Squire Cheyney Farmhouse, 2006.
Documentary evidence suggests the east part (right) of
the house was built by 1797, the west part c. 1815,
and the end shed c. 1830. The back of the west section
was raised and the brick cornice was added . . . — — Map (db m188374) HM
A Chester Creek Meadow, Cheyney, Pa., c. 1906.
(From the Keith Lockhart Collection)
Farming in Thornbury Township
When Pennsylvania settlers ventured into Thornbury Township in the 1680s, the
land was not heavily forested. . . . — — Map (db m188432) HM
On the evening of September 11, 1777, a
number of stragglers from the defeated
American Army, hungry, demoralized and
exhausted in their flight from the field at
Brandywine, collected in Logtown (part of
what is now Chester Heights) where . . . — — Map (db m188158) HM
Thornbury Delaware County Historical Commission
Historic Resource Property #008 Sarum Farmstead
Summer kitchens helped keep the main house
cool during the hottest months of the year.
They were popular in the 18th and early . . . — — Map (db m188201) HM
Preserving Our Past for the Future
Thornbury Delaware County Historical Commission
Historic Resource Property #097 Wilamar / Black Bell Farm
This spring house sits on
property once owned by
George Peirce II, one . . . — — Map (db m188703) HM
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, . . . — — Map (db m232104) HM
Middle class African Americans thrived in Southeastern Pennsylvania long before it was common in other parts of the nation. The famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass made many of his speeches in the area. Thornbury citizens elected a black . . . — — Map (db m232122) HM
Throughout the 20th century, the people of Thornbury sought stability in small-town life. The rural area continued a culture of neighbors helping neighbors.
Residents built schools and churches. A great place for communal life, Brinton Lake . . . — — Map (db m232130) HM
The English explorer Henry Hudson became the first European to see this area in 1609. He paved
the way for Dutch, Swedish, and English settlers. Settlers named the Delaware Valley for Lord de la Warr, the governor of the Virginia colony.
In . . . — — Map (db m232100) HM
At the start of the Civil War, as in the rest of the country, emotions ran high in Delaware County. When President Lincoln called up the war's first Union soldiers, many men from Delaware
County volunteered. No one knew what a long, bitter, . . . — — Map (db m232127) HM WM
Squire Thomas Cheyney may have changed the course of the Revolution. He warned General Washington about enemy movements at the Brandywine River. Though Americans lost the Battle of the Brandywine, without that information, the whole war might . . . — — Map (db m232116) HM
In the 1800's, changes swept across the nation, from technology to religion.
As industry exploded, the Willcox family bought Sarum Forge for its Glen Mills operations. Some
of the paper they made became U.S. currency.
Rail service . . . — — Map (db m232109) HM
At the start of the 21st century, Thornbury's rural landscape is becoming more developed as life in the area shifts away from farming. Local residents and leaders seek to balance plans for the future with respect for the township's compelling . . . — — Map (db m232134) HM
Lenni-Lenape Indians lived among this area's rich woods and creeks for centuries. In the summer they came to catch fish in the creeks. In the winter they moved further west to hunt deer. They gathered food from the forest and grew crops of corn. . . . — — Map (db m232096) HM
Welcome to Thornbury Park. These panels tell the story of Thornbury Township over the course of more than 300 years. Here in Thornbury, ordinary people took part in the nation's extraordinary history.
Native Americans, European settlers, . . . — — Map (db m232090) HM
(1775-1783) When England levied new taxes on her American colonies, a series of protests in Boston led to shots being fired at Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Restriction of civil liberties caused a sense of alarm to spread . . . — — Map (db m231978) WM
(1861-1865) The American Civil War was a cultural conflict, born out of the westward expansion of the US. The issue of extending slavery into new territories served to divide the nation, as did the debate over state rights vs. federal . . . — — Map (db m231986) HM WM
COLD WAR
(1945-1991) The threat of nuclear war from the end of WWII until the collapse of the USSR in 1991 was known as the Cold War.
