Westtown Township
The Westtown School
"The Philadelphia Meeting would endorse formation of a boarding school at Westtown in 1799. The Westtown School was erected on land where James Gibbons had operated a school since 1780. Within a year of opening Westtown had 200 students as the Society of Friends wanted to control how Quaker children were educated... The Westtown School admitted non-Quakers in 1933."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County: A Modern History
Westtown School Alumni:
Isaac Israel Hayes- polar explorer
The Shiloh A.M.E. Congregation
"The Shiloh A.M.E. Congregation in Westtown dates to 1817 where free blacks were welcomed as tenant farmers and staff at the Westtown School. It would seem from Arthur James’ history of Westtown that the deed to the church required that people of color be allowed to worship there and as the black population expanded the white Methodist congregants moved to West Chester and sold the church to the A.M.E. Church in America for $400."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County: A Modern History
Camp Elder, A Parole Camp for POWs
After the Battle of Gettysburg, approximately 1,900 of the captured but paroled Union troops were moved by train from Adams County east to Chester County after being returned by the Confederates. A camp was established just south of West Chester where Routes 100 and 202 converge. Construction was interrupted and the camp moved a few miles southeast to Oakbourne and South Concord Roads in Westtown. Dubbed Camp Elder, it operated for only a few months before it was decided that the troops could be released based on perception that the Confederacy had breached the parole agreement.
The camp was named after Union captain James Elder who selected a piece of the Enoch Williams Farm in West Chester as a training camp for African-American soldiers. Before that could happen, the federal government needed a site for a parole camp. Even though the training camp wasn't created, James Elder's name was used for the newly formed parole camp at the Williams farm.
The Smiths and Oakbourne
In 1882, Philadelphia industrialist James C. Smith purchased 143 acres of land on the west side of S. Concord Road where the original structure was built. From there, he and his wife Heloise created a 27-acre park using the existing environment of large trees and a small stream flowing through. They had T. Roney Williamson design their summer home, "Oakbourne."
After their deaths in the 1890s, their wills stated that they donated the home to the Philadelphia Protestant Episcopal City Mission, using it to operate as a convalescent home for white women. Another portion of the property was devoted to the Pennsylvania Epileptic Hospital. It was opened under the auspices of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. In 1947 the facility held roughly 150 guests and was renamed the Oakbourne Colony Farm. As medications for epilepsy improved after 1950 the facility was phased out. By 1958 the buildings were repurposed to treat children with mental illness. The buildings were then sold to Gaudenzia House, a treatment center for those affected by substance abuse.
Bibliography
Dixon, Mark E. "The Story of Westtown’s Little-Known Civil War Camp." Main Line Today. Last modified February 27, 2020. https://mainlinetoday.com/life-style/the-story-of-westtowns-little-known-civil-war-camp/.
"History of Oakbourne." The Oakbourne Mansion. Accessed July 24, 2025. https://oakbournemansion.org/about/.
Stark, Kenn. "Westtown Needs Oakbourne Volunteers." Daily Times. Last modified August 20, 2021. https://www.delcotimes.com/2008/01/29/westtown-needs-oakbourne-volunteers/.
"T. Roney Williamson and Oakbourne." The Philadelphia Chapter Society of Architectural Historians. Last modified May 15, 2015. https://philachaptersah.org/index.php/2015/05/15/t-roney-williamson-and-oakbourne/.
"THE STORY OF 'CAMP ELDER CIVIL WAR PAROLED PRISONER OF WAR CAMP'" Southwell Genealogy. Accessed July 24, 2025. https://southwellgenealogy.org/histories/THE%20STORY%20OF%20%93CAMP%20ELDER%20CIVIL%20WAR%20PAROLED%20PRISONER%20OF%20WAR%20CAMP%94.pdf.