East Whiteland Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States ** Chester County Council, boy scout council in Pennsylvania. * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. The population was 13,913 at th
2020 Census
Mailing addresses associated with East Whiteland include Malvern, Frazer, and a small area of Exton.

History

Founded in 1704, Whiteland Township was made up of what is today known as East and West Whiteland townships. The first European settlers were Welsh. The name Whiteland came from Whitford Garden in

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Whiteland Township was divided into two townships in 1765. Native Americans called the area "The Dark Valley" because of the numerous trees and undergrowth. During the American Revolution, Gen.

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and many of his troops camped at Malin Hall here. They were preparing for a September 16, 1777, encounter with British General William Howe. The

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

also camped near White Horse Inn on Swedesford Road. Because of bad weather, however, the "

Battle of the Clouds A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

" was never fought. The Lapp Log House, St. Peter's Church in the Great Valley, Spring Mill Complex, and White Horse Tavern are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the township has a total area of , of which , or 0.27%, is water. East Whiteland Township is located about west of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The township has a ridge of hills along its northern and southern boundaries. These constitute the valley walls of the Great Valley, which runs generally west to east toward the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

. In the center of the township, there is a somewhat uneven valley floor. The Great Valley contains a number of streams, including Valley Creek and Little Valley Creek, which is a narrow stream that goes across land and woodlands.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, the township was 77.1% non-Hispanic White, 3.3% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 11.6% Asian, and 1.5% were two or more races. 6.9% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 9,333 people, 3,254 households, and 2,255 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 3,460 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 89.57%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3.28%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.09% Native American, 4.98% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.73% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.42% of the population. There were 3,254 households, out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.7% were non-families. 24.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.13. In the township the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.6 males. The median income for a household in the township was $69,500, and the median income for a family was $75,818. Males had a median income of $55,969 versus $35,507 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $30,258. About 3.9% of families and 4.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Home to the Great Valley Corporate Center, the township also serves as U.S headquarters to several national and international firms including Siemens Health Services (formerly SMS), Vishay, SCT, Centocor and

Aegon Aegon Ltd. (stylized as AEGON) is a Dutch public company for life insurance, pensions and asset management. It is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and has 26,000 employees as of July 21, 2020. Aegon is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam a ...

, as well as being home to numerous smaller businesses and retail shops. The Frazer Diner is a 1929 diner on

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...

in Frazer.

Acme Markets Acme Markets Inc. is a supermarket chain operating 159 stores throughout Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, the Hudson Valley of New York, and Pennsylvania and, as of 1998, is a subsidiary of Albertsons, and part of its presence in t ...

has its headquarters in the township.

Education

The

Great Valley School District Great Valley School District is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in eastern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The district provides public education for students in Charlestown, East Whiteland, and Willistown townships, as well as the boro ...

serves as the public education for the township. The public schools serving the township are Kathryn D. Markley Elementary, Great Valley Middle School, and

Great Valley High School Great Valley High School is a comprehensive, public high school located in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Located on the same campus as Great Valley Middle School at 225 North Phoenixville Pike, it is the only high school in the Great Valley School Distr ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

has a graduate center here,

Penn State Great Valley The Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies (branded as Penn State Great Valley) is a special-mission graduate school of Pennsylvania State University located in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Academic offerings include master's ...

.The Schools and Colleges
." East Whiteland Township. Retrieved on February 13, 2011. LeBow College of

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

and

Immaculata University Immaculata University is a private Catholic university in East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The university has 1,427 traditional undergraduate and adu ...

are located in the township.

Government

Board of Supervisors East Whiteland Township is governed by a three-member Board of Supervisors elected at-large, who each serve six-year terms that include executive and legislative responsibilities. There is no mayor.

Transportation

Roads and highways

As of 2018, there were of public roads in East Whiteland Township, of which were maintained by the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT ...

(PennDOT) and were maintained by the township.

U.S. Route 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of U.S. Route 2, US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware in the south to Maine in the north and traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, N ...

is the main highway serving East Whiteland Township. It follows a southwest-northeast alignment through the central portion of the township.

follows Lancaster Avenue along a southwest-northeast alignment through the southern portion of the township.

Pennsylvania Route 29 Pennsylvania Route 29 (PA 29) is a north–south state highway that runs through most of eastern Pennsylvania. The route currently has a southern and northern segment. The southern segment runs from U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Rout ...

follows Morehall Road and Charlestown Road northwest from US 30 across the northeastern portion of the township. Pennsylvania Route 352 follows Sproul Road southeast from US 30 across the southern part of the township. Finally,

Pennsylvania Route 401 Pennsylvania Route 401 (PA 401) is a east–west state route in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Berks and Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester counties, located in southeast Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at Pennsylvania Route 23, PA 23 ...

follows Conestoga Road northwest from US 30 through central and western portions of the township.

Public transportation

The former main line of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

, currently owned and operated by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

and also used by

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

, passes through the township. While no stations are located in the township, SEPTA Frazer Yard is a maintenance facility for the

Paoli/Thorndale Line The Paoli/Thorndale Line, commonly known as the Main Line, is a SEPTA Regional Rail service running from Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia through Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County and Delaware County, Pennsylvan ...

regional rail service. In 2019, the

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) is the metropolitan planning organization for the Delaware Valley. Created in 1965 by an interstate compact, DVRPC is responsible for transportation and regional planning in the greater Phi ...

conducted a feasibility study for a new SEPTA station in East Whiteland and recommended a location near

. SEPTA suburban bus route 92 runs along King Road from West Chester to

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

, while route 204 runs along US 30 between Lionville and Paoli.

References

External links

East Whiteland Township
{{authority control Populated places established in 1704 Townships in Chester County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania 1704 establishments in Pennsylvania