Chadds Ford used to be a place where farm people gathered to talk, to shop, and see what was happening with their neighbors. It was a place where craftsmen worked and sold their furniture, art, and door latches. The nice tight scale of the old buildings and houses suggests a friendlier, quieter era where people knew each other and “Buy Local” was a way of life, not a slogan. 

I once discovered a similar little town just outside the Shenandoah National Park called Graves Mill. It was a perfectly preserved microcosm of a town from 150 years ago—two stores, a livery stable, blacksmith, church, school, post office and polling place lined up along on a mountain river. I visited the ghost town with my children so they could see how people lived before cars. A single trip to town meant hearing the preacher, shoeing the horses, buying flour, voting, and meeting your far-flung neighbors. Fast forward five years and a major flood wiped out the entire town—save the church—gone, the last vestige of a way of life where commerce and community were available to an isolated rural population.

The Danger of U.S. Route 1

Luckily the Village of Chadds Ford has survived floods; its bigger threat is heavy traffic. U.S. Route 1, which cuts through the middle of town, is a speedway frequented by big trucks and commuter traffic known for ignoring speed limits and traffic signals. Ask the manager of Leader’s Sunoco at the Creek Road stoplight about the semis that cruise through red lights or veer alarmingly in the direction of their gas pumps.

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Change Starts Here

Last year, the Brandywine Conservancy helped to organize a  group of community residents, local leaders, and business owners to brainstorm about how to make Chadds Ford more walkable—a lovely, historic, business-friendly, and safe village. The group hired a design firm, a traffic engineer, talked with PennDOT, and met with the community committee for eight months to create the Village of Chadds Ford Master Plan. This innovative plan includes: gateways, historic signs, traffic calming, safe walkways and crosswalks, a new Village common on Station Way Road, medians with trees and flowers, banners, and human-scaled lights. Chadds Ford will once again become a place where neighbors can meet, walk, talk, shop, and eat – the real stuff of life. 

What Walkable Chadds Ford Means for You

The people of Chadds Ford are starting to get excited, but we need your help making the Walkable Chadds Ford initiative a reality. The Chadds Ford Board of Supervisors has pledged support, as has the Business Association, the museums, and the Scenic Byway. It’s time to move into the next phase—design and planning of the many projects that will realize the plan.

This is where you come in. We invite you to read the plan, and share your thoughts, questions, and concerns with the Conservancy. The planning group is preparing to apply for funding and we still need  partners who agree that Chadds Ford village should not disappear. We believe Chadds Ford is a place worth protecting. If you agree you can support Walkable Chadds Ford by contacting Beth Burnam at [email protected] or 610-388-8396.