Cynthia Szoradi

Willistown - Realty

Willistown Township is located in the eastern part of Chester County, Pennsylvania, five miles east of West Chester and approximately twenty miles from Philadelphia proper and Wilmington, Delaware. Willistown is known for it's farms dotted along the landscape and it's conservation easements protecting natural and scenic resources. Home to the Radnor Hunt Races, a local horse race, which is a big draw and it's mission is to preserve local open space. In Willistown, you will find beautiful old colonial homes with old-world charm on larger lots.

In the early 1900s the township mainly developed agriculturally with the increasing use of more advanced farming techniques and improved machinery. The electrification of the Paoli and Philadelphia commuter railways in the 1920s increased suburbanization in the entire area and population grew rapidly. Nearby towns such as West Chester, Malvern, and Paoli become more accessible after the invention of the automobile during the 1900s.

During the early 1970s, the four lane highway, Route 202, was built between King of Prussia and West Chester. Rapid development spread southward along the "high tech" corridor. The proximity of this highway to Willistown, and the availability of new jobs has increased the demand for housing in the township. Considerable growth has occurred particularly along Route 30 (Lancaster Pike) and also along the southern edge of Willistown, bounded by Route 3 (West Chester Pike) which links with 202. Although Willistown Township has expanded in size, modernized, the rural character of the Township makes Willistown a reserve in the midst of the suburban landscapes which surround it showing it distinct agrarian society - a glimpse of the not too distant past, enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.

Willistown was a part of the 50,000 acre Welsh Tract surveyed for William Penn in 1684. Scattered villages emerged in the late 1700s as business grew. The villages usually emerged at major crossroads and contained school, tavern, general stores, and craft shops. Sugartown, White Horse, and Plumsock were the earliest villages in Willistown. Historic Sugartown is a celebrated landmark of the region: http://www.sugartown.org.