Chester, PA History

a division of Graphic Details

c. 1645		Chester first settled by the Swedes
10/29/1682		William Penn's arrival
1724		Court House Erected See *Saving Chester's 1724 Court House* published by The Chester Bicentennial Committee, Research by Mary S. Patterson Contributed by Georgia Reber Elliott, reberjo@citlink.net
4/1789		George Washington passed through Chester on his way to Philadelphia
9/28/1789		Delaware County was created from Chester County
1850		County Seat was removed from Chester to Media, PA
10/5/1824		11:00 p.m.: General Lafayette returns to a brightly-lit Chester to the Columbia Hotel where his Revolutionary War wounds were treated 47 years before
6/25/1843		St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church was dedicated
1852		First Presbyterian Church was erected
1857		John P Crozer builds the main building for a Normal School for boys and girls
4/8/1862		Chester County Military Academy was chartered by the PA Legislature
6/26/1862		Chester County Military Academy was renamed Pennsylvania Military Academy (PMA)
7/17/1862		First patient arrives at "Old Main" building at Crozer which had been converted to a US Army Hospital
1862-1865		Crozer Normal School building serves as a US Army Hospital
3/21/1863		Chester Rural Cemetery received its Act of Incorporation from the PA Legislature
5/21/1863		Chester Rural Cemetery Association purchased land from J. Engle Hinkson
1864		St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church purchased its 7-acre cemetery on Edgmont Ave.
1867		Second Presbyterian Church was erected
1871		Ground was purchased for Third Presbyterian Church
1872		Eddystone Print Works was established by William Simpson
9/17/1873		Soldiers' Monument was dedicated at Chester Rural Cemetery
10/12/1873		Corner stone was laid for St. Daniel's African Methodist Episcopal Church
5/3/1874		Madison Street Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated
11/1/1874		Corner stone was laid for the "new" St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church
11/24/1876		Chester Times (now Delaware County Daily Times) begins publication
2/17/1882		Explosion and fire at Jackson's Pyrotechnical Manufactory - 8 firemen were killed
1888		Eddystone was incorporated as a Borough - named by William Simpson of England who bought the town from the Henry Effinger family. It was named for the Eddystone Lighthouse on a bluff overlooking the English Channel.
1892		Pennsylvania Military Academy (PMA) changed its name to Pennsylvania Military College (PMC)
2/1899		The Delaware River froze so solidly that people ice skated to New Jersey and took sleigh rides on the river from Chester to Marcus Hook.
2/1/1902		Mark W. Allen, Jr. - first Chester Police Officer killed in the line of duty attempting to resolve a domestic dispute
4/1908		Strike of Chester Traction (Trolley) Company's employees
4/10/1917		Eddystone Ammunition Plant Explosion
9/10/1921	Photo courtesy of Terry Redden Peters in memory of her grandparents Frank & Bertha Packer	Collapse of the Third Street Bridge
8/12/1926		Seven-mile long Chester Pike was opened to traffic
11/11/1933		WWI Soldiers' Memorial on a triangular plot of ground at 13th & Providence Avenue was dedicated
11/6/1948		Market Street Massacre
4/22/1957		St. Paul's Cemetery was deeded to the City of Chester by the congregation of the church.
6/1/1963		Crozer Hospital and Chester Hospital merge to become Crozer-Chester Medical Center (CCMC)
1/9/1968		Chester High School was destroyed by fire.
1970		Crozer Theological Seminary moves to Rochester, NY to merge with an ecumenical group at Colgate-Rochester Seminary
9/1971		Floods destroy Eyre Park
1972		Pennsylvania Military College (PMC) changes name to Widener College
2/2/1978		Wade Dump Fire at the foot of Flower St.; 230 Chester firefighters and other emergency workers were involved.
1979		Widener College becomes Widener University
11/1989		A tornado caused over $1 million dollars in damages along Crosby St. between 6th & 7th.
9/1999		Flooding caused by Hurrican Floyd

This page last updated 02/24/07