Taylor-Cope Historic District
Why it's listed
Along the Taylor Run valley and the East Branch Brandywine Creek in East Bradford Township, Chester County, lies a rural district of farmsteads, a former inn, and the Copesville industrial settlement. Quaker settler Abiah Taylor took up about 430 acres here around 1702 and built a mill on Taylor Run by 1719. In 1724 he replaced a log house with a brick mansion, which survives with very good integrity and displays English Colonial features such as Flemish bond brickwork and a steep gable roof. The district holds sixteen contributing resources, dating from 1724 to 1906, including barns that trace the shift from 18th-century wheat farming to 19th-century cattle and early 20th-century dairy production. Cope's Bridge, a three-arch stone bridge completed in 1807, carries the Strasburg Road across the Brandywine. The Cope family's foundry at Copesville, later Edge T. Cope and Sons, supplied iron castings for regional projects.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | c. 1700-1920 |
|---|---|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Exploration/Settlement, Architecture |
| Acreage | 310 |
| Boundary source | NPS cultural-resource GIS polygon |
| Full listing page | Taylor-Cope Historic District (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.