Downingtown, Pennsylvania

Everything Downingtown is known for

0 songs mention this city 1 artist from here

Music in Downingtown

Songs About Downingtown

No songs reference Downingtown yet.

Artists From Downingtown

L
Liz Longley
americana Pop: 28

Rivers & Roads in Song near Downingtown

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Downingtown.

Interstate 95 13 songs New Jersey Turnpike 4 songs

History of Downingtown

Delaware's Circular Border RoadyGoat

1681

Delaware has the only circular state boundary in the United States, and it exists because of a jurisdictional accident from the 1680s. When King Charles II granted William Penn the land that became Pennsylvania in 1681, he carved out an exception: the lands within a twelve-mile radius of New Castle, Delaware, which already belonged to the Duke of York. The Duke had taken them from the Dutch. In 1682, the Duke transferred those same lands to Penn anyway, but as a separate entity, not part of Pennsylvania. That quirk eventually made Delaware its own colony and its own state. In 1750, a commission fixed the center of the circle at the cupola of the New Castle Courthouse, built in 1732 and one of the oldest courthouses in America. The circle creates bizarre consequences. Its arc extends into the Delaware River past the low-tide mark on New Jersey's shore, giving Delaware sovereignty over water that would otherwise belong to New Jersey. This has caused Supreme Court cases in 1907, 1934, 1935, and as recently as 2008 over a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal. The circle also intersects the Pennsylvania border in a way that creates a small wedge of land called the Delaware Wedge whose ownership was disputed for centuries. An entire state's existence traces back to a twelve-mile circle drawn around a courthouse.

18.5 mi away

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

1839

Henry Francis du Pont transformed his family estate into the premier museum of American decorative arts with nearly 90,000 objects.

14.9 mi away

Valley Forge National Historical Park

1777

Continental Army winter quarters 1777-78, where roughly 2,000 soldiers died of disease and exposure.

15.3 mi away

Hagley Museum and Library

1802

E.I. du Pont founded his black powder mill along the Brandywine Creek in 1802, launching one of America's greatest industrial dynasties.

17.3 mi away

Caesar Rodney Statue - Rodney Square

1776

Caesar Rodney rode 80 miles through a thunderstorm to cast Delaware's tie-breaking vote for independence on July 2, 1776.

19.7 mi away

Brandywine Creek State Park

1898

The Brandywine Valley inspired three generations of Wyeth painters, making it one of America's most painted landscapes.

15.0 mi away

Nemours Estate

1910

Alfred I. du Pont built this 77-room Louis XVI-style mansion on 300 acres, the largest formal French garden in North America.

18.3 mi away

Things to Do in Downingtown

historical 24.0 mi away
Independence Hall

Where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed. American history ground zero.

Everything Near Downingtown

94 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Downingtown on the Map
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