Даунингтаун: История и География Пенсильванского Поселения

Ben Shirk
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| unit pref = Imperial
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| area total km2 = 5.76
| area total sq mi = 2.22
| area land km2 = 5.67
| area land sq mi = 2.19
| area water km2 = 0.09
| area water sq mi = 0.04
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| elevation ft = 239
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| population as of = 2020
| population footnotes = Downingtown was settled by European colonists in 1716 and has a number of historic buildings and structures.

The town was originally named Milltown due to its number of mills along the East Branch Brandywine Creek, the first of which was founded by Daniel Butter. The Butter family also had paper mills in the area, and Frederick Bicking from Winterburg, Germany, was the patriarch of the Bicking paper families. Around the time of the American Revolution, Milltown became more commonly known as Downingtown after the prominent businessman Thomas Downing, a Quaker immigrant in 1717 from Bradninch, Devon, England, who owned a number of those mills. The town was officially named Downingtown in 1812. The town is located along the Lincoln Highway (now part of U. S. Route 30), which runs from the East Coast to the West Coast. It was an early westward road in the wagon days as the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike. The Lincoln Highway was the first paved road to cross the nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike started in the early 1940s and was completed in the early 1950s; it runs north of US 30, bypassing Downingtown. Circa 1700, early English settlers built what has become known as the Downingtown Log House. In 1713, owner Joseph Hickman sold the 1 1/2 story, 21 foot, 9 inch × 25 foot structure to Thomas and Mary Moore. Thomas Moore moved from the Log House in 1729 and died in 1738. Thomas Downing acquired the Log House in 1739. It remained in the Downing family until 1940, when Thomas W. Downing died and left it to the borough of Downingtown. The borough did some restoration work to the Downingtown Log House in 1947. It served as the home to the Downingtown Chamber of Commerce from 1950 until 1988. But the Log House was deteriorating as Route 30 had been built close to it. Located below street level, the house suffered water damage due to runoff from Route 30 and vibration from traffic weakened the structure. From 1988 until 1990, the Downingtown Historical Society relocated the house and did an extensive restoration with money raised for the project. It now sits approximately 70 feet (21 m) west of its original location, 22 feet (7 m) from the Route 30 sidewalk, and slightly above street level. In 1904, John S. Trower and William A. Creditt, prominent black Philadelphians, founded the Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School (DIAS) in Downingtown, to serve as an academic and vocational high school for African American youths to prepare them for work. was a member of his congregation. Among its trustees in the early decades was Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York. The school operated until 1993. A new facility was constructed on the property and opened in 2002 as the Chester County campus of the Delaware County Community College. The city has initiated some widespread and continuing renovation in downtown, particularly to the streetscape; private owners have similarly renovated many commercial buildings. There has also been residential development on recovered industrial lands (brown fields) in the southeastern part of the borough. Downingtown is the location of some large regional and national businesses, including First National Bank of Chester County, and Victory Brewing Company, and formerly DNB First (acquired by S&T Bank in 2019). President Lincoln's funeral train passed through Downingtown. The famous Irish patriot and martyr Theobald Wolfe Tone briefly lived here in 1795. The County Bridge No. 124, Downingtown Log House, East Lancaster Avenue Historic District, General Washington Inn, and Roger Hunt Mill are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 1958 movie The Blob was filmed in and around Downingtown. The diner featured in the movie, then called the "Downingtown Diner", was sold and transported to another state and has been replaced with a similar 1950s style diner. Continuing to be advertised as the "home of the Blob," it has changed ownership numerous times over the years but is still open as of 2023. The global pretzel shop chain, Auntie Anne's, was founded in a stall in Downingtown's farmer's market in 1988. The chain is now a global company with 1,000 stores and $375 million in annual sales. The widely distributed craft brewer Victory Brewing Company is located and headquartered in Downingtown. It was founded in a vacated Pepperidge Farm factory on Acorn Lane in 1996.

Downingtown is located at (40.006406, −75.706239). According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.2 square miles (6 km2), all land.

Delaware County Community College operates the Brandywine Campus in the Downingtown borough limits. Additionally it operates the Downingtown Campus in East Brandywine Township, on the site of the former Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School.

As of 2012, there were 22.32 mile (36 km) of public roads in Downingtown, of which 6.36 mile (10 km) were maintained by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and 15.96 mile (26 km) were maintained by the borough. U. S. Route 30 is the main highway serving Downingtown. It follows the Coatesville Downingtown Bypass on an east west alignment across the northern tip of the borough. U. S. Route 30 Business follows the old alignment of US 30 through the heart of the borough along Lancaster Avenue. U. S. Route 322 also runs through the heart of the borough, following a northwest to southeast alignment via Manor Avenue, Lancaster Avenue and Brandywine Avenue and running concurrently with US 30 Business for a short stretch. Pennsylvania Route 113 starts at US 30 Business in the central part of the borough and heads north along Uwchlan Avenue. Finally, Pennsylvania Route 282 also starts at US 30 Business in the core of the borough and heads northward along Green Street, Pennsylvania Avenue and Wallace Avenue.

Downingtown station is located along the Lincoln Highway and is served by both SEPTA Regional Rail's Paoli/Thorndale Line and Amtrak's Keystone Service. The town is also served by SEPTA Suburban Bus Route 135 between Coatesville and West Chester.