Old Embreeville
Old Embreeville was settled and developed within a relatively short time. In 1822 William Embree, who came from a family of French Huguenots, bought 2 contiguous tracts of land (about 61 1/2 acres) from the estate of Charles Wilson. Embree acquired an additional 13 acres in 1828. Like many members of his family, Embree was a brewer, maltster, and storekeeper. The village which Embree and his family had built between 1822 and 1842 was sold off in small parcels, save for the 64 acre farm which stayed intact until 1956. Over the next 150 years the lots in the old village contained a store, storekeeper's house, a shoemaker shop, wheelwright shop, 2 dwelling houses, stables, blacksmith shop, and a slaughter house. More than 150 years have passed since a village sprouted near an 18th-century mill seat on the West Branch Brandywine River. The modest homes of locally quarried stone and locally sawn wood are perched on the hills which rise rather abruptly from the powerful river below.
Embreeville Bridge
To support the small mill village a covered bridge was built over the western branch of the Brandywine in 1853. The two span Burr arch structure was 163 feet long with a stone pier at mid-span. The roadway was 16 feet wide. In 1923 the weakened covered bridge was replaced by a 404 foot wide twin span concrete arch bridge built by the Dunleavy Brothers of Coatesville.
Embreeville Mill
The milling complex, which features four principal buildings, originated in the 18th century. A 1756 deed mentions a "message, water, corn or grist mill and saw mill" here, located on about 6 acres. By 1769 there were two "messages or tenements" and over 100 acres of land. By 1856 the (by then) 146-acre property had a new stone house, a stone tenant house, a mill with 2 runs of burrs, a barn, wagon house, and a saw mill. The saw mill was stone and frame and measured 12 by 48 feet and contained an upright, a circular crosscut, and a circular ripping saw. The machinery, all "entirely new" was driven by a Howd's patent iron wheel. The grist mill was 3 stories stone and frame, used french burrs, had a corn breaker, smut machine, two bolting chests, and two elevators, and was driven by a pair of Tyler's patent iron wheels. In 1883-1885, the old machinery in the mill was removed and converted to the "new patent roller process." The new machinery helped the mill continue into the 20th century. In 1966, it was hailed as the "sole surviving water-powered mill on the Brandywine."
New Embreeville
After the construction of the Wilmington and Northern Railroad in the 1870's the village flourished. A grist mill, general store, post office, coal and lumber yard, and blacksmith shop were located at the railroad stop at Embreeville Station. The proximitly to the Chester County Poor House and mental hospital brought many visitors to the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Corcoran’s Bridge
Corcoran’s Bridge spans the western branch of the Brandywine Creek about 1/2 mile downstream from the village of Embreeville. The 144 foot stone arch bridge was constructed by the Corcoran Construction Company in 1908 and is the oldest representation of this type of bridge which saw a resurgence in Chester County between 1908 and 1919. The bridge has two large main arches spanning the Brandywine and 2 smaller arches spanning the adjacent flood plain to allow for additional drainage during flooding. The road surface is flanked on each side with fieldstone parapet walls with flagstone coping. The bridge was originally constructed to allow passage to the farmland that was once part of the Embreeville State Hospital which took over the management of the property in 1939. In the the early part of the 21st century the bridge became part of the 1,263 acre ChesLen Preserve and is now open to the public. The stonework of the bridge was re-pointed as part of the preservation of the historic structure.
Chester County Poor House
The adjacent land was originally part of the Chester County Poor Farm which was established in 1798. The Chester County Poor Farm provided food and services supporting the Chester County Poor House and adjacent mental hospital just up the hill to the north in West Bradford Township. In 1939 the state of Pennsylvania took over the hospital and home for the poor. In the decades between 1940 and 1980 the Embreeville State Hospital served as the regional mental hospital for Chester and Lancaster Counties. Embreeville was cited by the American Psychiatric Association as one of three "model hospitals" in the country in 1939. In 1962 the care for the aged poor of Cheter County was relocated to the newly costructed Pocopson Home in Pocopson township. In 1971, a juvenile detention center was placed within a few buildings at the hospital site, before finally moving on to better physical accommodations in Danville in 1992. By 1979, the total statewide state hospital census was reduced to 10,573 patients, and resulted in the closure of several smaller state hospitals. Embreeville was the second state facility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to close its doors, in 1980.
