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Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2000, the population was 433,501. The county seat is West Chester.

Chester County was one of the three original counties of Pennsylvania created by William Penn in 1682. It was named for Cheshire, England.

It is part of the Delaware Valley area.

History

Chester, Philadelphia, and Bucks Counties were the three original Pennsylvania counties created by William Penn in 1682. At that time Chester County's borders were Philadelphia County to the north, the Susquehanna River to the west, the Delaware River to the east, and Delaware and Maryland to the south.

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 northerm section of Chester County, as well as parts of Lancaster and Philadelphia Counties.

The original Chester County seat was the city of Chester. However, it became part of Delaware County when it was formed from the eastern portion of the Chester County on September 26, 1789 1789. This took the county seat out of Chester County, so West Chester became the new county seat that year, and has remained so to the present.

The former Valley Forge Army Hospital, constructed during World War II, was one of the largest military hospitals in the United States.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,968 km² (760 mi²). 1,958 km² (756 mi²) of it is land and 10 km² (4 mi²) of it (0.51%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 433,501 people, 157,905 households, and 113,375 families residing in the county. The population density was 221/km² (573/mi²). There were 163,773 housing units at an average density of 84/km² (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.

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. 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.

Politics

Presidential elections results
Year GOP Dems
2004 52.0% ''120,306 47.5% ''109,708
2000 53.4% ''100,080 43.7% ''82,047
1996 48.7% ''77,029 41.0% ''64,783
1992 43.7% ''74,002 35.2% ''59,643
1988 67.0% ''93,522 32.1% ''44,853
1984 70.1% ''92,221 29.6% ''38,870
1980 60.9% ''73,046 28.6% ''34,307
1976 60.4% ''67,686 38.1% ''42,712
1972 68.4% ''72,726 29.3% ''31,118
1968 57.2% ''56,073 33.3% ''32,606
1964 45.5% ''40,280 54.1% ''47,940
1960 63.6% ''53,059 36.2% ''30,167

As of November 2005, there are 290,471 registered voters in Chester County *.

Recent estimations, see Chester County trending Democratic. The reasons behind this are due to extensive migration of peoples from more liberal areas, such as Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.

Government

Chester County is administered by a three-person Board of Commissioners, who are elected for four-year terms (which coincide with Presidential election years). 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.

Commissioners

  • Carol Aichele
  • Patrick O’Donnell
  • Donald A. Mancici

Other Elected Officials

  • Teena Peters, Clerk of Courts
  • Valentino R. DiGiorgio, III, Controller
  • Robert O. Satriale, Coroner
  • Joe Carroll, District Attorney
  • Martha E. Smith, Jury Commissioner
  • Mimi Sack, Jury Commissioner
  • Bryan Walters, Prothonotary
  • Terence Farrell, Recorder of Deeds
  • Paula Gowen, Register of Wills
  • Carolyn Bunny Welsh, Sheriff
  • Alan Randzin, Treasurer

United States Congressional Districts

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives

Pennsylvania State Senate

Municipalities

The county is divided into municipalities that are either cities, boroughs, or townships. Those called cities and boroughs are generally small in area but have higher population density. However, the post office uses town names and boundaries that usually do not correspond to the municipalities, and usually only even have the same names as the municipalities for the cities and boroughs. The town names used by the post office are generally used by residents to describe where they live. This list of cities and towns includes some of the towns that are not municipalities but are part of one or more townships.

Cities

Boroughs

Townships

Census Designated Places

Education

Colleges and universities

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Chester County, Pennsylvania".

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