![]() ![]() Traffic supported 4 inns in the town, one of which, the "Sorrel Horse," is said to have sheltered George Washington and General Lafayette during the encampment at Valley Forge the inn still stands as the Agnes Irwin Lower School. In 1741, the westward extension of the Conestoga Road, which ultimately connected Philadelphia and Lancaster, began for Radnor the enduring legacy of a place through which travelers passed. A hint of Radnor's beginning's remains, however, in the names of streets and places evident throughout the community. The influence of the Welsh, some of whom were forced by heavy taxation to sell their land, waned in the latter half of the 18th century. What is now open space at the Willows Park was once the township's busiest commercial area. Industry & Taxationīesides clearing and tilling fields for farmland, the Welsh established grist mills, sawmills, and tanneries using the power of Ithan and Darby creeks. The exact geographical center of Radnor's rectangular border is a point less than 100 yards south of the original Quaker meetinghouse. Radnorville grew naturally around the meeting house and remained the center of population of the township for 200 years. Later, this trail became the Old Lancaster Road, then the Conestoga Road. In 1717, the Welsh Friends erected a meeting house on a trail made by the Conestoga (Susquehanna) Indians, connecting the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Rivers. The land then sold at a rate of 1 British pound per 50-acre parcel. The parcels of land contained within were oblongs parallel to the township boundaries. Penn laid out the township in an elongated rectangle located parallel to the Schuylkill River. ![]() ![]() Radnor Township was officially founded a year later in 1682. Seeking religious freedom, the settlers emigrated to a 5,000 acre section purchased from William Penn, granted him by the Crown, in 1681. Once home to the Lenni Lenape Indians, the land was first settled in 1663-1665 by a group of 40 Quakers from Radnorshire, Wales. ![]() Radnor Township is a proud, exemplary community, rich in history. ![]()
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