ChesLen Preserve
After the Embreeville State Hospital closed the Poor Farm, part of the land was managed by the Buck and Doe Run Valley Farms as a grazing site for the beef cattle of the King Ranch of Texas. When the cattle business ended in the 1970's, part of the property was used for a time as a commercial turf farm. Part of the surrounding land was also used as a mushroom growing and canning facility in the 20th century. In 2007 the 1,263 acre ChesLen Preserve was created by Natural Lands Trust. As its name suggests, from a merger of land donated by Chester County to add to a 568-acre parcel from philanthropist Gerry Lenfest, and further bolstered by the purchase of a parcel of land containing the Unionville Barrens – one of nine remaining serpentine barrens in Pennsylvania harboring rare and unusual plants that have adapted to the nutrient-poor soil. ChesLen has a variety of micro-ecological zones, including forested woodland, farmed fields, meadowland, and streams. The preserve is open to the public daily and has over 9 miles of hiking trials.
Glen Hall Bridge
Ahead on both sides of the creek you will notice stone bridge abutments. These are the remnants of early bridges that spanned the creek in this location. The first bridge at Glen Hall was an 185 foot Ohio Iron Bridge built in 1868 by Ezra Hall and Thomas Schull. Not typical of the times the iron bridge was replaced by a wooden covered bridge in 1881. Typically wooden bridges were replaced by iron structures but in parts of Chester County wooden bridges were built until the late 19th century. The Glen Hall Bridge was a two span Burr Arch type bridge built by brothers Ferdinand and Menander Wood for $3,400. Reuben Pearson did the stonework for the bridge for $988.The bridge had 3 inch white oak planks for the road decking. In the later years of the bridge a 3 ton weight restriction was placed on the structure. When school buses came to the bridge the children had to get off and walk across. The empty bus would follow and the children re-entered the bus. In 1962 the wooden bridge burned, not to be rebuilt. Glen Hall Road then became the dead end road that it is today.
Wilmington and Northern Railroad
Possibly the most significant development in transportation in the corridor was the construction of a railroad along the Brandywine Creek in the 1860's. The railroad was conceived of as a freight line extending from Wilmington to Reading. Investors saw this line as an opportunity to capture some of the market dominated since the 1830's by Philadelphia. The route ran along the Brandywine's main stem and then along its west branch. Surveys for the Wilmington and Reading Railroad began in 1865. In 1869 the railroad was opened to Wilmington and extended to the coal fields of Reading in 1872. The new rail link brought coal used for fuel in the mills from the mines of central Pennsylvania and ore from the Wilmington docks to the local iron mills. In the local area the new railroad opened up new markets for farmers and other businesses. Small industry spang up at several rail stops up and down the line. Although the train provided passenger service, overall it did not bring about significant residential development. The passenger service on the line ended in 1947 but the freight service continues on a small scale to this day.
Lenni Lenape burial ground
The area off to the north was the site of an early native settlement. The Lenni-Lenape tribe used this area during the summer months to grow crops and hunt for food. The waters of the Brandywine were used to provide fish to the native people. A documented burial site is located along Brandywine Drive just east of the historic Indian Deep Farm.
Northbrook
The land around what became Northbrook was a favorite of the Lenni Lenape, who used it for camping, hunting, and dancing. Indian councils were held at a large rock just north of Northbrook. European settlement in the area began as early as 1703 with Abraham Marshall, who was granted a large tract of land by William Penn. Marshall built a one-story home for his family in 1706 on the northwest side of the Brandywine Creek. They operated many businesses there, including a flour and sawmill. Local farmers, clustering around the mills and other businesses, made it an agricultural settlement until 1870, when the Wilmington and Northern Line railroad came through the village. The station was originally called Marshall’s Station, but railroad engineers changed that. They had to toot their train whistles approaching the station “at the north brook,” and that’s the name that stuck. Milton Barnard orginally built several wooden structures along the railroad in 1873 and opened a coal and lumber business. In 1888 Elwood Thorne opened the Brandywine Fence Company across the road from the Railroad Station to produce his patented line of snow fences. A creamery was established for a time in the small village and later the buildings were used bythe Zebley Ice Company to store blocks of ice harvested from the frozen water of the Brandywine. The lumber and coal business was later sold to Frank Bailey. Caleb P. Fulton purchased the business in 1932, and the buildings were still in use into the 1970's as a hardware store and lumber yard. In 1977 the Northbrook Canoe Company took over the former lumber yard complex.
