Chester County, Pennsylvania

Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch: Tscheschter Kaundi), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the Delaware Valley region, located in the southeastern part of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 545,823. increasing by 7.1% from 498,886 in 2010. The county seat is West Chester. The most populous of the county's 73 municipalities, including cities, boroughs, and townships,) is Tredyffrin Township. The most populous boroughs are West Chester and Phoenixville. Coatesville is the only municipality in the county that is classified as a city.

Chester County was one of the three original Pennsylvania counties created by William Penn in 1682. It was named for Chester, England. It is part of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan statistical area. Along with southwest Delaware County, eastern Chester County is home to many communities that comprise part of the Philadelphia Main Line western suburbs of Philadelphia.

As of 2020, the county had the highest median household income level in Pennsylvania, and the 35th-highest in the nation.

History
Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester were the three counties created by William Penn on August 24, 1682, in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania.

At the time, Chester County's borders were Philadelphia County to the north, the ill-defined western edge of the colony, located approximately at the Susquehanna River to the west, the Delaware River to the east, and Delaware and Maryland to the south. Chester County replaced the Pennsylvania portion of New Netherland's upland in New York, which was officially eliminated when Pennsylvania was chartered on March 4, 1681, and ceased existing in June of that year. Much of the Welsh Tract was in eastern Chester County, and Welsh place names, given by early settlers, continue to predominate there.

The fourth county in the state, Lancaster County, was formed from Chester County on May 10, 1729. On March 11, 1752, Berks County was formed from the northern section of Chester County and parts of Lancaster and Philadelphia counties.

The original Chester County seat was the City of Chester, a center of naval shipbuilding, at the eastern edge of the county. In an effort to accommodate the increased population of the western part of the county, the county seat was moved to a more central location in 1788; in order to mollify the eastern portion of the county, the village, known as Turk's Head, was renamed West Chester. In response to the new location of the county seat, the eastern portion of the county separated and formed the new Delaware County in 1789 with the City of Chester as its county seat.

Much of the history of Chester County arises from its location between Philadelphia and the Susquehanna River. The first "road to the West," a reference to Lancaster County, passed through the central part of Chester County, following the Great Valley westward; with some realignments, it became the Lincoln Highway and later U.S. Route 30. This road is still named Lancaster Avenue in most of the Chester County towns it runs through. The first railroad, which became the Pennsylvania Railroad, followed much the same route, and the Reading Railroad progressed up the Schuylkill River to Reading. Industry tended to concentrate along the rail lines. Easy transportation allowed workers to commute to urban jobs, and the rise of the suburbs followed. To this day, the county's developed areas extend along major lines of transportation.

During the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Brandywine was fought in the southeastern part of the county. The Battle of the Clouds and the Battle of Paoli both took place in the northeastern part of the county, along with George Washington's encampment at Valley Forge.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 759 sqmi, of which 751 sqmi is land and 8.7 sqmi (1.1%) is water. The topography consists of rolling hills and valleys and it is part of the region known as the Piedmont.

Watersheds that serve Chester County include the Octoraro, Brandywine, and Chester creeks, and the Schuylkill River. Many of the soils are fertile, rich loam as much as twenty-four inches thick; together with the temperate climate, this was long a major agricultural area. Because of its proximity to Philadelphia, Chester County has seen large waves of development over the past half-century due to suburbanization. Although development in Chester County has increased, agriculture is still a major part of the county's economy, and the number of horse farms is increasing in the county. Mushroom growing is a specialty in the southern portion of the county.

Chester County is the only county to border both Delaware and Maryland.

Elevations (in feet): High point—1020 Welsh Mt., Honeybrook Twp. Other high points—960 Thomas Hill, Warwick Twp; 960 Barren Hill, West Caln Twp. Low point—66 Schuylkill River, Chester-Montgomery county line. Cities and boroughs: Coatesville 314; Downingtown 255; Kennett Square 300; Oxford 535; Parkesburg 542; Phoenixville 127; Spring City 114; West Chester 459.

