Visit Project Project Details
This interactive atlas documents Chester County’s 1777 property owners, public roads, points of interest, and reported British plundering during the Philadelphia Campaign of the American Revolution. The original intent of the project was to contribute to a series of American Battlefield Protection Program grants awarded to the Chester County Planning Commission to preserve open space and interpret events relating to the 1777 Battle of Brandywine—the largest battle of the Revolutionary War and a significant chapter in the history of the county. Researchers can type in an address and immediately know who owned their property in 1777 and whether it was plundered by the British. Similarly, genealogists can now take their ancestor’s old deeds and see where their property was physically located.
Subjects or Themes
Pennsylvania – History – Revolution, 1775-1783; Pennsylvania – History, Local; Chester County (Pa.)--History--Revolution, 1775-1783; Chester County (Pa.)--Maps
Project Language(s)
English
Time Period
Geographic Location
Project Categories
Content Type
Mapping, Text, Video
Target Audience(s)
Creators
Staff: Cliff C. Parker, John E. Smith III
Year(s)
2019-ongoing
Host Institution / Affiliation / Project Location
County of Chester (PA)/Archives and Records Services
Software Employed
Labor and Support
This project has its origins in a 2014 request by Chester County’s Heritage Preservation Coordinator to reconstruct and map the county public road network as it existed in 1777. This work contributed to an ongoing series of National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program grants received by the Chester County Planning Commission. In 2019 Chester County Archives staff decided to take the static maps and turn them into an interactive resource. The online atlas debuted in 2020; additional townships are added as they are mapped. The work has been done by two archivists as a significant component of their fulltime work. The atlas project is ongoing and it is the plan to eventually map the entire county, including townships with no connection to the Battle of Brandywine.
Project Cost
Partnerships, funding sources, or grant-funding acknowledgement
Chester County Planning Commission (PA)
