Chester County Historical Society

Chester County Historical Society is a non-profit historical society, founded in 1893, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting the history of Chester County, Pennsylvania and the surrounding area. The Historical Society is located at 225 North High Street in downtown West Chester.

Chester County Historical Society Headquarters
Established1893
Location225 North High Street
West Chester, Pennsylvania
TypeHistorical/Museum
Websitewww.chestercohistorical.org
Horticultural Hall
Built1848[1]
ArchitectThomas U. Walter
Part ofWest Chester Downtown Historic District (ID85001447[2])
Designated CPJuly 2, 1985

History

Dr. Robert Lukens served as the President of the Chester County Historical Society from 2011 until 2015.[3] Lukens oversaw the renovations and beautification of the society's buildings and other facilities.[3] He acquired state grants for the society and published a historical column in the Daily Local News.[3]

Building
Horticultural Hall in 1958

The History Center is a 56,000-square-foot complex that houses the historical society. It includes two connected buildings.

The older building, known as Horticultural Hall, was designed by renowned architect Thomas U. Walter in 1848. It was the site of the 1852 Pennsylvania Women's Rights convention.[4]

The buildings were modernized in 1979 and contain over 500,000 manuscripts, 80,000 photographs, and 20,000 volumes. The National Register of Historic Places named West Chester one of "America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations" in 2006.[5]

See also

References
  1. "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System.Note: This includes Ray H. Ott, Jr. (October 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: West Chester Downtown Historic" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-11-05.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. Coyle, Cat (2015-08-06). "Robert D. Lukens, 42, president of Chester County Historical Society". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2015-09-01.
  4. Young, Robyn (October 3, 2015). "The 1852 Women's Rights Convention at Horticultural Hall in West Chester". Chester County Day. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10. Retrieved August 25, 2016. Note that the pages are store by year, click "2015"
  5. "About". Chester County Historical Society. Retrieved 31 March 2015.


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