West Chester, Pennsylvania

West Chester is a borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 18,461 at the 2010 census.

West Chester University of Pennsylvania is located in the borough. Valley Forge, the Brandywine Battlefield, Marsh Creek State Park, and other historical attractions are nearby, as are Longwood Gardens, the Brandywine River Museum, and Christian C. Sanderson Museum.

History

The area was originally known as Turk's Head — after the inn of the same name located in what is now the center of the borough. West Chester has been the seat of government in Chester County since 1786, and the borough incorporated in 1799. In the heart of town is its courthouse, a classical revival building designed in the 1840s by Thomas U. Walter, one of the architects for the Capitol in Washington, D.C. In the 18th century West Chester was a center of clockmaking. In the late 19th century the Hoopes, Bro. and Darlington company became a major wheelworks, first for wagons and later automobiles. In the early 20th century, an important industry was the Sharples cream separator company. In the late 20th century, Commodore International, one of the pioneers of home computers, giving its headquarters as West Chester, was located approximately a mile northeast of the borough.

Chester, Pennsylvania

Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.

History

The first European settlers in the area were Swedes. They called the settlement that became Chester first "Finlandia" (the Latin name for Finland), then "Upland" (see the Swedish province of Uppland and the borough of Upland). They built Fort Mecoponacka in 1641 to defend the settlement.

By 1682, Upland was the most populous town of the new Province of Pennsylvania. On October 27, the ship Welcome arrived at the town, bearing William Penn on his first visit to the province. Penn renamed the settlement for the English city of Chester.

Chester served as the county seat for Chester County, which then stretched from the Delaware River to the Susquehanna River. In 1789, the city became the county seat for the newly created Delaware County (whereupon Chester County became landlocked, with West Chester as its county seat), but the county seat was moved to the borough of Media in 1851. The courthouse is near the new City Hall building.

Chester (district)

Chester was a non-metropolitan local government district of Cheshire, England, with the status of a city and a borough.

Apart from Chester itself, which was the principal settlement, the district covered a large rural area. Other settlements included Malpas and Tarvin.

Creation

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of the existing city and county borough of Chester with the Chester Rural District and Tarvin Rural District. The district council used the name Chester City Council.

City council

Membership and wards

The first council had 62 members and was elected as a shadow authority (known as Chester District Council) on 7 June 1973. The council came into its powers on 1 April 1974, on which date a royal charter and letters patent came into force with the authority becoming Chester City Council and the chairman of the council having the title of mayor. An election of the whole council was held again in 1976.

The number of councillors was reduced to 60 at the next council election in 1979. Thereafter the city council elections were "by thirds": with 20 councillors retiring in three out of every four years. In the fourth year, elections to Cheshire County Council took place.

Chester (Homeville, Virginia)

Chester is a historic home located near Homeville, Sussex County, Virginia. It was built in 1773, and is a two-story, three bay, frame dwelling with side gable roof. It features two exterior chimney stacks, joined on both the first and second floor levels by pent closets. Attached to the main section is a two-story wing with an exterior chimney and a shallow gable roof added in the 1820s.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

References

Chester Transportation Center

The Chester Transportation Center is a SEPTA bus and train station in Chester, Pennsylvania. The outside portion of the ground level serves SEPTA City Transit Division Route 37, and Suburban Transit Division Routes 109, 113, 114, 117, 118, and 119.

Above the building of the transportation center is the train station. The tracks run over the building. The station is served by the Wilmington/Newark Line. The line offers southbound service to Wilmington and Newark, Delaware and northbound service to Philadelphia. This station is located at 6th and Welsh Streets, Chester, PA 19013.

History

Chester station was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1903. In the 1940s lots of NY-Washington trains stopped there; in 1970 one Philadelphia-Washington train stopped, and in 1978-83 Amtrak's Chesapeake stopped both ways between Philadelphia and Washington. PRR/PC/Conrail local trains to Marcus Hook/Wilmington/Newark continued until SEPTA took them over in 1983.

Stairway to the rail platforms