Founded by local citizens in 1893, the Chester County History Center’s early years were occupied with collecting items of historical value, dedicating historical markers, and searching for a permanent home. Those years created the nucleus of the current extensive library collections, which today include over 500,000 manuscripts, 20,000 volumes, and what one author in National Genealogical Society Quarterly called “one of the state’s best collections of newspaper clippings.”
In 1942, the Chester County History Center, as it was known, moved into the historic Horticultural Hall, adding a wing for its expanding museum collections. Succeeding years consolidated a strong emphasis on the collection of regional furniture, textiles, and decorative arts objects, as well as materials representing all aspects of life in southeastern Pennsylvania. Today, the museum collection contains over 80,000 artifacts.