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All the United States Pennsylvania Chester William Penn Landing Site

William Penn Landing Site

Surrounded by industrial sprawl, a small monument marks the site of William Penn's first landing in Pennsylvania.

Chester, Pennsylvania

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Jordan St. Stier
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William Penn Landing Site   Smallbones
William Penn Landing Site   Smallbones
Mouth of Chester Creek   Smallbones
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William Penn Landing Site marker   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Looking from monument over the park   michaelnhartman / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Near the confluence of Chester Creek and the Delaware River, a small granite monument marks the site of one of the most significant events in the early history of Pennsylvania—the first disembarkment of its founder William Penn. 

In a plot of land that throughout history played host to a Swedish tobacco plantation, a Quaker meeting place, railroad waste, the governor's daughter's house, and Okehocking tribal land, the site, located in the now-city of Chester, was in the middle of Pennsylvania's largest, oldest, and only city.

After a ravaging smallpox epidemic on Penn's ship (he was immune), an archaic turnover ceremony in Delaware, and territorial discussions with Maryland, Penn disembarked and immediately had the town renamed Chester after a suggestion by a surviving Cestrian. Penn later founded Philadelphia, which is home to a neighborhood known as "Penn's Landing" (the city bought the right to use it), 12 miles north of the actual site.

However, the actual location remains unclear. The landing site is, according to the historical marker, a block south from the park where the monument is, presumably at the mouth of Chester Creek. That being noted, a block south from the park places the actual landing site along the railroad grade on the Delaware River, in an industrial waste site of the Kimberley-Clark plant on the waterfront. Thus, William Penn would have landed for the first time in the province of Pennsylvania on what is now a toilet paper factory. 

The state of the monument is rather poor. The park and the paths are overgrown, and the inscription on the monument is somewhat legible, as is the Penn family shield. The monument reads: "This stone marks the spot where WILLIAM PENN landed October 28/29 1682." It was placed at this location in celebration of the event's bicentennial. Unfortunately, all that remains from this celebration is the decrepit park and its forlorn monument. 

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Monuments Colonial America History & Culture

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The monument is located in a public park. 

Community Contributors

Added By

Brady Santoro

Edited By

noblekeyser, michaelnhartman, blimpcaptain

  • noblekeyser
  • michaelnhartman
  • blimpcaptain

Published

June 26, 2020

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William Penn Landing Site
100 Penn St
Chester, Pennsylvania, 19013
United States
39.843924, -75.3613
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