Adjacent counties

 * Berks County (north)
 * Montgomery County (northeast)
 * Delaware County (east)
 * New Castle County, Delaware (southeast)
 * Cecil County, Maryland (south)
 * Lancaster County (west)

National protected area

 * Valley Forge National Historical Park (part)

State protected areas

 * French Creek State Park
 * Marsh Creek State Park
 * White Clay Creek Preserve

Major roads and highways




Economy and environment
Lanchester Landfill, located on the border of Chester and Lancaster Counties, captures methane which is sold for renewable natural gas credits, and piped to seven local businesses. This reduces the county's methane emissions, and provides an alternative to fracking for shale gas. In addition, several companies have their headquarters or a major presence in the county including Bentley Systems, EBS Healthcare, Main Line Health, Lavazza North America (formerly Mars Drinks), Depuy Synthes (part of Johnson & Johnson), Metabo, QVC, Hankin Group, Axalta Coating Systems, CTDI, Pactiv, Ricoh Americas, Blinding Edge Pictures, J.G. Wentworth, The Vanguard Group, and Victory Brewing Company among others.

Demographics
As of the 2010 census, the county was 82.1% White Non-Hispanic, 6.1% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 3.9% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 1.8% were two or more races, and 2.4% were some other race. 6.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino.

As of the census of 2000, there were 433,501 people, 157,905 households, and 113,375 families residing in the county. The population density was 573 PD/sqmi. There were 163,773 housing units at an average density of 217 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 89.21% White, 6.24% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 1.95% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.35% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races. 3.72% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 18.0% were of Irish, 17.3% German, 13.1% Italian, 10.1% English and 5.6% American ancestry. 91.4% spoke English and 3.7% Spanish as their first language.

There were 157,905 households, out of which 35.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.50% were married couples living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.20% were non-families. 22.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.20% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 11.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 96.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $65,295, and the median income for a family was $76,916 (these figures had risen to $80,818 and $97,894 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $51,223 versus $34,854 for females. The per capita income for the county was $31,627. About 3.10% of families and 5.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.10% of those under age 18 and 5.50% of those age 65 or over.

The region was originally occupied by the Lenni Lenape people, who greeted European settlers in the seventeenth century with amity and kindness. British settlers were mostly English, Scotch-Irish and Welsh in ethnicity. From the late 19th to early 20th century, the industrial areas of the region, such as Coatesville, attracted immigrants and job seekers from Germany and Ireland, Eastern Europe, Italy, and the American rural South, with both black and white migrants coming north. Later Hispanic immigrants have included Puerto Ricans and, most recently, Mexicans.

Long a primarily rural area, Chester County is now the fastest-growing county in the Delaware Valley; it is one of the fastest growing in the entire Northeastern section of the United States.

Religion
In keeping with its colonial history, Chester County is home to a number of historic Quaker buildings, including Birmingham, Birmingham Orthodox, Bradford, Caln, Old Kennett, Parkersville, Westtown, and Uwchlan meeting houses.

Other historic religious buildings include St. Malachi Church, southeastern Pennsylvania's oldest active Catholic mission church, and the Episcopal St. Mary's, St. Paul's, and St. Peter's churches, and Washington Memorial Chapel. The First Presbyterian Church of West Chester, Coventryville United Methodist Church, which is part of the Coventryville Historic District, and Beth Israel Congregation of Chester County, a Conservative synagogue in Coatesville, a site of Eastern European immigration in the 20th century, are located in the county.

Voter registration
As of March 4, 2024, there were 379,780 registered voters in Chester County.

Election results
Chester County has historically been reliably Republican at the county level. From 1856 through 2012, it voted Democratic in 1856 for Pennsylvania native James Buchanan, and in three subsequent elections, 1912, 1964, and 2008. In recent elections, however, the county has been trending Democratic, although not as overwhelmingly as its fellow Main Line counties of Montgomery and Delaware. It remains the most conservative of these three.

In 2000, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in the county by almost 10%, but in 2004, John Kerry cut Bush's margin of victory by over half, to just 4.5%. In 2008, Chester County voted for Barack Obama by 9%. In 2009, with a smaller turnout, Republican candidates swept all county-row offices, winning with an average margin of 20%. In 2012, the county voted for the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, by a very small margin of 0.2%, or about 500 votes.

