Thornbury 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 3,017 at the 2010 census. It is adjacent to, and was once joined with, Thornbury Township, Delaware County.

History

Thornbury Township was organized in 1687 with the appointment of Hugh Durborrow as constable and received its name from Thornbury, in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England. At the time, no more than five or six families lived within the limits of the township. George Peirce, one of the earliest and most influential inhabitants of the township, was married to a native of Thornbury, England, and the township was purportedly named to compliment her. Thornbury,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and

Westtown West Town or Westtown may refer to any of the following places. United Kingdom * West Town, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire * West Town, Hayling Island in Hampshire * West Town, Backwell in North Somerset United States * West Town, Chicago in Illin ...

townships are the only townships within the present limits of Chester County which were organized before 1704. The township was divided when Delaware County was separated from

in 1798. As a result, there is a Thornbury Township in each county. Landowners were allowed to choose which county they wished to be in, causing the line between the two townships, and the two counties, to be very irregular. The

Battle of Brandywine The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the Am ...

, part of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

took place partially in the town. It was one of Thornbury's citizens, Squire Thomas Cheyney, who informed

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 ...

, commander of 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 ...

, of the approach of the British troops. The Squire Cheyney Farm and William J. Barnard Residence 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 ...

Points of interest

Entries in the

:*Melrose Cottage (President's House) on the grounds of

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1837 as the Institute for Colored Youth, it is the ...

:*Thornbury Lodge (also known as the William J. Barnard Residence) :*Taylor Frazer Ruins

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 , all land.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, the township was 85.5% non-Hispanic White, 3.4% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 7.6% Asian, and 1.4% were two or more races. 1.9% 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 2,678 people, 1,023 households, and 734 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,095 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 91.90%

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 ...

, 2.58%

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 ...

, 4.56% 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 ...

, 0.22% from other races, and 0.71% 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 0.78% of the population. There were 1,023 households, out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.6% 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, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.10. In the township the population was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 34.8% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males. The median income for a household in the township was $84,225, and the median income for a family was $112,291. Males had a median income of $70,602 versus $42,371 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 $47,505. None of the families and 1.6% of the population were living 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 no people under eighteen, and 2.0% of those over 64.

Education

The West Chester Area School District operates public schools serving the township.West Chester Area Council of Governments Map
" On the website of West Goshen Township. Retrieved on September 26, 2018. Elementary schools serving sections include Penn Wood, Sarah Starkweather, and Westtown-Thornbury. All residents are zoned to Stetson Middle School and West Chester Rustin High School.School Boundary Adjustment Draft SK8C - Current Boundaries with Zones of Change
(Secondary). West Chester Area School District. Retrieved on September 26, 2018.

Transportation

As of 2020, there were of public roads in Thornbury 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 ...

U.S. Route 322 U.S. Route 322 (US 322) is a , east–west United States Highway, traversing Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The road is a spur route, spur of U.S. Route 22, US 22 and one of the original highways from 1926. A portion of it at one time was c ...

and Pennsylvania Route 926 are the numbered highways serving Thornbury Township. US 202/US 322 concurrently follow the Wilmington-West Chester Pike along a northwest-southeast alignment through the southwestern portion of the township. PA 926 follows Street Road along a southwest-northeast alignment along the northwest edge of the township.

Notable people

Daniel Garrison Brinton Daniel Garrison Brinton (May 13, 1837July 31, 1899) was an American archaeologist, ethnologist, historian, and surgeon. Biography Brinton was born in Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Yale University in 185 ...

, historian and ethnologist * Joseph Hemphill, former U.S. Congressman *

Francis James Alfred Francis James (21 April 191824 August 1992) was an Australian publisher known for being imprisoned in China as a spy. Early life James was born in Queenstown, Tasmania, Queenstown, Tasmania, the son of an Anglican priest. His early life ...

, former U.S. Congressman

References

External links

Thornbury Township
{{Chester County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1687 Townships in Chester County, Pennsylvania 1687 establishments in Pennsylvania