Delaware Valley Overlook

Chester County Seal
County Motto:  "Scenic, Historic, World Class!"

Welcome to the Chester County Resource Center. If you're considering, planning or in the process of living, working or vacationing in this county, located within the area of Pennsylvania known as Southeastern PA, then you've come to the right place.  This is for you!
 
Think of this page as your starting point or gateway for accessing everything you need to know and locate about Chester County, Pennsylvania.   It's been designed to help lead you to the best information available online about Chester County, PA. 
 
Chester County, one of the three original counties of Pennsylvania created by William Penn in 1682, is named after Cheshire, England and enjoys a rich history.  Chester County is comprised of 73 municipalities and 10 census-designated places, with West Chester as it's county seat.   It is part of the Delaware Valley region. 

Brimming with history, the region boasts an extraordinary collection of museums, parks, and other attractions. In the region's Brandywine Valley are the Brandywine River Museum with its unparalleled collection of works by Howard Pyle and the Wyeths, the Revolutionary War Brandywine Battlefield, and the county's Longwood Gardens, one of the world's finest horticultural parks. On Chester County's northern edge is Valley Forge National Historic Park and the King of Prussia corporate and commercial center with the nation's largest complex of retail stores. In the county's western reaches are the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, a restored 18th-entury ironmaking community, and some of the state's most fertile farmland. 
 
From recreation areas and farmlands to office and industrial parks, Chester County with its rich history and modern development offers its residents a wide range of quality work, shopping, education and recreation opportunities -- offering a great choice of good schools (public, private and parochial), extensive and varied sports programs and recreational opportunities for all ages and skill levels. The quality of life and easy access the county provides to parks, attractions, business and financial centers, good schools, sensational restaurants, major sporting events, music and the arts, plus an unlimited variety of shopping opportunities, few areas of the country can match. 

Chester County is horse country, offering an abundance of riding stables, breeding farms, training facilities and horse sports of all types.  Many ballooning enthusiasts live in the area, making the sport and business of ballooning a year-round event.  Canoeing or tubing down the Brandywine River is a popular and favorite warm-weather pastime.

Listed as one of the nation's twenty five "hot spots" in the Wall Street Journal, Chester County has a robust mix of natural beauty, historic sites, outstanding schools, and a booming economy.

Agriculture remains the county's top industry. Around the towns of Avondale and Kennett Square in the Southeast many farmers cultivate mushrooms inside sheds where light and temperatures can be controlled. Kennett Square calls itself the "Mushroom Capital of the World" and holds an annual Mushroom Festival.  

Today, Chester County is also one of the nation's fastest growing counties and among the top fifteen percent in per capita wealth. It boasts a dynamic corporate economy, and is home to the Vanguard Group, one of the nation's largest mutual-fund companies; Herr Foods, a leader in the snack food industry; QVC Network, the shop-at-home television retailer; and the "Medical Mile," a corridor of more than thirty biotech and pharmaceutical firms close at hand to Philadelphia's five medical schools.  (Source: WCU.edu CC history)

Chester County provides convenient access to major transportation, including roads, trains, buses and airports, with easy access to Philadelphia, Wilmington areas and the world.  People living in Chester County commute to work daily to Philadelphia, Northern Delaware and Maryland.  It is within two hours of New York, Baltimore, the New Jersey seashore, and the Pocono Mountains.

We believe there are many wonderful communities in the county that also are great places to live, work and raise your family.  And we invite you to check them all out to see which is best for your situation.

Click here for more Chester County Resources  (including County, School Districts, Local, Attractions and more).

Copyright 2008 by Lawrence Yerkes. All Rights Reserved.