Kennett Township and Kennett Square
The Old Kennett Meetinghouse
The Old Kennett Meeting was established in 1710 by residents from Kennett and the east end of Marlborough Township who had been granted liberty to hold services at people's homes. They purchased a piece of land and built a log meetinghouse. It was enlarged in 1719. The building in the photo on Baltimore Pike dates to 1731. It was here that some of the first shots of the Battle of Brandywine were exchanged between Hessian troops and American pickets on September 11, 1777.
Dr. Bartholomew Fussell and The Pines
Dr. Bartholomew Fussell was born in Chester County. He travelled to Maryland where he began teaching school and studied to become a physician. He graduated from the University of Maryland in 1824, and stayed in the state where he undertook educating slaves about religion on Sundays. When he returned to Pennsylvania, he purchased "The Pines", an estate which would become a major stop on the underground railroad In 1833, he signed the Declaration of Sentiments published by the American Anti-Slavery Society.
Bartholomew was also involved in other causes like the temperance movement and education of women in medicine. In 1840, he taught medicine to a class composed of women, and initiated the idea of establishing a medical school for women. Thus, the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania was established in 1850.
The 1821 Trials of John Reed
On the night of December 14, 1820 four men from Maryland knocked on the door of a fugitive slave in Kennett Square: John Reed. The slave owner, Samuel Griffith, requested Reed return to him, but Reed refused. The four men attempted to break into Reed's home. Reed shot at the men, killing two.
Bayard Taylor, Writer and Poet
Bayard Taylor (1825–1878) was born just outside of Kennett Square and across from the Cedarcroft estate he later built as him home. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, he attended West Chester Academy. Bayard was later apprenticed to be a printer who would introduce him to the literature and poetry world. When he began writing poetry in newspapers, he attracted the attention of Rufus Griswold, a prominent editor and literary promoter. Bayard began traveling around the US and the world to find inspiration for his writing. In his career, he became acquainted with fellow American writers Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mark Twain and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.. In 1870 he published a novel Joseph and His Friend which was published in installments in The Atlantic.. It is today considered the first novel portraying gay men.
In 1866, he wrote The Story of Kennett that depicted the everyday lives of local residents in the area.
Longwood Progressive Meeting
"About thirty years ago a number of persons largely of the Society of Friends, deeply impressed with the need for more active exertions in the cause of humanity and morality began to hold meetings for the propagation of their views, in which they were assisted by prominent philanthropists from other parts of our country. Slavery intemperance were two of the great evils which they determined to combat, but nothing which affected the of society or individuals was thought unworthy of notice. The name of 'Progressive Friends' speaks at once their origin, and of their central idea of progress in whatever could benefit humanity. From the farm of John Cox, in East Marlborough, a piece of ground was donated the owner and here they erected where meetings were held weekly for several years."
- History of Chester County (1881)
They permitted ANYONE to address the congregants. Among those who spoke at Longwood Meeting were Lucretia Mott, William Lloyd Garrison, Theodore Parker, Frederick Douglass, Oliver Johnson, Charles C. Burleigh, Mary Grew, Abby Kelly Foster, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman.
Mike Grady, Baseball Player
Mike Grady (1869-1943) was born in Kennett Square, and played AA baseball in West Chester with the Brandywine team. He was offered a contract as a catcher with the Philadelphia Phillies, and later joined the: St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants (now San Francisco Giants), and Washington Senators (now Minnesota Twins).
"His big league debut in 1894 ended with [Grady] batting .363. It must be conceded that three other Phillies batted more than .400 that season. He played eleven seasons in both leagues and ended with a .294 career batting average. He missed a couple of seasons because of alcohol problems and was known for his volatility both on and off the field. He later coached minor league teams and owned a local quarry and brick company."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County: A Modern History
Longwood Gardens
After William Penn established Pennsylvania, many settlers emigrated to the colony to start new lives, including Quaker George Peirce, He purchased a 400 acre parcel in 1700 and built a mansion 30 years later. George’s twin great-grandsons, Samuel and Joshua Peirce, came into possession of the property in 1798, and started collecting a variety of plants on a 15 acres piece of the land, becoming what was known as Peirce’s Park. The park became a place of resort for Wilmington families wanting a day in the country. After the Civil War, the property deteriorated such that by 1906 it was offered for sale to a lumber dealer. This got the attention of businessman Pierre du Pont, who acquired the property to preserve the trees planted. The property was re-opened to the public in 1921 and has grown into what we now know today as Longwood Gardens.
