvania Quakers John Bartram (1699-1777) and Humphry Marshall (1722-1801) have been frequently connected in histories of early American plant science, but it is not always apparent how closely related the two botanists were. […]
This walking tour will explore the origins of Oaklands Cemetery and the famous (and infamous) people buried there. Admission $20, CCHC members 20% discount with member code. Register Here!
Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World by Maya Jasanoff NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER At the end of the American Revolution, sixty thousand Americans loyal to the British cause fled the U.S. and became refugees throughout the British Empire. This is their story. This surprising new account of the founding of the […]
The Underground Railroad was a network of people offering shelter and aid to enslaved men, women and children on their journeys to freedom. This family-friendly walking tour will visit eight locations around downtown West Chester that served as a backdrop for the people involved in this clandestine operation. The tour covers approximately 1.25 miles, lasts […]
The Underground Railroad was a network of people offering shelter and aid to enslaved men, women and children on their journeys to freedom. This family-friendly walking tour will visit eight locations around downtown West Chester that served as a backdrop for the people involved in this clandestine operation. The tour covers approximately 1.25 miles, lasts […]
An intriguing conversation about the life and work of the remarkable number of pioneers in horticulture and botany associated with the Brandywine River and its environs. Presented by Susan Charkes, Associate Planner at Brandywine Conservancy, and Ron McColl, Special Collections Librarian/Curator of the Darlington Herbarium at West Chester University, this virtual discussion highlights a variety […]
The Underground Railroad was a network of people offering shelter and aid to enslaved men, women and children on their journeys to freedom. This family-friendly walking tour will visit eight locations around downtown West Chester that served as a backdrop for the people involved in this clandestine operation. The tour covers approximately 1.25 miles, lasts […]
Discover the who, what, where, when, why and how of researching your ancestor’s military service and history. Hear about military resources at the Federal, State and local levels of government. Find out the benefits and learn how to navigate some of the difficulties of researching at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. In addition, you […]
Since William Penn presided over the state’s only official witch trial in 1684, witchcraft and folk magic have been a part of the history of the Keystone state. English and German settlers brought their beliefs in magic with them from the Old World—sometimes with dangerous consequences. In 1802, an Allegheny County judge helped an accused […]
True tales of murder, mischief and misadventure, pulled from our archives. From the horrors of the Chester County Prison, to the cold-blooded killers tried at the courthouse, to the insidious devastation of contagious disease, West Chester's streets and alleys witnessed two hundred years of spine-chilling history. The historians and educators at the Chester County History […]
225 N. High Street, West Chester, PA 19380 | 610-692-4800
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