Historians describe the Everhart Tract as the land west of Church Street and south of Market Street (although it was called South Street at the time). At the time of Everhart's purchase, West Chester consisted of the crossroads at Gay and High Street plus four blocks surrounding it. Church and Market Streets formed the western and southern boundaries of the town respectively (Chestnut and Walnut Streets framed the other two sides). Although a few people had constructed buildings on lots lining the Wilmington Road (High Street) and the road to Jefferis' Ford (Gay Street), the town was overwhelmingly rural and surrounded by farms.

Wollerton's farm lay southwest of town. He acquired most of it --just over one hundred acres -- from John Rankin in 1808. According to Douglas Harper, he tried to sell it in 1817 and in 1818 without success, but in 1828, his agent William Work convinced a storeowner named "William Everhart, Esquire" to take it. [see Harper, West Chester to 1865: That Elegant & Notorious Place (1999), 308.]

Harper called Everhart "the consummate West Chester outsider." He was born in West Vincent, ran stores there and in Tredyffrin, West Whiteland and West Goshen before buying a store on Gay Street in 1824. By then, he was no longer a complete outsider because he married Hannah Matlack, the granddaughter of one of the Borough's first farmers, in 1814. His adopted community was still dominated by families who had been in the area for nearly a century, however, so Everhart had to make his own fortune.

By 1829, he had earned enough from his store to finance the purchase of the Wollerton farm on February 19, 1829. The deed was recorded in Chester County Deed Book B 4 on pages 135-137, and the original is still in the collection of the Chester County Archives on Westtown Road. A microfilm copy is available for public inspection which gives the sales price, the history of Wollerton's purchases, the surveyor's description of the property and a list of witnesses to the transaction.

The deed is handwritten in early 19th century Pennsylvania legalese, so it is not easy to read. If the following example were translated into simple, modern English, it would say that Everhart got all of the rights to Wollerton's land by paying him and his wife $16,000. In fact, it reads:

Now this Indenture witnesseth that the said William Wollerton and Rebecca his wife, for and in consideration of the sum of sixteen thousand Dollars lawful money of the United States to them in hand, well and truly paid by the said William Everhart, Esquire, at and before the unsealing and delivery here of the Receipt whereof they do hereby acknowledge, and thereof acquit, exonerate and forever discharge the said William Everhart, Esquire, his heirs, executors, and Administrators, by these presents have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, estopped, released, and confirmed, by these presents do grant, bargain, sell, alien, estopp, release and confirm unto the said William Everhart, Esquire, and his heirs, and assigns.

The surveyor's description of the property is equally arcane.

Beginning at a corner of Patton's orchard in a line of Nathan L. Sharpless and hence by said orchard north thirty- five degrees and an half west nine perches and [illegible: one?] tenths and north fifty-three degrees and three quarters east twenty-seven perches to the Wilmington Road or High Street, thence along the same north thirty-six degrees west eleven perches and nine-tenths to the corner of Jesse Green's lot. Thence by said lot south fifty-four degrees and one half west ten perches and eight tenths to the southwestern corner of said lot, thence by the same and sundry other lots North thirty degrees West thirty-two perches to a corner of Olaf Stromberg in a line of John Babb's lot, thence by said Babb's Lot South fifty-four degrees west two perches and north thirty-six degrees west ten perches and two tenths to a corner of said lot in the south line of South Street, thence along the same South Street sixty-two degrees and a half west twelve peaches and one tenth to the westerly line of Church Street, and along the same North thirty-two degrees and a quarter West five perches and two tenths to the corner of James Hutchinson's lot, thence by the said Lot South sixty-four degrees and a half west ten perches, South twenty-six degrees and a three quarters East one perch and nine tenths, and by the same and sundry other Lots south sixty-two degrees and three quarters West forty-one perches and six tenths to the Southwesterly corner of James Tillum's Lot, thence by said last mentioned lot, north twenty-six degrees and three quarters west ten perches, south sixty-two degrees and three quarters, West six perches and one tenth, and North twenty-six degrees and three quarters west nine perches and sixty-five hundredths to the middle of the road leading to Jefferis' ford on Brandywine, thence along the same south sixty-four degrees west one hundred and twenty-five perches to a corner of William Bennett's land in said road, in a line of John C.? Townsend's lands, thence along said line twenty-eight degrees and three quarters East, ninety-one perches and two tenths to a corner of Nathan H. Sharpless' lands, and thence by the said Sharpless' lands North sixty-two degrees and three quarters East one hundred and eighty-nine perches to the Beginning.

To make sense of this, it is handy to know that a "perch" is equivalent to sixteen and a half feet, and that the north-south streets in the Borough actually run from northwest to southeast about 30 degrees counter-clockwise from true north-south. In the following "translation" of the surveyor's description, High Street is treated as if it runs from north to south, and Market Street as if it runs from east to west.

The property description starts at "a corner of Patton's orchard" along the boundary with Nathan L. Sharpless's farm. Sharpless' farm was located south of Dean Street -- the house still stands next to Burger King -- and continued south to Rosedale Avenue. The starting point must have been about 450 feet west of High Street and 150 feet south of the point where it reached High Street, placing it along Dean Street in the middle of the 100-block (midway between Church and Darlington Street).

The line ran north a half block, turned east towards High Street, running parallel to and between Dean and Union Streets. At High Street it went north for 196 feet to the corner at Union Street, then turned west along the southern edge of Jesse Green's land. Green owned the southernmost of a series of 180-foot deep lots that faced the west side of High Street. Everhart's property line ran to the rear of Green's property, then turned north behind the High Street properties until it reached John Babb's property a half block south of Market Street. Babb's property, which included the corner where the Farmers & Mechanics Building now stands, extended 211 feet back from High Street, so Everhart's property line turned west for 31 feet to the western edge of Babb's land, then ran north until it reached Market Street about midway between High and Church Streets.

At Market Street, the property line went west to the far side of Church Street, then turned north to what is now Courthouse Alley. It followed the alley west for half a block, then turned back towards Market Street in order to pass along the south end of the lots facing Gay Street. Everhart's line continued west to New Street through the middle of the properties that now face Market Street on the north side. One result is that most of the deeds for the north side of Market Street east of New Street refer back to at least two different properties.

At New Street (which already existed in 1829), Everhart's property line turned north towards Gay to the middle of the block, then west to Potter Alley and north to Gay Street. From there, it continued along Gay Street for more than 2,000 feet to the East Bradford line, then followed that line south for more than 1,500 feet to W. Union St. From there, it ran over 3,100 feet back to the starting point in Patton's orchard, a half block west of Church Street.

All in all, the Everhart Tract contained nearly 700 of the roughly 4,000 properties in the Borough today. The deed of sale shows that Everhart was not the first person to subdivide a West Chester farm, since the process was already underway along High and Gay Streets. In addition, his gamble led to more than the commercial zone along Market Street and blocks of brick residences to the south. The blocks north of Market Street and west of Potter Alley provided the site of West Chester's first factory, Enos Smedley's pottery, plus blacksmiths, metal dealers and even the first Lasko factory.

See a partial transcription of the 1829 Everhart Deed.

Although the motivation may have been different, it appears that the concept of adaptive reuse existed already in the 19th century in West Chester. In the course of research on a different topic, WCJIM discovered evidence that one of West Chester's earliest historic structures was not demolished in the 19th century as everybody thought, but was instead altered and reused. It still stands today, disguised as part of a row of houses.

The historic building was Enos Smedley's pottery. Smedley moved his pottery-making business to the Borough from Downingtown in 1831, and created a successful business that used clay imported from Philadelphia by wagon and railroad to produce dishes, pots and other utensils that he sold locally. Over the years, several writers have referred to Smedley's pottery as the first manufacturing site in the Borough (other than clothing and blacksmith shops), but no one ever tracked down its precise location. In his book West Chester to 1865: That Elegant & Notorious Place, Doug Harper wrote that it was on the south side of Gay Street west of New Street. That placed it in the 300-block of W. Gay Street in the area called "Pottery Row," but that was all that anyone knew about its location until now.

Part of WCJIM's research involved looking at deeds for all of the properties on the block. There were an extraordinary number thanks to two things: the lots are small so there are a large number of them, and they face Gay Street, one of the two oldest streets in the Borough. By the time he was finished, WCJIM had looked at over 600 deeds dating from 1809 to the present. Each one contained a description of the property being sold, as well as the names of the owners of the properties on each side. For the first eighty years, it was rare for a deed to include a house number that could be used to locate it. Instead, they provided descriptions like the following:

WCJIM noticed that a number of deeds contained references to Smedley's pottery, so he began to keep tract of them and plot their location with respect to Gay Street, New Street, Wayne Street, Harmony Alley and Potters Alley. Gradually, he realized that his first hypothesis was wrong -- the pottery was not located at the low end near Wayne Street, near a stream that might have provided clay from its banks, but was farther up the hill towards New Street. Then he found a description of the pottery from an 1861 sheriff's sale that helped to locate it precisely. It also included a physical description of the Pottery itself:

By comparing the dimensions of the pottery to the dimensions of houses and lots on the south side of Gay Street, WCJIM began to suspect that the pottery was located at the corner of Potter's Alley and W. Gay Street, in the vicinity of the house currently numbered 314. His suspicion was confirmed by a newspaper clipping that described how, in 1869, builder Lewis Shields had his workers convert the pottery into three houses. WCJIM returned to the site -- for about two weeks he visited W. Gay Street every day to check his facts -- and realized that the oldest parts of the three houses at 314-318 were exactly 22 1/2 feet deep and 60 1/2 feet wide.

