Indian Era (Pre 1750)

Indian History

The first inhabitants arrived perhaps as early as 11,500BC, when nomadic hunters and gatherers roamed the late Ice Age landscape. Theirs was a tough life. They wore skins for protection against the frigid weather, and hunted in migratory bands the big game of the Ice Age.

Early Explorers

The Dutch were the first Europeans in Chester County, in 1616.  The English followed in 1634; the Swedes, in 1638; the Finns, in 1640; and Welsh-Quakers, in 1682.  In the southeastern part of Chester County in the late 1600’s, the English Quakers and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians predominated.