In 2016, despite Pennsylvania voting for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time since 1988, Chester County voted more Democratic than in 2012, with Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by over 25,000 votes or 9.4 percentage points; a 9.2 percentage point swing from 2012. The only two statewide winners in 2016 to carry Chester County were U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R) and Pennsylvania State Treasurer Joe Torsella (D). Republican candidates John Brown and John Rafferty carried Chester County, though both lost their races for Auditor General and Attorney General, respectively (Rafferty, a State Senator whose district includes northern Chester County, carried the county by a slim margin of 50 votes ) Emphasizing its Democratic shift even further, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by 17.1 points in Chester County in the 2020 election; Trump's percentage of votes was the lowest for any Republican since 1912. Such a major shift in the county was a major factor in Biden's success in flipping Pennsylvania back into the Democratic column.

On November 8, 2017, Democrats made historic inroads in Chester County by winning their first county row office seats in history, picking up four row office seats. On November 5, 2019, Democrats swept the county row office seat elections and took a majority on the Board of Commissioners, both firsts in the county's history. In both the 2021 and 2023 elections, Democrats followed up with another sweep of the county row offices, along with retaining their majority on the Board of Commissioners.


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Commissioners
Chester County is administered by a three-person Board of Commissioners who serve four-year terms. Elections take place in the odd-numbered years that precede U.S. presidential elections, with the next election falling in 2027. The commissioners have selective policy-making authority to provide certain local services and facilities on a county-wide basis. Accordingly, the commissioners are responsible for the management of the fiscal and administrative functions of the county. Currently, the Democrats hold a majority on the board, with Commissioners Josh Maxwell and Marian Moskowitz holding two of the three seats. County law requires the minority party to be represented with one seat, which is held by Eric Roe of the Republican Party.



United States House of Representatives
As of January 3, 2023:

United States Senate
As of January 3, 2023:

State House of Representatives
As of January 3, 2023:

State Senate
As of January 3, 2023:

Colleges and universities

 * Cheyney University of Pennsylvania (partially in Delaware County)
 * Delaware County Community College (locations in Downingtown and West Grove)
 * Immaculata University
 * Lansdale School of Business (location in Phoenixville)
 * Lincoln University
 * Penn State Great Valley
 * University of Valley Forge
 * West Chester University

Public school districts
School districts include:
 * Avon Grove School District
 * Coatesville Area School District
 * Downingtown Area School District
 * Great Valley School District
 * Kennett Consolidated School District
 * Octorara Area School District
 * Owen J. Roberts School District
 * Oxford Area School District
 * Phoenixville Area School District
 * Spring-Ford Area School District
 * Tredyffrin/Easttown School District
 * Twin Valley School District
 * Unionville-Chadds Ford School District
 * West Chester Area School District

Charter schools

 * Achievement House Charter School grades 9–12, Exton
 * Avon Grove Charter School grades K-12, West Grove
 * Chester County Family Academy Charter School grades K-2, West Chester
 * Collegium Charter School grades K-12, Exton
 * Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School K-12, West Chester
 * Renaissance Academy Charter School grades K-12, Phoenixville
 * Sankofa Academy Charter School grades 5–8, West Chester
 * 21st Century Cyber Charter School grades 6–12. Downingtown.

Independent schools

 * Bishop Shanahan High School (Archdiocese of Philadelphia)
 * Center for Arts and Technology (Administered by Chester County Intermediate Unit)
 * Church Farm School (now called CFS the School at Church Farm)
 * Delaware Valley Friends School
 * Devon Preparatory School
 * Fairville Friends School (Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania)
 * Goshen Friends School (West Chester, Pennsylvania)
 * Kimberton Waldorf School (Kimberton, Pennsylvania)
 * London Grove Friends Kindergarten (Kennett Square, Pennsylvania)
 * Malvern Preparatory School
 * The Concept School - 6th through 12th Grade
 * Upattinas School and Resource Center (Glenmoore, Pennsylvania)
 * Upland Country Day School (UCDS) - Pre-K through 9th Grade
 * Villa Maria Academy (Malvern, Pennsylvania)
 * Villa Maria Academy Lower School (Immaculata, Pennsylvania)
 * West-Mont Christian Academy
 * West Chester Friends School
 * West Fallowfield Christian School
 * Westtown School
 * Windsor Christian Academy - K through 6th Grade
 * Windsor Christian Preschool
 * Regina Luminis Academy

Libraries
The Chester County Library System in southeastern Pennsylvania was organized in 1965. It is a federated system composed of a District Center Library in Exton and sixteen member libraries. The system provides materials and information for life, work and pleasure.

