Call Number:

04

Repository:

Delaware County Institute of Science

Extent:

20.0 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1686-2014 (inclusive)

Creator:

Delaware County Institute of Science (Media, Pa.)

Abstract:

Delaware County was the first section of Pennsylvania to be settled by Europeans, specifically Swedes in 1643. The Borough of Media, located about 12 miles outside of Philadelphia, has been the county seat of Delaware County since 1850. A largely rural area prior to that point, the town grew rapidly in the second half of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century. The Delaware County Institute of Science manuscript collection, 1686-2014, consists of a variety of local history materials including organizational records, business records, personal papers, photographs, scrapbooks, blueprints, subject files, maps and atlases, and other materials. Most of the materials relate to Delaware County (Pennsylvania), but some items pertain to other locations in Pennsylvania and other states. Although the 19th century is the best represented among the materials, there is a significant amount of materials from the 18th century and a few items from the 17th century.

Delaware County was the first section of Pennsylvania to be settled by Europeans, specifically Swedes in 1643. It was in the city of Chester, the original county seat of Delaware County, that William Penn and the General Assembly of Pennsylvania adopted Penn's "Great Law of Pennsylvania," which granted the right to vote, citizenship, freedom of religion and trial by jury to all settlers.

The Borough of Media became the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania in 1850s. Located about 12 miles outside of Philadelphia, Media and its surrounding area were settled by Europeans beginning in the 1680s. A largely rural area prior to the 1850s, the town grew rapidly in the second half of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century. The West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad was built through Media in 1854, and trolley service to 69th Street Terminal in Philadelphia opened in 1913.

Bibliography:

Delaware County, Pennsylvania. "The History of Delaware County." Accessed August 12, 2014. http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/ycounty/history.html.

Media Historic Archives Commission. "Media History." Accessed August 12, 2014. http://www.mediaborough.com/community/media-history.

This collection consists of a variety of local history materials including organizational records, business records, personal papers, photographs, scrapbooks, blueprints, subject files, maps and atlases, and other materials. Most of the materials relate to Delaware County (Pennsylvania), but some items pertain to other locations in Pennsylvania and other states. Although the 19th century is the best represented among the materials, there is a significant amount of materials from the 18th century and a few items from the 17th century.

Manuscripts in the collection include: business records such as account books for various professions and doctors' visitation records; paper photographs (most of which are of Media and Delaware County), glass plate negatives, and lantern slides; correspondence; receipts; deeds; maps and atlases; blueprints; scrapbooks; meteorological records; and other organizational records, business records, and personal papers. Of particular interest are records from the Farm Stock Association of Delaware County, a Revolutionary War orderly book from the Valley Forge encampment (1777), and a smattering of documents associated with famous historical figures such as John Dickinson and William Penn. A sizeable quantity of materials were donated by Minshall Painter, a Quaker horticulturalist and one of the founders of the Delaware County Institute of Science. These include several volumes of original records (and some copied by Painter in the 19th century) of meetings of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), other Quaker records, and some diaries of Minshall Painter.

There are also subject files mostly composed of newspaper clippings, publications, ephemera, and other printed items, as well as a small number of manuscripts, photographs, and other primary-source documents. The materials relate to Delaware County local history, members of the Delaware County Institute of Science, local events, and other topics.