Call Number:

03

Repository:

Wallace Township Archives

Extent:

4.5 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1950-2014 (bulk) and 1914-2014 (inclusive)

Creator:

Wallace Township Historical Commission

Abstract:

Although the first official survey of Wallace Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania took place in 1729, the Township was formally created in 1852 and has had multiple changes to its boundaries since. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, farms, mills, and forges dotted the landscape, but the late 19th century brought the railroad and considerable development of the area. A Pennsylvania Turnpike entrance was created near Wallace in 1950, and during the late 20th century, many residential subdivisions were built in the Township resulting in a substantial population increase. The Wallace Township Historical Commission clippings files, 1914-2014 (bulk 1950-2014), consist of newspaper clippings about people, places, organizations, and other topics relating to Wallace Township, as well as topics of national interest.

"Wallace Township [Chester County, Pennsylvania] was formed through a division of West Nantmeal Township in 1852. The Township--as defined by its current boundaries--includes nearly the same territory as the early eighteenth century Springton Manor, minus a small portion of land that was granted to Uwchlan Township in 1853. Township boundaries were slightly revised in 1860, when the lines abutting East and West Nantmeal Township were changed and a second adjustment between Uwchlan Township and Wallace Township was finalized.

"Archaeological and historical research indicates that Wallace Township's earliest eighteenth century inhabitants included remnants of the Brandywine and Okehocking bands of the Lenape Indians...A Brandywine Indian burial site, excavated in 1952 and again in 1982, is currently owned and maintained by Wallace Township.

"The first official Wallace Township survey, completed in 1729, canvassed the 8,313 acre Springton Manor. Springton Manor, one of seven Chester County manors established as part of an agreement between Charles II and William Penn, was originally located in the Downingtown area. According to nineteenth century Chester County historians, J. Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope, the first European settlers to occupy the early Springton Manor tracts were almost entirely of Scottish descent...Ultimately Penn's manorial system failed; by the time the Revolutionary War broke out, most Springton Manor settlers had been able to secure patents to their own tracts of land.

"...[A]griculture represented either a primary or secondary source of income for most eighteenth century Wallace Township residents...The East Branch of the Brandywine Creek and its tributaries, coupled with the area's extensive stands of hardwood forests, attracted forge and mill workers to Wallace Township. The Village of Glenmoore and the hamlet of Cornog developed as eighteenth and nineteenth century industrial centers because of their ability to support mill activity through ready water supply.

"In the south-central part of the Township, Robert McConaghey, an important early settler, began operating a forge in 1766. Springton Forge, located adjacent to what is now the County-owned Springton Manor Farm, was operated by a succession of owners for more than one hundred years; the Forge turned out superior-grade iron during the Revolutionary War and produced first-quality bars for blacksmiths and rolling mills well into the nineteenth century. Robert McConaghey has also been credited with building the 1769 saw and grist mill located near the corner of Creek and Devereux Roads.

"Wallace Township's less than efficient access to Downingtown, the area's closest center of activity, created a great demand for cottage industries. Wheelwright, blacksmith, cobbler, butcher, and coachmaker shops fulfilled the daily requirements of local residents. Taverns and inns served travelers and provided informal space for meetings.

"As early as 1810, a group of local residents 'associated themselves for the purpose of erecting a subscription schoolhouse' at the intersection of Fairview and Indiantown Roads. After the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed the Free School Act in 1836, 'Indiantown School' was opened to the public; the facility continued to support Wallace Township in an educational capacity for more than one hundred years. Additional early Township schools included West Nantmeal Seminary and Lincoln School on Little Conestoga Road, Glen Dale School on Indian Run Road, and Locust Grove School at Highspire and Marshall Roads.

"The advent of the railroad and main transportation corridors considerably altered the face of Wallace Township in the late nineteenth century. The hamlets of Cornog and Glenmoore, for example, developed substantially as a result of Downingtown and Waynesburg Railroad stops and a new major thoroughfare, Creek Road. Rail access also precipitated the conversion of eighteenth and nineteenth century farmsteads to summer estates. Summer residents included John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia merchant, who bought the large estate of 'Glen Cairn' in 1888.

"Twentieth century influences have had a profound effect on the Wallace Township landscape. A segment of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was constructed through the Township in 1950 and late twentieth century residential subdivisions have replaced what was once productive agricultural land. Worth noting, however, is the Wallace Township Comprehensive Plan comment that 'despite evolution from an agrarian countryside with one village and one hamlet to a proliferation of subdivisions,' residents can still appreciate the area's past 'because of the many symbols and artifacts which survive to reflect that heritage.'"

Bibliography:

Quoted text from: Wallace Township Historical Commission. "A Brief History of Wallace Township." Last modified 2012. Accessed February 24, 2014. http://www.wallacetwp.org/commissions/historical-commission.

This collection consists of newspaper clippings about people, places, organizations, and other topics relating to Wallace Township, as well as topics of national interest. Obituaries are also included in the collection. Most of the clippings are filed alphabetically by subject, with a portion filed chronologically. Subjects are cataloged in a card index available on-site.