Communities
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and, in at most two cases, towns. The post office uses community names and boundaries that usually do not correspond to the townships, and usually only have the same names as the municipalities for the cities and boroughs. The names used by the post office are generally used by residents to describe where they live. The following cities, boroughs and townships are located in Chester County:

City

 * Coatesville

Boroughs

 * Atglen
 * Avondale
 * Downingtown
 * Elverson
 * Honey Brook
 * Kennett Square
 * Malvern
 * Modena
 * Oxford
 * Parkesburg
 * Phoenixville
 * South Coatesville
 * Spring City
 * West Chester (county seat)
 * West Grove

Townships

 * Birmingham
 * Caln
 * Charlestown
 * East Bradford
 * East Brandywine
 * East Caln
 * East Coventry
 * East Fallowfield
 * East Goshen
 * East Marlborough
 * East Nantmeal
 * East Nottingham
 * East Pikeland
 * East Vincent
 * East Whiteland
 * Easttown
 * Elk
 * Franklin
 * Highland
 * Honey Brook
 * Kennett
 * London Britain
 * London Grove
 * Londonderry
 * Lower Oxford
 * New Garden
 * New London
 * Newlin
 * North Coventry
 * Penn
 * Pennsbury
 * Pocopson
 * Sadsbury
 * Schuylkill
 * South Coventry
 * Thornbury
 * Tredyffrin
 * Upper Oxford
 * Upper Uwchlan
 * Uwchlan
 * Valley
 * Wallace
 * Warwick
 * West Bradford
 * West Brandywine
 * West Caln
 * West Fallowfield
 * West Goshen
 * West Marlborough
 * West Nantmeal
 * West Nottingham
 * West Pikeland
 * West Sadsbury
 * West Vincent
 * West Whiteland
 * Westtown
 * Willistown

Census-designated places
Census-designated places are unincorporated communities designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law.


 * Berwyn
 * Caln
 * Chadds Ford (partly in Delaware County)
 * Chesterbrook
 * Cheyney University (partly in Delaware County)
 * Cochranville
 * Devon
 * Dilworthtown (partly in Delaware County)
 * Eagle
 * Eagleview
 * Exton
 * Frazer
 * Glenmoore
 * Hamorton
 * Hayti
 * Kenilworth
 * Kimberton
 * Lincoln University
 * Lionville
 * Marshallton
 * Nottingham
 * Paoli
 * Pomeroy
 * Pughtown
 * Sadsburyville
 * South Pottstown
 * Thorndale
 * Toughkenamon
 * Unionville
 * Westwood

Other unincorporated communities

 * Birchrunville
 * Black Horse
 * Brandamore
 * Bucktown
 * Byers Station
 * Cedarville
 * Chatham
 * Chester Springs
 * Chesterville
 * Compass
 * Coventryville
 * Cromby
 * Darlington Corners
 * Daylesford
 * Devault
 * Doe Run
 * Dorlan
 * Embreeville
 * Ercildoun
 * Faggs Manor
 * Glenloch
 * Goshenville
 * Hallman
 * Harmonyville
 * Hayesville
 * Hephzibah
 * Hickory Hill
 * Hiestand
 * Homeville
 * Hopewell
 * Humphreyville
 * Icedale
 * Ironsides
 * Isabella
 * Jennersville
 * Kaolin
 * Kelton
 * Kemblesville
 * Knauertown
 * Landenberg
 * Lenape
 * Lewisville
 * London Grove
 * Longwood
 * Lower Hopewell
 * Ludwigs Corner
 * Lyndell
 * Mendenhall
 * Milford Mills
 * Mortonville
 * Morstein
 * Nantmeal Village
 * Northbrook
 * Parker Ford
 * Pocopson
 * Russellville
 * Saint Peters
 * Siousca
 * Springdell
 * Steelville
 * Strafford
 * Strickersville
 * Sugartown
 * Suplee
 * Valley Forge
 * Wagontown
 * Warwick
 * West Goshen
 * Whitford
 * Willowdale
 * Yellow Springs

Historic community

 * Barnestown

Population ranking
The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Chester County.

