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