East and West Whiteland Townships
Richard Thomas
Chester County had 13 delegates at the 100 person Pennsylvania convention to form a revolutionary government, including Richard Thomas of West Whiteland. He was colonel of the First Regiment Chester County Volunteers during the American Revolution and was later was elected as a Federalist to the 4th, 5th, and 6th Congress. After the revolution, he decided to pursue in farming and agriculture, and built a house in West Whiteland. Militia units such as those operated by Thomas and Anthony Wayne were largely responsible for overthrow of the Pennsylvania Assembly in May 1776 and installation of a new government that would vote for independence later that summer.
A Tavern Named After Military Heroes
The tavern was originally named "Admiral Vernon" after British Royal Navy Admiral Edward Vernon, but then it was renamed after another Royal Navy Admiral, Sir Peter Warren. It was at this tavern that the British Army halted on the evening of September 20, 1777 inquiring about the precise location of the American Army under Anthony Wayne camped a mile south in the Malvern hills. . Armed with that location and accompanied by 1,200 British and Hessian soldiers, the British pounced on an American camp of 2,500 in what was termed the “Paoli Massacre.” The attack took place on Monument Avenue in modern Malvern. In 1825, the tavern was renamed once again after a patriot leader Joseph Warren who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
William Everhart
West Chester had been a stage coach stop, "The Turk’s Head" and entrepot since 1769 when John Hoopes erected a tavern at Market and High Streets. The village got a boost when selected to be the new seat of Chester County in 1785. William Everhart was a Pughtown boy who by 25 was successful enough to build a house near Ship and Boot Roads in West Whiteland.
Foote Mineral Co. Superfund Site
The Foote Mineral Company was founded in 1876 by Dr. Albert E. Foote. There were many research facilities in Philadelphia, mostly within the Dobson Mills in the Allegheny West neighborhood. In 1942, the company moved out of the city and purchased an old limestone quarry site in East Whiteland Township in cooperation with the Defense Plant Corporation. They used the site to produce strontium nitrate as well as lithium and zirconium.
The site became a superfund site due to the presence of lithium. A waterline was connected in 2002 after lithium was found in the water used by the people who lived in the area. The Philadelphia Suburban Water company continues to maintain and operate the waterline extension.
The Bishop Tube Site
"Transport your Chester County guests to the heart of its grandeur and chances are that you might start in Willistown, home to the Radnor Hunt and Historic Sugartown. This is where Joaquim Bishop decided to process platinum in 1865 because the process was an unhealthy one and needed to be away from populated areas. In 1903 the three story plant burned and manufacturing was moved to Malvern and later to Exton. Joaquim Bishop’s name lives on today as the Bishop Tube site at Rte 30 and Malin Road in East Whiteland. It closed in 1999."
- Mark Ashton, Chester County: A Modern History
In 2021, the effort was made to clean up the former site that contained toxic elements left behind.
Bibliography
Biographical Directory of the American Congress. 1774-1927, The Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788 and the Congress of the United States from the First to the Sixty-ninth Congress, March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1927, Inclusive. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1928); 1610.
"Foote Mineral Co. Superfund Site." EPA. Accessed July 24, 2025. https://response.epa.gov/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=5388.
"General Warren Inne (Malvern, PA)." Journey with Michael (blog). May 5, 2020. https://journeywithmurphy.com/2020/05/general-warren-inne-malvern-pa/.
Kurtz, Richard. "Secret Government Research on the Upper Main Line: Processing Lithium and Zirconium at the Foote Mineral Company." Tredyffrin Easttown History Quarterly 46, no. 1 (2009): 10-13. https://www.tehistory.org/hqda/pdf/v46/v46n1p010.pdf.
Read, Zoë. "DEP seeks public comment on plan to clean up decades-old contamination at Bishop Tube site." WHYY. Last modified September 28, 2021. https://whyy.org/articles/dep-seeks-public-comment-on-plan-to-clean-up-decades-old-contamination-at-bishop-tube-site/.