Nov-2017

188 189 CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA Pennsylvania Chester, LOOKING TOGROW C hester, Pennsylvania, a city of 33,000 in Delaware County, sits on the western bank of the Delaware River between Phil- adelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. The oldest city in the Commonwealth, Chester was originally settled in 1644 by Swedish immigrants, and called Up- land. Its name was changed to Chester in 1682 by William Penn, and it became an incorporated city in 1866. For its first few hundred years, Chester was a prosperous and wealthy manufacturing community with industries concentrat- ing on machinery, metal and locomotive manufacturing, shipbuilding, and tex- tiles. Chester experienced its first major period of growth in the early 1900s as a result of the country’s entry into World War I, and another period of economic expansion took place after World War II; by 1950, its population AT A GLANCE CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA WHAT: A city of 33,000 WHERE: On the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington WEBSITES: www.chestercity.com