† county seat

Climate
Chester County has four distinct seasons and has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) except for some far southern lowlands and areas along the Schuylkill River which have a humid subtropical climate (Cfa). The hardiness zone 7a except for 7b near the Brandywine Creek in Birmingham Township. 

Opioid crisis
In both 2018 and 2019, deaths from drug overdoses in Chester County declined. Of the 104 drug overdoses recorded by the coroner, an estimated 77 percent involved the presence of fentanyl. One of the reasons for the decline in overdose deaths was "the saturation across the county of Narcan, the anti-opioid nasal spray that can revive someone suffering an overdose." In 2019, any resident of Chester County could obtain a free Narcan dose at community training events across the county.

Notable people

 * Jesse B. Aikin (1808–1900), first to produce a song book with a seven-shape note system
 * Samuel Barber (1910–1981), one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century
 * Eusebius Barnard (1802–1865), Quaker minister and station master on the Underground Railroad
 * Mifflin E. Bell (1847–1904), architect who served from 1883 to 1886 as Supervising Architect of the US Treasury Department
 * Daniel Garrison Brinton (1837–1899), physician and ethnologist who taught at the University of Pennsylvania
 * Scott Brunner (born 1957), NFL quarterback during the 1980s
 * Margaret F. Butler (1861–1931), professor of otorhinolaryngology at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania
 * Samuel Butler (1825–1891), Pennsylvania State Representative and Pennsylvania Treasurer from 1880 to 1882
 * Smedley Butler (1881–1940), twice recipient of the Medal of Honor, thwarted the Business Plot, advocate for veterans, author
 * Jefferson David Chalfant (1856–1931), painter best known for his trompe-l'œil still lifes
 * John Cochran (1730–1807), physician and 4th Surgeon General of the United States Army
 * James D. Corrothers (1869–1917), African American poet, journalist, minister, and friend of Paul Laurence Dunbar
 * Isabel Darlington (1865–1950), lawyer and the first woman to gain admittance to the bar and practice law in Chester County
 * Bruce Davidson (born 1949), multiple Olympian in equestrian eventing; noted competition-horse breeder and trainer
 * Sarah Dolley (1829–1909), physician and the first woman to complete a medical internship in the United States
 * Ryan Dunn (1977–2011), actor, television personality, and daredevil; died in a car crash in West Goshen
 * William Hood Dunwoody (1841–1914), businessman and partner in the firm that became General Mills
 * Phillip Dutton (born 1963), Australian-born Olympic-level equestrian rider in eventing
 * John Filson (1747–1788), author, historian, pioneer, surveyor, and founder of Cincinnati
 * James Fitzpatrick (1748–1778), highwayman and loyalist during the American Revolutionary War
 * Bartholomew Fussell (1794–1871), abolitionist active in the Underground Railroad; early advocate for women's careers in medicine
 * Kyle Gallner (born 1986), actor
 * Robert Grace (1709–1766), first manufacturer of the Franklin stove
 * Joseph Graham (1759–1836), Revolutionary War militia officer, North Carolina politician, and ironmonger
 * Isaac Israel Hayes (1832–1881), Arctic explorer and physician
 * Francis James (1799–1886), lawyer, state senator, and member of the US House of Representatives
 * Charlton Thomas Lewis (1834–1904), lawyer and lexicographer who compiled several Latin-English dictionaries
 * George Lippard (1822–1854), novelist (The Quaker City; or, The Monks of Monk Hall), journalist, and social reformer
 * Rebecca Webb Lukens (1794–1854), first female owner and manager of the company that became the Lukens Steel Mill
 * William Maclay (1737–1804), Pennsylvania state legislator and US Senator who served in the 1st United States Congress
 * Franklin MacVeagh (1837–1934), banker and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
 * Bam Margera (born 1979), professional skateboarder, television and radio personality, and daredevil
 * Boyd Martin (born 1979), Australian-born equestrian competing in eventing; has participated in two Summer Olympics
 * Jon Matlack (born 1950), baseball pitcher for the New York Mets and Texas Rangers (1971–83), All Star and N.L. champion
