Taylor-Cope Historic District
Also known as: See Also:Cope's Bridge; Taylor House
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.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to be significant for its early settlement by Quaker families, including the first permanent brick house of the first settler, built in 1724. It is also significant for its collection of rural residential and barn architecture spanning the early 18th to early 20th centuries, and for documenting changing agricultural practices from wheat farming to cattle and dairy production. Its Cope family foundry at Copesville adds an industrial dimension.
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) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 87001250, listed July 16, 1987. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 890--1100 blk. of Strasburg Rd./PA 162, Marshallton |
|---|---|
| County | Chester County |
| Listed | July 16, 1987 |
| Reference number | 87001250 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | c. 1700-1920 |
| Architect / builder | Abiah Taylor and others |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Exploration/Settlement, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Contributing resources are used as dwellings, barns and a bridge; the one non-contributing building is a former gas station converted to an office. |
| Acreage | 310 |
| Coordinates | 39.96147, -75.64194 (NPS GIS) |
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.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 87001250.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7689834
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.