Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Services in Downingtown, PA

Downingtown is a borough in Chester County about 33 miles west of Philadelphia, settled by European colonists in 1716 and incorporated on May 12, 1859.

Downingtown was originally called Milltown because of the many mills along the East Branch Brandywine Creek, the first of them founded by Daniel Butter, whose family also ran paper mills in the area.

The town took its present name from Thomas Downing, a Quaker mill owner who emigrated from Bradninch, Devon, England, in 1717 and came to own many of the town's mills; it was officially renamed Downingtown in 1812.

Downingtown's paper-making heritage was shaped by Frederick Bicking of Winterburg, Germany, the patriarch of the Bicking paper families who ran mills in the region.

Downingtown's population barely budged between the last two censuses: 7,891 people in 2010 and 7,892 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Downingtown Log House, acquired by Thomas Downing in 1739 and kept in the Downing family until 1940, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with the General Washington Inn, the Roger Hunt Mill, and the East Lancaster Avenue Historic District.

In 1904, two prominent Black Philadelphians, John S. Trower and William A. Creditt, founded the Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School in the borough, an academic and vocational high school for African-American youth; a new facility on the property opened in 2002 as the Chester County campus of Delaware County Community College.

Victory Brewing Company, one of America's best-known craft brewers, was founded in Downingtown in 1996 by childhood friends Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski, who turned an old Pepperidge Farm bakery into their brewery and restaurant.

Downingtown sits on the historic Lincoln Highway, now U.S. Route 30, which runs through the borough as Lancaster Avenue.

The River Station development in Downingtown is transforming the former Sonoco paper mill site into a transit-oriented mix of homes, restaurants, and businesses next to the train station.