When West Berlin was cutoff by the Soviet Union in 1948, an emergency airlift kept the city . . . — — Map (db m232041) WM
The stone gristmill at this site was built in 1704 by Nathaniel Newlin, a Quaker who emigrated from Ireland in 1683. The mill, restored to working order, is a fine example of a vital segment of Colonial economic life. — — Map (db m72347) HM
(1689-1763) A series of four conflicts occurred between France and England resulting from disputed claims to territories from the Alleghenies to the Mississippi and around the Great Lakes. British and American troops under British command . . . — — Map (db m231975) WM
A pioneer in this area's industrial and religious development, Thomas Willcox built a paper mill here on the West Branch of Chester Creek in 1729. It became a major supplier to the print shop of Benjamin Franklin; by 1776 it was supplying paper for . . . — — Map (db m82950) HM
(1950-1953) At the end of WWII, the former-Japanese colony of Korea was partitioned at the 38th parallel, creating the communist satellite nation of North Korea and US-supported South Korea. In June 1950, North Korean armies swept south . . . — — Map (db m232035) WM
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
(1898) Aiming to secure independence for Cuba and the Philippines, the US declared war on Spain in April 1898. Hostilities erupted after the USS Maine was sunk in Havana Harbor, giving rise to the battle cry . . . — — Map (db m232029) WM
The Newlin Mill Complex
was entered in the
National Register of Historic Places
on March 9, 1983 by the
U.S. Department of the Interior
as one of the
“Nations Cultural Resources
Worthy of . . . — — Map (db m72375) HM
A two-story tenant house
for workers at the Trimble Mill
Concord Township
Historical Society
Formed in 1967 to restore
this historic building — — Map (db m147435) HM
Concord Township, one of the first townships created by William Penn, dates from February 6, 1683. The name was chosen by the early Quaker settlers to reflect their harmonious feelings toward their new home. Originally established in the shape of a . . . — — Map (db m146791) HM
(1956-1973) The Geneva Agreement of 1954 dictated that Vietnam would be divided into two countries at the 17th parallel, creating a communist-backed North Vietnam and a US-backed South Vietnam. American military aid and advisors started . . . — — Map (db m232038) WM
WAR OF 1812
(1812-1815) A second war with Great Britain arose over maritime rights. This war forged the US Navy into a capable fighting force. The most prominent American warship was the frigate USS Constitution ('Old Ironsides'), . . . — — Map (db m231985) WM
(1941-1945) Fought in every corner of the globe, this world war drew 100 million combatants from 65 countries into the fray. Over seven million soldiers and 30 million civilians died as a result of the six-year conflict while uncounted . . . — — Map (db m232031) WM
Maurice K. Goddard's Legacy
Soak in this awe-inspiring scene. You walked or drove only a short distance to get here. Admission was free. Now you'll spend the day in one of the most beautiful places in Pennsylvania, picnicking or swimming, . . . — — Map (db m183802) HM
An early industrial village. John Taylor built Thornbury (later Sarum) Forge here ca. 1740. He erected Pennsylvanias first iron-slitting mill here in 1746: this was acquired in 1836 by the Wilcox family for its Glen Mills paper operations. Until . . . — — Map (db m48155) HM
A crossroads village. Thornton served as a rest stop for travelers between York and Philadelphia, providing livery, blacksmith, and wheelwright services as well as Inn accommodations at the Historic Yellow House built by George Gray, circa 1750. . . . — — Map (db m45532) HM
Edward Rigby · Lewis R. Beebe · Everett W. Lusher · George W. Byers
Ernest L. Redfield, Jr. · Cantrill Duncan · George Hornung · William H. Baird
Benjamin L. Olcott · Richard Thompson · George B. Bowman · Raymond Love
Allen D. Murphy · . . . — — Map (db m232079) WM
Founded 1687 with several hundred families.
This Building has served from its beginning in the early 1700s as a Country Inn, General Store, Field Hospital for the Revolutionary soldiers in the Battle of the Brandywine Sept. 1777, oldest U.S. . . . — — Map (db m159249) HM
