Villages in the Township

Lenape over the years

The corner of Denton Hollow Rd and Rt. 52 has seen many evoluations over the years as a store and/or gas station.  

 

Wawaset

The rural area known today as Wawaset had early beginnings as a fording location across the western branch of the Brandywine Creek.

Prior to 1834 the rural area was known as Seeds' Ford, so named for the farm family that owned significant acreage on either side of the Brandywine at that location. Emmor Seeds owned the farm property on the north side of the Brandywine and his brother George owned property to the southeast across the creek.

 

Pocopson

The crossroads village of Pocopson has been known by many names throughout time (Jones Ford, Painters Bridge, Pocopson Station, and finally Pocopson) but the area went through a period of rapid expansion around the turn of the twentieth century.

In 1857 a covered bridge was erected across the Brandywine Creek. Painters Bridge was named after the family who had large landholdings on both sides of the new bridge. The bridge replaced the earlier Jones Ford that took travelers across the creek between Birmingham and Pocopson Townships on Street Road.

Trimbleville

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Chester_County/West_Bradford_Township/Trimbleville_Historic_District.html

Lenape

Lenape is another village associated with Pocopson, although the formation of the township out of part of Birmingham Township essentially divides the village.  It grew from a locality named Wister’s or Shunk’s Ford before a bridge was built over the Brandywine.  Then John P. Sager erected a mill on the east side of the creek, and the name changed to Sager’s Mill.  Eventually, that name changed to Sager’s Station when the Wilmington and Northern Railroad built a station on the west side of the creek.

Locust Grove

The village of Locust Grove was the dream of businessman Pennock Marshall, who wanted to establish a settlement that would resemble William Penn’s “greene country towne.”  He laid out three streets in a stand of locust trees and planned a total of twenty-nine lots.  But he was to be disappointed, and the village never had more than two dozen families. By 1847, the village could boast only a smithy and wheelwright shop, a shoemaker shop and a general store. 

Northbrook

Northbrook Train Station ( courtesy Chester County Historical Society)

The land around what became Northbrook was a favorite of the Lenni Lenape, who used it for camping, hunting, and dancing.  It has been a treasure trove of Indian artifacts, and farmers turned up an arrowhead with every plowing in some fields.  Indian councils were held at a large rock just north of Northbrook, and only a little distance further is a small copse marking the ancient Lenni Lenape burial ground.  Indian Hannah, the last local Lenape Indian, is buried nearby.