"Today Longwood encompasses 1,000 acres and is ranked one of the finest public gardens in America. Many of its conservatories, including the 600 jet Italian Water Garden, and the 10,010 pipe organ were installed during the 1920s and remain in use today, funded by a DuPont endowment. All of this construction was done at a time when East Marlborough had fewer than 1,600 residents."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County: A Modern History
The Creekside Diner
"As automobiles became more affordable, a new weekend past-time developed called the “Sunday drive.” In the first half of the 20th century many people still worked half a day or more on Saturday. Sunday morning was set aside for church. But Sunday afternoon was a perfect time to escape the city for ice cream or a dinner in the countryside. The interstate highway system was just being planned, so on Sundays, roads like Lancaster Avenue, Baltimore Pike and Valley Forge Road would fill with cars."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County: A Modern History
The Creekside Diner has existed since the 1950s. It was originally located at a ferry ramp on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Memorial Bridge until the diner was relocated to Kennett Square where the current owners continue to serve customers with delicious breakfast.
The Remnants from the National Fiber and Insulation Company
It all started with a grist and sawmill built by John Marshall, who settled in Kennett Township in 1765. In 1857 his grandson Thomas Marshall (1816-1887) converted the property into a paper mill, becoming the first paper maker in the area. After his death, his sons Israel W. (1850-1911) and Thomas E. Marshall (1855-1929) took over the paper business, renaming it as Marshall Bros. In 1890, the Marshall brothers expanded purchasing the W. Clark cotton and wool factory in Yorklyn, DE, and converted it into a paper mill. It was also where they built the Auburn Heights estate. In 1894, they purchased another factory in Wooddale, DE. Israel Marshall decided that his paper mill could be more profitable if converted to manufacture a product called "vulcanized rubber." Essentially this rubber was the forerunner to plastic as it evolved in the 20th century; a product that could be used as a sole for a shoe, an insulator, an eraser, a shock absorber, a tank liner and as a moisture resistant substitute for leather.
"National Vulcanized Fibre Company eventually became one of the largest producers of vulcanized rubber in the United States. The factories in and around Kennett Square covered 200,000 square feet, the largest indoor plant in the mid-Atlantic states. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1946. But, plastic was encroaching on market share with each passing year. The product revived in the 1980s and 90s as the material of choice for circuit boards. But, a flood in 2003 caused production to cease and by 2009 the business closed entirely and declared bankruptcy. As commonly occurs the Environmental Protection Agency found the Kennett site polluted with carcinogenic compounds. One clean up occurred but then the agency changed its standards necessitating further remediation. While much discussion swirls around development of the properties once they are purified, completion of that task is still not scheduled."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County: A Modern History
Bibliography
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"Construction." Kennett Friends Meeting. Accessed May 2, 2025. https://kennettfriends.org/old-kennett-meetinghouse/construction/.
Cope, Gilbert and Henry Graham Ashmead. Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Chester and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania, Volume 1. (Salem: Higginson Book Company, 1904): 540-541.
Futhey, John Smith and Gilbert Cope. History of Chester County, Pennsylvania: With Genealogical and Biographical Sketches. (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1881): 236, 242-243.
"History." Longwood Gardens. Accessed March 16, 2015. https://longwoodgardens.org/history.
Kelly, Howard Atwood and Walter Lincoln Burrage. American Medical Biographies, Volume 1. (Baltimore: Norman, Remington Company, 1920): 418.
Mitchell, Eddie. Baseball Rowdies of the 19th Century: Brawlers, Drinkers, Pranksters and Cheats in the Early Days of the Major Leagues. (Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2018: 87.
Pisasale, Gene. "Living History: Where have all the diners gone?" The Unionville Times. Last modified July 2, 2012. https://www.unionvilletimes.com/?p=10250.
"The 'Material of a Million Uses': The History of NVF in Kennett Square." Kennett Collaborative. Last modified August 13, 2021. https://kennettcollaborative.org/stories/the-material-of-a-million-uses-the-history-of-nvf-in-kennett-square/.