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History & Restoration
Directions to Historic Sugartown
The Original Building Complex before the Restoration
The Original Complex after the Restoration
Due to the efforts of a handful of people with determination and resolve to preserve the past, restoration is nearing completion at Historic Sugartown in Chester County, PA.
Originally called 'Shugart Town', after the owner of an early tavern, Shugart became known as 'Sugar' and Sugartown it has remained since the late eighteenth century. The small crossroads village of Sugartown, is located near the center of Willistown Township which consists of 18.4 square miles and as of the year 2000 had a population of 10,011. An interesting fact of population growth is, in 1860 the recorded census of Willistown was 1,521, and in 1980 it was 8,269.
Willistown today is as it was in the past, largely rural, although with the western extension of the mainline meeting the township line, it is strongly oriented to Philadelphia. Sugartown is one of the four villiages, which flourished in the 19th century.
The village of Sugartown played an important role in the history of the area.
It was significant to Willistown's commercial, educational and governmental development. It was the most active of the township's nineteenth century commercial centers, featuring an inn, general store, blacksmith and wheelwright, cabinetmaker, saddler, shoemaker and a doctor.
Sugartown was similar to White Horse, Green Tree and Willistown Inn. With the exception of White Horse, none of the other nineteenth century villages have retained comparable integrity. Although the township's current commercial activity has gravitated in a linear fashion to Route 3, Paoli Pike, and Route 30, Sugartown's original cluster configuration remains virtually unaltered, a welcome reminder of bygone era.
John Nagy, founder and president of Historic Sugartown Inc. explains, "With the age of the automobile, people and businesses left rural Sugartown and went west to West Chester and Exton, or north to Malvern, over the passage of years." In 1952, the remaining structures along Sugartown Road and Boot Road lay silent, gathering dust and water from leaking roofs. In 1982, John Nagy and Penelope Wilson formed a non-profit corporation and began raising funds to restore the existing buildings.
The first step was to acquire the property, which was accomplished in 1982. Fundraising continues with various events (see Upcoming Events page). Tom Diottavio, Construction & Restoration, is presently undertaking restoration work. He tries to maintain the original construction as much as possible, using whatever is left and adding where needed, to restore the buildings to their original style and architecture.
Frens and Frens, Architecture and Archaeology of West Chester, are also
Frame Used in Restoration
involved in restoration of the original buildings, and other very important aspects of restoring the integrity of the Village of Sugartown. The buildings depict architectural styles ranging from early Colonial to Victorian.
Inside the General Store
The village was dominated by the General Store, which was a rambling commercial and residential complex dating from 1805 - 1890. It began operation in the 1820's and became one of the most colorful and long-lived general stores in Chester County. Prior to the general store a saddler occupied the property.
The General Store contained the Sugartown Post Office between 1835 - 1853, 1863 - 1864 and 1865 - 1913. Under the management of Garrett Pratt (1838 - 1846) and Sharpless Worrall and his son-in-law, Hillary John (1847 - 1911), the store prospered and Sugartown was the hub of the community.
In 1851, a third floor was added to accommodate the then newly founded Ivanhoe Lodge of the International Order of Odd Fellows. Later the hall hosted such groups as: the Sugartown Lyceum (1870's), Knights of the Mystic Circle (1876), the Willistown Union Association for the Detection of Horse Thieves and Recovery of Stolen
Property, Sugartown Literary Society (1880's), Patriotic Sons of America (1888), Juvenile Temple No. 20, and along with elections and lectures, hosted minstrel shows and other performing arts.
After Sharpless Worrall's death in 1887, his son-in-law, Hillary John, continued the mercantile business. Descendants of the John family carried on with the business until it's last, an antique store, was liquidated and the property was purchased by Historic Sugartown Inc. in 1982.
The Spread Eagle Tavern, an inn, (1801) operated continuously until 1864. The Spread Eagle Tavern was located halfway between Black Horse and Warren Taverns on the road to Phoenixville. The inn served drovers, farmers, and traveling fisherman and server as a watering place for lime teams, connected with local limestone quarries and lime kilns (lime kilns produced quick lime, a widely used manufacturing and agricultural material of the time). In 1812 - 1813, the inn was the gathering place for the First Battalion of the 44th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Militia. In 1864, the inn lost its license after a bitter battle with temperance advocates and became an eating house until 1880, when it ceased commercial activity altogether. It is now a private residence.
Another of the Sugartown historic properties is the former Friends School (1783) and Schoolmaster's house (1785). According to available documentation, the house was erected by Goshen Friends Meeting in strict "compliance with the injunction of the Yearly Meeting, in the year 1778," to attract good teachers to their subscription schools.
The Friends felt that by building a house specifically for the schoolmaster they might attract a "staid person, with a family" who would devote his entire life to the community school and perhaps board students. The members therefore would not have to board the teacher as they had in the past. The appearance in Sugartown of the jointly conceived 18th-century Friends School and schoolmaster's house is rare and represents a seldom discussed, but important, aspect of Quaker educational philosophy. This also is currently a private residence.
Sugartown prospered, especially during the second half of the nineteenth century. So promising seemed it's future, that in the 1870's a plan was proposed for the "Buttermilk Railroad" to connect West Chester with Philadelphia via the villages of Sugartown, Newtown Square, White Horse, and Goshenville.
Post Office
Since 1890, the village has experienced minor physical change; as a result it is a strong example of Chester County's once ubiquitous rural crossroads village.
Hundreds of bits and pieces of historical memorabilia and artifacts have been retrieved, and records like the account books of the general store, recording everything sold, remain intact (see 1890 Archive Section).
Sugartown is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. Donations to the restoration are welcome and are tax deductible (see Charitable Contributions).
Based on information from "Historic Sugartown" By Lance Manning, published in "Country Views" Magazine, July, 1991
Scene from Historic Sugartown