Chester County Commissioners Josh Maxwell, Marian Moskowitz, and Eric Roe announced details of Chester County’s 2025 Town Tours & Village Walks program, which kicks off in West Chester on Thursday evening, June 12.
The popular summer program series returns for its 31st year with the theme, “Untold Stories,” focusing on the everyday citizens and places that represent Chester County’s history and heritage. This includes people connected to the Underground Railroad, shift workers, educators, farmers, Revolutionary War soldiers, and others.
There are 10 events in this year’s Town Tours and Village Walks lineup, open to the public from June 12 to August 21.
2025 Town Tours & Village Walk programs include:
- June 12, Kickoff at Church of the Holy Trinity, West Chester Borough. Tours will highlight various stories including the Marquis de Lafayette in West Chester, “Buffalo Bill,” lily smuggling, the Shadd family, “The Invisible Man,” the Director of the IRS and other assorted tales.
- June 19 Juneteenth – various events at locations throughout Chester County during Juneteenth week (some events incur a cost).
- June 26, Lukens Executive Building, Coatesville. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Art Deco Movement Coatesville-style, with a variety of stops featuring unique and disappearing architecture, and stories featuring local people you may never have heard of.
- July 10, Warwick County Park, Warwick Township. The forests of Warwick County Park were once used for making charcoal that fueled the iron industry. Some of the people involved in these sites are household names today, while others are not as well known.
- July 26, Lafayette Day, Thornbury Farm, Thornbury Township (AM); West Chester Borough (PM). Lafayette Day is celebrated with a program and walk to Birmingham Hill in the morning, and in the afternoon, West Chester is holding a Lafayette memorial parade.
- July 31, Barnard Station, Pocopson Township. Tour Barnard Station, which represents 19th century efforts throughout Pennsylvania and the United States to end slavery and uphold the community’s values & beliefs to help secure “the Blessings of Liberty” for all people.
- August 7, Self-guided Driving Tour of the Oxford region. Take a journey around small villages in the Oxford area including Homeville, Russellville, Tweedale, Hopewell and Lewisville. These historic villages highlight the agricultural and scenic resources that characterize the region.
- August 14, Hopewell Furnace, Warwick Township. For the decades that Hopewell Furnace operated, many people provided labor and materials. Learn about the lesser-known people that called the Furnace their job and home – from the colliers that made the charcoal, to the drovers that shipped raw materials and finished goods.
- August 21, Historic Yellow Springs, West Pikeland Township. Did you know that vaccinations were given to Revolutionary War soldiers at Yellow Spring; that patient John Knight was wrapped in spring water-soaked sheets as part of his spa treatment; that an English landscape gardener designed the Water Meadow pathways; and that Burt Bacharach wrote music for The Blob in Yellow Springs?
Preregistration is not required for any of the Town Tours & Village Walks events in the 2025 season, and those interested in attending should go to the advertised starting point of the tour to register onsite.
For full details on the 2025 Town Tours & Village Walks program, visit www.chesco.org/towntours.
The Town Tours & Village Walks program is made possible through a partnership between the Chester County Board of Commissioners, the Chester County Planning Commission, the Chester County History Center, the Chester County Historic Preservation Network, Chester County Tourism, and many dedicated volunteers.
