Appreciate Goal
Preserve the historic resources and landscapes that define our cultural heritage to inspire the future through tangible connections to our shared past.
Why it Matters
As one of the founding counties in the nation, Chester County benefits from an abundance of historic homes, barns, mills, bridges, and other notable features and events that have retained original settlement patterns and connections to the stories of our history. These historic features and their surroundings provide a unique sense of place and positively impact our economy and environment through reuse of infrastructure, heritage tourism, and improved property values.
Stories of our history provide a connection between county residents and visitors of today and tomorrow with those who came before — those who plowed the first farms, settled our first towns, grew our industries, worked for freedom for all, and raised their families. The imprint of these stories is across all of our landscapes, with new stories added every day.
Our cultural heritage is best appreciated by carrying our legacy forward while augmenting it with new structures and stories. Chester County is a collection of diverse and living cultural landscapes, where historic resources and their surroundings embody a connection to our past and can be integrated into the fabric of our future.
Historic resources are irreplaceable but renewable in the sense that new uses can be found, new meaning can be sought, and interpretation can evolve. A focus on retaining existing settlement patterns, pursuing adaptive reuse in a context sensitive manner, and expanding exploration of our rich history will enable Chester County to build from our shared heritage and strengthen connections between our past and future.
Metrics to Measure Success
- Historic Inventory and Standards — Adopted comprehensive historic resource protection measures
- Heritage Tourism — Historical and cultural tourism within the county