A Township Emerges

A Township Emerges. , In the 1700's, Chester Creek drove Thornbury Township's economy. Water-powered mills ground flour, cut lumber, and made other goods to supply local farmers. Only remnants of those mills still exist., At John Taylor's ironworks, Sarum Forge, power from a watermill helped produce wrought iron, and later, iron bars that could be made into useful products like nails. Ironworks like Sarum Forge did such brisk business that they competed with iron imports from Britain. Because of this, Britain forbade the building of any new ironworks., [Illustration captions, left to right, read] , . Petition for a road to Sarum Forge, February 1775. A road was central to the success of the forge., . Map of Westtown and Thornbury 1870s, . Inset map of Thornbury, Delaware County's Jagged Boundary , In 1789, the state government divided Chester County in two, creating Delaware County. The line separating them (highlighted in red) ran right through Thornbury! Landowneers along the border could choose the county to which they would belong. Their individual choices created the jagged township boundary that still exists today., . View of Locksley Mill, [Timeline] , 1700 Saw and grist mills appear in the Chester Creek Valley. , 1701-1728 A survey shows eight landowners in the area: John Taylor, Randolph Vernon, Elizabeth Hickman, John and Thomas Cheyney, William and Joseph Brinton, and John Pile. , 1732 Ben Franklin begins publishing Poor Richard's Almanac. , 1746 John Taylor erects Sarum Forge, one of the earliest ironworks in Pennsylvania. , 1751 Liberty Bell is made to commemorate 50-year anniversary of Pennsylvania's original constitution.