Lancaster and Chester Cos., PA

The counties were created as follows:

CHESTER COUNTY: one of the three original counties created by William Penn in November, 1682. West Chester, the county seat, was incorporated on March 28, 1799.

LANCASTER COUNTY: created May 10, 1729 from part of Chester Co. Lancaster, the county seat, was incorporated on May 1, 1742 and became a city on March 20, 1818.

BERKS COUNTY: created on March 11, 1752, from parts of Philadelphia, Chester, and Lancaster counties. Reading, the county seat, was incorporated on September 12, 1783 and as a city on March 16, 1847.

DELAWARE COUNTY: created September 26, 1789, from part of Chester County Media,county seat since 1850, was incorporated March 11, 1850. Chester, its first county seat. was the county seat of Chester County before 1788 and capital of Pennsylvania, 1681-1682.

See: History of PA Counties

Return to King page.