TOWNSHIP FACTS AND
HISTORY
Establishing East Bradford Township
The land consisting of East Bradford Township was
part of the original land grant from King Charles II to William Penn
in 1681. Bradford Township was established in 1705 and was named for
Bradford, England. East Bradford Township was established in 1731,
when Bradford Township was divided into East and West Bradford
Townships. In 1856, twelve hundred acres in the southern part of the
township was added to Birmingham Township. Since that date East
Bradford Township has stayed at its current size of 9855.8 acres or
15.4 square miles.
The Township Municipal Campus consists of 7.4 acres
at the intersection of Copeland School Road and Frank Road. At that
location is the Municipal Building, Public Works Garage and the
Copeland School. The Copeland School, built in 1905, was used as a
public school until the East Bradford Elementary School was built in
1959. The Township purchased the school and land surrounding the
building in 1965 with the intent of creating the municipal campus.
Copeland School was used as a meeting place until 1988 when the
Township built the current municipal building and hired a full time
staff for the everyday administration of the Township. Copeland School
has been refurbished for use as a community room for use by groups
that have township residents as members. The Public Works Garage was
built in the late 1970's, with an additional storage building built in
1994, to help store the equipment for the growing public works
department. A salt storage building was built in 1997 to hold the
increasing amount of salt necessary for the township roads during
winter storms.
In 1933 Pennsylvania enacted the Second Class
Township Code which sets forth the general and corporate powers of the
township and the manner in which the supervisors will exercise these
powers. Second Class Townships are prohibited from exercising any
powers not specifically authorized in the Code. Second Class
Township's have populations of less then three hundred people per
square mile, which classifies East Bradford Township as a Second Class
Township.
The voting public elects three supervisors and
three auditors, each to a six year term of office and one tax
collector to a four year term of office, all must be residents of the
township.
The Board of Supervisors must meet the first Monday
in January (unless that date is a legal holiday, then they meet the
first Tuesday) to organize the Township. At this meeting they must
organize as a board by electing one of their members as chairman and
another as vice-chairman. The Board will also appoint a treasurer and
a secretary. At this meeting they also appoint new members and fill
vacancies to the different boards and commissions of the Township.
Starting in 2000 the township hired a certified
public accountant to do the yearly audit of the township financial
records. Prior to this the elected auditors of the township did the
annual audit. The elected auditors will continue to hold their
position within the township, their only job being to determine the
compensations for supervisors employed by the township. Currently the
township employs none of the supervisors. The annual audit is
available at the township building for review each year after March
1st.
The regular meetings for the general administration
of the affairs of the township are held on the second Tuesday of each
month. These meetings are held at the Township Building and are open
to the public and all are welcome to attend. Agendas are available at
the Township Building prior to the meeting and comments are taken on
the different agenda items during the meeting as they are discussed. A
public comment period is held at the beginning of each meeting for
comments about items that are not on the agenda. Items included at
monthly meetings are, but not limited to, reports from Emergency
Services, Roadmaster, Codes Enforcement, Planning Commission, Parks
& Recreation, Historical Commission, Treasurer's report on the
finances of the Township, and any other business that the Supervisors
deem appropriate.
Real Estate & Earned Income Taxes
The Tax Collector is responsible for collecting the
East Bradford Township Real Estate Tax. The Township Real Estate Tax
bills are mailed to each property owner of record, the first week of
March for that calendar year. Payment of real estate taxes may be made
directly at the Township Office or by mailing payment to the office.
The amount of the bill is determined by the assessed value of the
property owned. The 2002 Real Estate Tax rate is .071%.
Chester County assesses the property values in all
townships within the County using a special formula. That assessment
is the basis used for figuring Township, County and School District
real estate taxes. All taxes are based on mills, to figure out the
amount that one mill equals, you must take your assessed value and
divide it by 1000, the resulting figure will equal one mill.
(ex: assessment $269,500. divide by 1000. = $269.50
- the value of 1 mill for that property. Township tax would be $19.13
[.071 mills] on the above assessment)
East Bradford Township has an earned income tax of
1 1/4%. The tax is divided between East Bradford Township and the West
Chester Area School District (WCASD). The WCASD receives ½ of 1% of
the total earned income tax and East Bradford Township receives ½ or
1%, which is used for the general operation of the township and 1/4 of
1%, which is used solely for open space acquisition of interests in
real property.
General Demographics
At just over 5 miles long
and 3 miles wide, East Bradford's population has increased from 6440
residents in 1990 to 9405 residents in 2000 and the number of housing
units has increased from 2,112 in 1990 to 3,076 in 2000. Along with
the increase in housing units comes the increase in the road miles
that the Township must maintain. Currently the Township maintains
47.26 miles of Township Roads, this includes salting and plowing
during storm events and general maintenance during the rest of the
year. The State maintains 23.26 miles of roads within the Township.
HISTORIC DISTRICTS
The Taylor-Cope Historic District consists
of property along Strasburg Road where it intersects with the East
Branch of the Brandywine Creek. Included in this district are the
Cope's Bridge Farm Main House, managers house and worker's house,
Deborah's Rock Farm Barn, Cope's Bridge, Abiah Taylor 1724 House,
Abiah Taylor 1768 House and mill house, Black Horse Inn and Barn,
Joseph Cope-Mellor Farm and tenant house. The District was entered in
the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1987.
The Strodes Mill Historic District consists
of property at the intersection of Lenape Road (Route 52/100) and
Birmingham Road and includes the Strodes Mill, Strodes Sausage &
Scrapple Plant, Strode Farm, East Bradford Boarding School for Boys,
millers house, blacksmith house and blacksmith/wheelwright shop and
numerous out buildings. The District was entered in the National
Register of Historic Places on May 5, 1989.
The Paradise Valley Historic District
consists of property along the Valley Creek valley from the boundary
with East Caln Township to Downingtown Pike. The district consists of
many farms and outbuildings, a mill, mill race and mill dam, ice
house, spring houses, tenant houses, lime kiln and numerous other
buildings and sites. The District was entered in the National Register
of Historic Places on December 24, 1992.
The Worth/Jefferis Rural Historic District
covers a large area bordered on the east by the East Branch of
Brandywine Creek, to the north with the township line with West
Bradford Township, to the west into West Bradford Township to include
property along Camp Linden Road and south to Allerton Road and the
Brandywine Creek. The district includes many large farms, tenant
houses and out buildings, carriage houses, the Fairview Schoolhouse,
and the Creamery/Allerton Hall Ruin. The District was entered in the
National Register of Historic Places on April 27, 1995.
Additional information about these historic
districts can be found at the Township Building and also at the
Chester County Historical Society, 225 North High Street, West
Chester, PA 19380, phone (610) 692-4800 or visit their web site at www.chestercohistorical.org
Check out the
Pennsylvania
Historical & Museum Commission
web site listings of the National Register
of Historic Places within
East Bradford Township
Click here for more info