 * Henry McBride (1867–1962), art critic who wrote for Art News, The Dial, and The New York Sun
 * Joseph McClellan (1746–1834), Continental Army captain, brevet colonel of militia, and Pennsylvania State Senator
 * Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), one of the most prominent American Beaux-Arts architects of the late nineteenth century
 * Joseph McMinn (1758–1824), politician who served as Speaker of the Tennessee Senate and 4th Governor of Tennessee
 * Thomas Harrison Montgomery Jr. (1873–1912), zoologist and expert in cell biology, invertebrates, and birds
 * George Foot Moore (1851–1931), historian of religion, minister, and professor at Andover Theological Seminary and Harvard University
 * Hezekiah Niles (1777–1839), editor and publisher of the Weekly Register, one of the highest circulating papers in the United States
 * John Grubb Parke, Union general during the American Civil War and victor of the Battle of Fort Stedman (1865)
 * Herb Pennock (1894–1948), Hall of Fame baseball pitcher; also known as the "Squire of Kennett Square"
 * Elijah F. Pennypacker (1804–1888), abolitionist and Underground Railroad station master
 * George Morris Philips (1851–1920), principal of West Chester University from 1881 to 1920
 * Evan Pugh (1828–1864), agricultural chemist and first president of Pennsylvania State University
 * Thomas Buchanan Read (1822–1872), poet and portrait painter
 * George W. Roberts (1833–1862), Union Army colonel killed in action at the Battle of Stones River
 * Barclay Rubincam (1920–1978), regionalist painter affiliated with the Brandywine School
 * Bayard Rustin (1912–1987), civil rights leader posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
 * Matt Ryan (born 1985), NFL quarterback formerly for the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts
 * Maria Sanford (1836–1920), Chester County school superintendent; professor at Swarthmore College and the University of Minnesota
 * John Wallace Scott (1832–1903), Medal of Honor recipient during the Civil War
 * Isaac Sharpless (1848–1920), president of Haverford College
 * M. Night Shyamalan (born 1970), film director
 * William Thomas Smedley (1858–1920), artist; member of the National Academy of Design
 * James Smith (1719–1806), signer to the United States Declaration of Independence
 * Kerr Smith (born 1972), actor
 * William Preston Snyder (1851–1920), president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate and Pennsylvania Auditor General
 * Bayard Taylor (1825–1878), poet, novelist, and travel writer
 * Joseph Henry Taylor (1844–1908), author, newspaper editor, and frontiersman
 * Miles Teller (born 1987), actor
 * Martha Gibbons Thomas (1869–1942), first woman elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Chester County
 * Richard Thomas (1744–1832), Pennsylvania state senator, U.S. Representative, and colonel during the American Revolutionary War
 * Richard Troxell, international opera star, aka "America's Tenor"
 * Bernardhus Van Leer (1687–1790), German-American physician and centenarian
 * Samuel Van Leer (1747–1825), captain during the American Revolution; owned Reading Furnace and other nearby historical places
 * Anthony Wayne (1745–1796), Revolutionary War general known as "Mad Anthony" Wayne
 * George Alexis Weymouth (1936–2016), artist (painter); "whip" stager; founder of the Brandywine Conservancy and the Brandywine River Museum
 * Thomas Wharton Jr. (1735–1778), served as the first President of Pennsylvania (an office akin to Governor) following the Declaration of Independence
 * William H. Whyte (1917–1999), urbanist and sociologist who coined the term "groupthink" and wrote The Organization Man bestselling book on management
 * James P. Wickersham (1825–1891), principal of Millersville State Normal School, state school superintendent, and chargé d'affaires in Denmark
 * Hugh Williamson (1735–1819), Founding Father, signatory of the U.S. Constitution, and US representative from North Carolina
 * William (Amos) Wilson (1762–1821), folklore figure known as "The Pennsylvania Hermit"
 * Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009), artist
 * Jamie Wyeth (born 1946), artist
 * N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945), artist and illustrator