Need some help with this picture, it is a 1880's stereo-view of Media. I tried looking at several maps on my site but was not sure where the road and house are. You can see the caption on the left. A view of the valley, looking west from the home of Dr. A. Vernon. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Keith
TOWNSHIP NAMES IN DELAWARE COUNTY
Delaware County became a separate
political division on September 26, 1789, by an Act of the State Legislature
which provided for cutting off the eastern part of Chester County, to create
the new county consisting of 21 townships, with Chester as the county
seat. The earliest settlements in
Pennsylvania were made in the part which is now Delaware County, but they were
not organized as townships until William Penn took over the government of his
Province.
Before Penn received his grant of
land, Upland Court had jurisdiction over all of the land from Christina River
to the Falls of Trenton. This was called
Upland County, a name which was changed to Chester by William Penn in 1682, probably
because many of the settlers there had come from Cheshire in England. At first Chester was the name of one of the
three original counties laid out by Penn.
Later, the name was also given to a township, the first one organized
under Penn’s government, and finally to Chester Borough in 1701.
Many of Penn’s followers had bought
land before leaving England, intending to pick out their tracts after they
arrived in America. Some settled near
the river, but many went into the country back from the river and built homes
in the wilderness. Ne plantations were
laid out as fast as surveyors could mark boundaries. Emigrants who knew each other or had the same
religious beliefs, stayed together if they could. In time, a name was chosen for a community by
the whole group of families, or by someone looked up to as a leader.
A township was officially recognized
when the people living in the area elected a constable or a tax collector, or
presented a petition for official action or approval in such matters as laying
out a road or building a dam.
Some township and village names were chosen
because they reminded the settlers of their old homes. For instance, Darby was named for Derbyshire;
Edgmont, also written England, was named by Joseph Baker, an early settler, for
the town in Shropshire from which he came; Birmingham, originally spelled
Birmingham , was the English home of William Brinton, the first settler in the
township.
Thornbury was named by George Pearce
for his wife’s old in Gloucestershire; Aston or Ashton, was at first called
Northley, then Aston by Edward Carter, an early settler, for the town in
Oxfordshire from which he came. Radnor
and Harford, or Haverford, in the Welsh Tract were names brought from Wales by
the settlers. Haverford means “confluence
of two streams.” Newtown, though not in
the Welsh Tract, had many Welsh settlers and may have been named for a Welsh
town of the same name, or from the townstead in the center.
Ridley was the name given by John
Simcock in 1682 to his large tract of land north of Amosland, to honor his home
town in Cheshire. When the township was
organized, it was named Ridley, Springfield, at first called
Ridley-in-the-Woods, was named from a fine spring on the farm of George Maris,
an early settler. In Marple, the early
settlers were English and the township may have been named for the English
parish Mar Poole, but it is not verified.
Chichester, the name of an English
town, was the name given by William Penn, at the request of some of the
residents, to the settlement called Marcus Hook, when he granted a charter in
1701. The township was organized as
Chichester but the townspeople continued to call it Marcus Hook.
Middletown was so named because it was
supposed to be the central township in old Chester County. This was a mistake, but it is well-named for
Delaware County. Tinicum, too, is
well-named. The name is derived from
Tennakonog, an Indian word meaning island.
Bethel and Concord were known as
Concord Liberty until the two townships were organized. Concord was a name chosen to denote the
feeling of good will among the settlers there.
Bethel means House of God. It was
chosen to show the holy purpose of the settlers. The name Providence was given to express
gratitude for a safe journey.
These 21 townships, all settled and
organized before 1688 constituted the whole territory of the county when it was
first made a separate county. They will
exist as municipal districts but their area has been reduced by the formation
of Chester City and 27 boroughs.
You forgot Colwyn, named after Colwyn Bay in Wales and I believe 1 of the first towns outside of Phila in Delaware County.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot Colwyn, named after Colwyn Bay in Wales and I believe 1 of the first towns outside of Phila in Delaware County.
ReplyDeleteThe house in the stereoview is 414 W. State Street. You can see this link for the MHAC copy of the same house:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mediahistoricarchives.org/items/show/6161
If you look at Google Street view you'll see it's the same house.
Adam Levine, Media Historic Archives