Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway

In 2010, Darryl Hall, (center) commissioned a mural depicting Harriet Tubman leading freedom seekers. The mural was created by artists Dave Mass and Joey Gothelf. You will want to pay close attention to the scroll at the top left of the mural. It is a list of some of the most widely known local abolitionists. The building itself, on 212 South Willow Street,, was home to the #40 Masonic Lodge in 1888. The Masonic Lodge was created in 1865 by local African Americans.

“Historic Settlements” are noted as the predominant character at the villages of Chadds Ford, Fairville, and Hamorton, all are National Register Historic Districts. Here, the built environment and setting of these historic Byway communities predominates the view. They are largely characteristic of well-preserved eighteenth and nineteenth century residential and commercial structures, often sited close to the road so as to largely conceal or obscure views into the surrounding landscape.

N. C. Wyeth paints himself speaking with George Washington as the Battle of the Brandywine unfolds with British and American troops marching across an autumnal colored landscape with General Lafayette observing. The hills, clouds, the distant views of settlements, farms, and woodlands perfectly capture the sense of the Brandywine Valley. Credit - see Terms and Conditions in Support Letter Portfolio - Brandywine River Museum of Art

This historic stone twin home illustrates the typical early 1800 designs which often include stone walls, brick sidewalks, and mature trees. The historic integrity of these National Register Historic Districts is found in the structures themselves and in their historic setting along the Byway frontage.

Wild animals at one time roamed the acreage of the Fairville Inn (c. 1830) deep in the stunning Brandywine Valley just north of the Delaware state border. Today guests wake up to the songs of countless birds in birdhouses as well as the teasing chant of catbirds visible in the holly trees from the terraces of this charmer of a bed-and-breakfast. The Inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as part of the Fairville Historic District. By R. Collier, Main Line Media News 7/29/20

Two of the most faithful and committed supporters of the Underground Railroad in Chester County were the husband and wife team of Dinah and Isaac Mendenhall. Their home, Oakdale (1840) was often the first station in Chester County for the UGRR, for freedom-seekers sent by Thomas Garrett of Wilmington. Their work was much celebrated in Robert Smedley's History of the Underground Railroad In Chester and Neighboring Counties (1883).

At the former Longwood Progressive Friends Meeting House, you will find tips and advice, and maps for self-guided itineraries for your visit to beautiful Chester County at the official Visitor Center, located at 300 Greenwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348. The simple but elegant frame structure reflects the commitment of a few members of the Old Kennett (Quaker) meeting who split to form their own Meeting in 1853 to become ardent supporters of the abolition movement.

Nowhere else in the world is there a setting that marries fountains, theater, and garden, establishing the Main Fountain Garden as the finest performance fountain in the world. As the culmination of the legacy and vision of Pierre S. du Pont, the garden combines classic landscape design with art, innovation, technology, and extraordinary fountains.

Longwood Gardens horticultural expertise shines during the Chrysanthemum Festival. See the largest display of chrysanthemums in the United States. Their horticultural experts nurture and train thousands of chrysanthemums to form orbs, spirals, pagodas, columns, and other unique forms. The Thousand Bloom Mum--a single plant bearing more than 1,500 perfect blooms on a single stem--takes the display to a whole new level.

“The epic effects of the new performing fountains ... may make the observer forget the beauty and significance of the garden itself, which is one of the largest and most alluring classical revival landscapes in the country.”—Adrian Higgins, The Washington Post

The landscape at the Stroud Preserve has been noted as a “visually significant landscape” for the Pennsylvania Scenic Rivers program, which, along with other scenic areas along the Byway, led to the 1989 state designation of the Lower Brandywine Scenic River. Visually significant landscapes have consistently been defined as those landscapes visible from the public right of way which are characteristic of the natural heritage and historic settlement of the land.

The Brandywine Valley has been pressured by the forces of modern society, yet also has enjoyed the advantage of an aggressive conservation movement arising in time to protect much of those intrinsic qualities that the early settlers found so inviting. A proliferation of protected natural areas, parks, eased lands, and historic resources throughout the Byway corridor has promoted recreational and interpretive opportunities and led to a renewed appreciation of the landscape.

Cultivated fields, historic buildings, stone walls, and other resources still illustrate characteristic rural settlement patterns, while scenic views from the Byway frequently offer the traveler an eye to the past of how our forefathers saw the land. Local citizens, institutions, and municipalities share a wide-held interest in maintaining the focus and action exhibited by those residing here long ago in order to preserve what we have for generations to come.

The John Chads House, listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places, is a remarkable example of early Pennsylvania architecture, meticulously restored in 1981. It stands above Creek Road with views of the Brandywine River. Tours are offered through the Chadds Ford Historical Society each Saturday throughout the year.

Every December the Chadds Ford Historical Society decorates for their Christmas tour. These decorations are ones that could have likely be found locally when the house was built around 1725. The fireplaces and paneling were painstakingly restored in 1971.

Thousands of loaves of bread are baked in the beehive oven of the John Chads House each year. Visitors who come around the Historical Society’s Chadds Ford Days event in September are often treated to the aroma of fresh, hearth-baked bread.

Discover a distinguished collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American art, housed in a renovated nineteenth-century mill with a dramatic steel and glass addition that overlooks the bucolic Brandywine River. The extraordinary site—the intersection of art and nature— emphasizes the Brandywine Conservancy’s commitment to the preservation of the natural, cultural and scenic resources of the region.

The Museum’s outstanding Heritage Collection is a cross section of American art, with a special focus on artistic practice in the Brandywine Valley. Landscape paintings testify to the beauty which drew well-known artists to the area. Important portraits, still life paintings and notable holdings in American illustration add diversity and breadth to this unique collection. A robust program of changing exhibitions places the Museum’s collection into the broader contexts of American art.

A child enjoys Portrait of a Pig by Jamie Wyeth. Renowned for its holdings of the Wyeth family of artists, the Museum features galleries dedicated to the work of N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth and Jamie Wyeth. Throughout the Museum families will find many works appealing to children including paintings and sculptures of animals, illustrations of pirates and characters from classic adventure stories, and colorful landscape and still life paintings.

Andrew Wyeth Studio Andrew Wyeth painted in his studio from 1940 until 2008. Thousands of works of art are associated with this studio, including those inspired by the farms and open space of the Brandywine Valley, and the Brandywine River that runs through Chadds Ford and the surrounding countryside.

In 1911, with the proceeds from his illustrations for Treasure Island, the artist N.C. Wyeth purchased 18 acres of land on Rocky Hill. Here he set down roots which have nourished a family of extraordinary creativity for more than a century.

The mural, William Penn, Man of Vision · Courage · Action (N. C. Wyeth, 1933) was a Gift to the Brandywine River Museum from the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. Wyeth captures the influence that Penn brought to the creation of the new colony – the city of Philadelphia, its sea port, the workers and founding fathers all forging a new beginning. To the west of the city unfolds the hills and valleys of fertile farmlands and forests.

The Benjamin Ring House was built in 1731 and served as General Washington’s headquarters during the Battle of the Brandywine. Careful restoration to its appearance in 1777 following a fire in 1931 gives visitors a glimpse of history.

Gideon Gilpin was a Quaker farmer in 1777 when the Battle of the Brandywine occurred. He, like many other farmers in the area, incurred heavy losses. His carefully restored house is a testament to those stories.

The Brandywine Battlefield Task Force, with funding from a grant to Chester County from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP), renewed studies of troop movement and encampment areas in surrounding areas, much of which lies in the area of the Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway.