| | |||||
| Get info on ... | Local News | Local Government | WC Jim | Contact WCJIM | Links |
| West Chester is a town that cherishes
its history, and it has plenty of history to cherish. Founded
in the 1700s and incorporated by 1799, West Chester has more than
two centuries of well-documented history. That is due in large
part to the wealth of the community which enabled its citizens to
build durable buildings (brick and stone) from an early date and
to set aside funds for the preservation of documents and
artifacts, many of which are housed in the Chester County
Historical Society at 225 N. High Street. The other thing
that allowed for the preservation of West Chester's history is
its good fortune at being spared fire, earthquake and invasion
over the years.
As a professional historian, WCJim is interested in social and industrial history. His goal is to encourage people to learn history on their own and to do so in a rigorous way by seeking and considering all relevant information, not just that which confirms what they already believe to be true. With those interests and goals in mind, he offers the links on this page, organized by topic.
| ||
|
* Short Course on West
Chester History (Oct. 2007) offered at the Chester County
Night School
1830-79 - 1879-82 1883-93 - 1894-1906 1907-45 - 1946-2004 * A walking tour along the railroad * The "lost" Gay Street station * Jim Jones' Railroads of West Chester
* History of transportation * Keystone (paper tags) * Denney (paper tags) * Lucas (paper tags) * Kennett Square mushrooms * Jim Jones' Made in West Chester * A Local Contribution to the Cold War * An Early Example of Adaptive Reuse (Enos Smedley's Pottery
* 1918 Directory (residents & their occupations) * 1932 Directory (residents & their occupations) * History of `Riggtown' * Chester County deaths, 1893-1907 * Yearsley's Hardware Store * Race relations * Complete text of Oliver Reynolds, A Good Man by Wilma Ford * West Chester University * The Baha'i Community * Various sources and reports on the Depression of the 1930s. * Rules for students at the West Chester State Normal School in 1895 * An Early History of West Chester University * The Borough's Christmas Past * Bud Sharpe, Ballplayer (by Charles Weatherby) * Baseball Pros and Cons (in 1874)
* Council Meetings: 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 * Origin of the ward voting system * History of Everhart Park * The Scandalous Life of Edwin Everhart * Tracing Growth Through Maps * The Independent Republican Movement of the 1970s * Water Bills During Tough Times (Borough Council Deals with the Depression)
* The Guernsey Cow web site (post-WWII Exton landmark) * Chester County Historical Society * Chester County Archives * Chester County Genealogy archives and cemeteries * Borough of West Chester * Chris Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford * Delaware County Historical Society [NOTE: Delaware County separated from the original Chester County in 1789.] * Historical Society of Pennsylvania * PA Historical & Museum Commission * Historical Society of Delaware * Hagley Museum Library (Delaware)
|
|
 PECO smokestacks in the 1950s
|
| ||
|
| ||
| Copyright 2009 by Jim Jones | ||
|
| ||
