Borough guide · Southern Chester County
Kennett Square
A Borough shaped by a regional mushroom economy, a shared public library, African-American community life and a park authority that crosses municipal lines.
Kennett Square Borough and Kennett Township are separate municipalities; the Township says the Borough formed from it in 1855. Some agricultural and Black community history in this guide began in the Township or spans both places.
Photo unavailable. The local story and source links are still here.
A village became its own Borough
Kennett Township’s history says Kennett Square Borough was formed from the Township and incorporated in 1855. The Township account gives the new Borough a little over one square mile and 606 inhabitants at incorporation. The distinction is more than a label: Borough and Township governments now maintain separate public information.
“Kennett” also describes a wider agricultural and community landscape. When a source says a site is in Kennett Township, this guide names that scope instead of moving it into the Borough because the mailing address says Kennett Square.
Mushroom growing began beneath greenhouse benches
The Township’s history dates William Swayne’s mushroom-growing experiment to about 1885. It describes Swayne as a florist in Kennett Square who tried mushrooms beneath greenhouse benches, then built a dedicated mushroom house. The account says other growers followed as urban markets offered prices worth pursuing.
This is a regional agricultural history, not a claim that every modern mushroom farm sits inside Kennett Square Borough. Greenhouses, markets, families and labor crossed the boundary; the Township page is a clear place to begin tracing that wider system.
A Black congregation carried its place with it
The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway traces the African Union Church of New Garden to land purchased by trustees in Kennett Township in 1824. The church served a regional congregation and, according to the Byway, provided education for Black children, social services and a gathering place.
As members moved into or nearer Kennett Square, the Byway says Levi Plater sold an East Linden Street lot to the congregation’s trustees in 1907. Stones and the datestone from the earlier church went into the new foundation; the sanctuary was dedicated in 1911. The first church site was in the Township; the later church is in the Borough.
Use the institutions that serve the wider community
The Kennett Library’s own history begins with an 1893 meeting to consider a free public library; a charter followed in 1895. Today its name describes a service community wider than a single municipal line. The library publishes current location and hours information separately from its history page.
The Kennett Area Park Authority says Anson B. Nixon Park covers 110 acres from the Borough into Kennett Township and is open sunrise to sunset. That authority, rather than either municipality alone, maintains the park information. Read the short story linked below for a closer look at the Black congregation’s history.
Public places and direct links
Good starting points
Schedules and conditions change. Open the source before making a special trip.
Park authority · Spans Kennett Square Borough and Kennett Township
Anson B. Nixon Park
Kennett Area Park Authority states the park is 110 acres, gives sunrise-to-sunset hours and lists its Borough-side main entrance. Use the Authority’s page for directions and current details.
Public library · Kennett community service area
Kennett Library
Open the library’s location and hours page for current visitor information; its history reaches back to an 1893 public-library meeting.
Farmers market · Kennett Square Borough
Kennett Square Farmers Market
Use the market organizer’s current page for dates, vendors and location updates.
Sources and review dates
Historical notes and current visitor links were checked on the dates shown. They support the claims above; they do not guarantee future hours, access or conditions.
- History of Kennett Township ↗Kennett Township · checked 2026-10-03
- Municipalities ↗Chester County · checked 2026-10-03
- Free African American Communities and Their Churches ↗Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway · checked 2026-10-03
- The History of Kennett Library ↗Kennett Library · checked 2026-10-03
- Location and Hours ↗Kennett Library · checked 2026-10-03
- General Park Information and Directions ↗Kennett Area Park Authority · checked 2026-10-03
- Kennett Square Farmers Market ↗Kennett Square Farmers Market · checked 2026-10-03