Ridley Creek State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Edgmont, Middletown, and Upper Providence Townships, Delaware County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the United States. The park, about north of the county seat of

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

, offers many recreational activities, such as hiking, biking, fishing, and picnicking.

Ridley Creek Ridley Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River in Chester and Delaware counties, Pennsylvania in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Keystone Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2004. The entire drainage basin is in the suburban Philadelphia area, but ...

passes through the park. Highlights include a paved multi-use trail, a formal garden designed by the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law O ...

, and Colonial Pennsylvania

Plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

, which recreates daily life on a pre-Revolutionary farm. The park is adjacent to the John J. Tyler Arboretum. Ridley Creek State Park is just over from downtown,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

between

Pennsylvania Route 352 Pennsylvania Route 352 (PA 352) is a north–south route that runs from U.S. Route 13 Business (US 13 Bus.) in Chester, Delaware County, north to US 30 in Frazer, Chester County. The route passes through suburban areas of Delaware and Chester ...

and

Pennsylvania Route 252 Pennsylvania Route 252 (PA 252) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that connects PA 320 in Nether Providence Township at its southern terminus to PA 23 in Valley Forge at its northern terminus. The route run ...

on Gradyville Road.

History

The bulk of the property was acquired in the late 1960s from the estate of well known horse breeder Walter M. Jeffords Sr. and his wife Sarah, a niece of Samuel D. Riddle. The Jeffords had acquired the land starting about 1912 in small parcels, until they had over , which was the largest private undeveloped property in the Philadelphia area by the 1960s. By 1918 they had built a large mansion, now the park office, around a stone colonial farmhouse. Twenty-four other historic properties were located on the grounds, many farmsteads that had retained family ownership since the seventeenth century. In 1976 these properties were registered on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as a national historic district. The area was originally settled by English Quakers and remained agrarian into the twentieth century. The oldest property is the 1683 Worrel House. In 1718 a

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

, then known as Providence Mill, began to grind corn. In the late 18th century a plaster mill was established next to the grist mill. A rolling and slitting mill replaced the plaster mill by 1812, and became known as Bishop's Mills. Workers cottages, a dam, and several outbuildings complete the mill complex, now known as Sycamore Mills. The mills operated until 1901, when they were damaged by fire. ''Note:'' This includes

Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation

The Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation is a living museum on the farm where the Pratt family lived from 1720 to 1820. Admission is charged and it is open to the general public on weekends from April through November.

Recreation

The location of Ridley Creek State Park, just from downtown Philadelphia, has led to its popularity. Ridley Creek is very popular with fishermen. It is stocked with

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

by the

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a sepa ...

. A portion of the creek is a designated

catch and release Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture, often a fast measurement and weighing of the fish is performed, followed by posed photography as proof of the catch, and then the fish are unhooked and returned ...

area for fly fishing only. There is a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

accessible fishing platform on a multi-use trail. The of

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trails at Ridley Creek State Park are popular with dog owners. These trails pass through a variety of habitats. A multi use trail is open to

jogging Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods ...

bicycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

and

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

. The park also features a

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

trail.

Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within of Ridley Creek State Park: ''Note: shows Ridley Creek State Park '' * Alapocas Run State Park (

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

) *

Auburn Valley State Park Auburn Valley State Park (formerly Auburn Heights Preserve) is a state park, located in Yorklyn, Delaware, United States. The park, which is around 360 acres, preserves the former home and estate of the Marshall family as well as portions of th ...

(Delaware) * Bellevue State Park (Delaware) *

Benjamin Rush State Park Benjamin Rush State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The park is undeveloped and is the site of community gardens, believed to be one of the largest in the world. The ...

(

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsyl ...

) *

Brandywine Creek State Park Brandywine Creek State Park is a state park, located north of Wilmington, Delaware along the Brandywine Creek. Open year-round, it is in area and much of the park was part of a Du Pont family estate and dairy farm before becoming a state park ...

(Delaware) * Delaware Canal State Park ( Bucks and Northampton Counties) RCSPMansion

* Evansburg State Park ( Montgomery County) *

Fort Delaware State Park Fort Delaware State Park is a Delaware state park on Pea Patch Island in New Castle County, Delaware. A fortress was built on Pea Patch Island by the United States Army in 1815, near the conclusion of the War of 1812, to protect the harbors o ...

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Fort Mott State Park Fort Mott, located in Pennsville, Salem County, New Jersey, United States, was part of the Harbor Defenses of the Delaware, a three-fort defense system designed for the Delaware River during the postbellum and Endicott program modernization p ...

(

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

) *

Fort Washington State Park Fort Washington State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Springfield and Whitemarsh Townships, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The park is noted for the springtime flowering of dogwood trees, and is popular with families for picnics and ...

(Montgomery County) *

Fox Point State Park Fox Point State Park is a Delaware state park on along the Delaware River in New Castle County, Delaware in the United States. The park, which opened in 1995, has been built atop a former hazardous waste site that has been rehabilitated under a ...

(Delaware) *

French Creek State Park French Creek State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in North Coventry and Warwick Townships in Chester County and Robeson and Union Townships in Berks County, Pennsylvania. It straddles northern Chester County and southern Berks County along ...

( Berks and Chester Counties) *

Lums Pond State Park Lums Pond State Park is a Delaware state park near Bear, New Castle County, Delaware in the United States. The park surrounds Lums Pond, an impoundment built by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on St. Georges Creek. The C&D built the pond as ...

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Marsh Creek State Park Marsh Creek State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Upper Uwchlan and Wallace Townships, Chester County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is the location of the man-made Marsh Creek Lake. With an average depth of 40 feet (73 f ...

(Chester County) *

Neshaminy State Park Neshaminy State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Bensalem Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Visitors to the park can catch a glimpse of the Philadelphia skyline from a hiking trail on Logan Point. The park is locate ...

(Bucks County) *

Norristown Farm Park Norristown Farm Park is a Pennsylvania state park in East Norriton and West Norriton Townships and the Borough of Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Located just off of Interstate 276 on West Germantown Pike, it ...

(Montgomery County) * Wilmington State Parks (Delaware) *

White Clay Creek Preserve White Clay Creek Preserve is a Pennsylvania state park along the valley of White Clay Creek in London Britain Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park was donated by the DuPont Company in 1984 for the purpose of ...

(

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, th ...

) * White Clay Creek State Park (

)

References

Sources

* * National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination FormJeffords' Estate

External links

Ridley Creek State Park Official Website
*
Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation
{{Authority control State parks of Pennsylvania Protected areas established in 1972 Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Parks in Delaware County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Delaware County, Pennsylvania 1972 establishments in Pennsylvania Protected areas of Delaware County, Pennsylvania Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania