Brandywine Battlefield Gateway Signage Popping up on the Landscape

By Susan Hauser

By the end of summer 2003, you should be seeing more and more signs that look like the image on this page. Eleven gateway signs are being installed to mark the roadway entrances into the 10 square mile Brandywine Battlefield National Historic Landmark. The signs will be on major highways, state roads, and narrow winding roads alike. They’ll be appearing in Birmingham, Kennett, Pennsbury, Thornbury, and Westtown Townships, Chester County, and in Chadds Ford Township, Delaware County. These are the six Townships in the Landmark, and they each have at least one gateway where they’ll install the bold red, white, and blue sign with yellow lettering. It clearly announces that the driver is "Entering (the) Brandywine Battlefield National Historic Landmark."

Fortunately, Pennsbury Township installed its signs last October, before the seemingly never-ending winter set in. Its signs are on Route 100 North just before Twin Bridges and on Hillendale Road east of its junction with Hickory Hill Road. Birmingham Township was equally fortunate with weather. The Township installed its Battlefield-related sign at the new Sandy Hollow Heritage Park last fall. Dog walkers, hikers, runners, and strollers have been enjoying the Park ever since.

In April, coordinating with the celebration of the conservation easements on the Spackman property, Thornbury Township successfully dodged the rain and installed its two signs. They are on South New Street just after its junction with PA Route 926 and on U.S. Route 202 south of the Route 926 intersection. Westtown’s sign on the Crebillly farm property popped up between raindrops recently; the other gateway signs are expected to be appearing shortly.

As the overseer of the National Historic Landmark, the Brandywine Battlefield Task Force was charged with developing an overall signage program to provide an identity for the Landmark. Adelphia Graphic Systems (AGS) of Exton, PA was retained to design the umbrella sign system. AGS was then selected to fabricate the gateway signs to conform to PennDOT regulations.

The funding for fabrication of the eleven gateway signs was made possible by a grant from the National Park Service Challenge Cost Share Program. Delaware County Planning Department applied for and administered the grant.

The signs are a reminder to both residents and travelers that a nationally significant event, the September 11, 1777, Battle of Brandywine, occurred on our landscape. The battle, a significant part of the Philadelphia Campaign, was the largest engagement of British and American troops during the Revolutionary War. The 225th anniversary was much celebrated throughout the region last fall. Hopefully, you had the opportunity to take part in some of the festivities and had time to see the exhibit entitled In the Path of Battle: Chadds Ford and the Battle of Brandywine that was in the Barn last spring. Keep your eyes peeled, and you’ll soon see where the Brandywine Battlefield National Historic Landmark lies, right in our midst!