After inspecting the brickwork and talking to the owners, he concluded that Smedley's pottery is still standing on W. Gay Street. That doesn't make it the oldest building in the Borough, but it is probably the earliest example of the adaptive reuse of a building that was originally constructed for a different purpose. And although Washington never slept there, the old pottery is a significant part of the Borough's history, just like the Yearsley property. Local historian Jane Dorchester said it best at last night's hearing when she reminded Council that history is not architecture, it's what people do, but that buildings (like many other things) are the evidence of what people did. Council heard her, as well as the issues raised by the McCools, and voted accordingly.

• In 1833, a group of Philadelphia dignitaries celebrated the completion of the first railroad bridge over the Schuylkill River by riding in a mahogany rail car to West Chester on Christmas day and eating dinner at the Chester County Hotel (later called the Mansion House Hotel at Church & Market Street).

• In 1854, William S. Christmas was born, naturally, on December 25.

• In 1871, the owners of the Hoopes Brothers & Darlington wheel works served a Christmas dinner for about 40 workers at the factory, with entertainment provided by the West Chester Cornet Band, plus speeches and toasts. The employees gave presents to the three owners and "a handsome bundle of greenbacks" to an elderly black man who worked at the factory.

• In 1876, the Darlington Brothers Grocery at Market & Church Streets (in the building now occupied by State Senator Andy Dinniman) advertised "stacks of holiday goods" including apples, dried apples, plums, butter, cranberries, pecans, almonds, "Grenoble walnuts," raisins, currants, and figs plus "Whitman's Fine Goods" (candies and oranges).

• In the early part of the 20th century, the Sharpless Separator Company usually shut down at Christmas time to retool. One way to gauge the health of the company was by the length of the shutdown.

• In 1909, the president of the Keystone Tag Company, Samuel O. Barber, presented his employees with gifts on Christmas eve. Each received a large, fat turkey and some of the men received a ton of coal. His female employees each received a pair of "handsome kid gloves." The employees chipped in and gave Barber a silver smoking set with his initials engraved on it. His son C. H. Barber, the plant superintendent, received a silver match safe.

• In 1912, the Chester County Trust Company introduced a "Christmas Club" savings program for its customers. The First National Bank followed suit in 1914.

• In 1930, Christmas Seals were introduced into Chester County for the first time to raise money to find a cure for tuberculosis.

• In 1933, the local postmaster hired jobless men to help with the "Christmas rush," while the West Chester Civic Association collected donated toys and hosted a Christmas party for about 900 poor children at the Warner Theater. The Lions Club also collected toys, and opened a shelter and established a soup line in West Chester, while the American Legion collected candy for children whose families were on relief. That same year, 1,500 people attended a performance of Henry Van Dyke's play "The Other Wise Men" at the West Chester State Teachers College.

• Shortly before his death, artist Horace Pippin, who lived at 327 W. Gay Street from 1920 to 1946, painted "Christmas Morning, Breakfast," which currently resides at Cincinnati Museum of Art.

This list is not complete, since it leaves out the practice of displaying a Christmas tree at the County Court House, bell- ringing by the Salvation Army, charitable acts by other organizations, and plenty of private initiatives. But it does suggest some ways that the holiday has changed over time, and offer some ideas for future observances.

Isaiah Everhart was the youngest brother of William Everhart, a Chester County shopkeeper who became the wealthiest man in West Chester after he bought the Wollerton farm southwest of town in 1829 and subdivided it into building lots. That triggered the Borough's first major expansion since it was founded in 1799, and enabled Everhart to invest in a railroad, hotel, and grocery store, lay out Market Street, and run for Borough Council and the state legislature. It also started the fortune that passed on to his five children, but since none of them married, it remained intact until the last one, Benjamin, left it to Isaiah.

Things went downhill after his mother died. Edwin began to consort with May Rinsland, the wife of one of Scranton's tax assessors, and in early 1900, her husband sued for divorce. He also filed a separate lawsuit against Edwin for "alienating the affections" of his wife. The case, involving the son of one of Scranton's wealthiest families and the wife of a public official, appeared prominently in Scranton newspapers for the first part of the year. Then in June, Edwin delivered the kind of story that turned him into a national figure. He tried to hire someone to kill his father Isaiah.

Since his father ultimately refused to press charges, and the local district attorney agreed to let the case die, the world was deprived of Edwin's explanation for his behavior. The newspapers speculated freely, however, and most seemed to think that he had done it so that he could inherit his father's fortune. Whatever the reason, the man he chose to carry out the deed, a drinking buddy named Frank Lewis, was well-known around Scranton. He was also honest enough (or smart enough) to reject the plan, which would have paid him $5000 to shoot Isaiah with a 38-caliber revolver. Instead, Lewis informed the authorities and they arrested Edwin on the night that the murder was scheduled to take place.

Isaiah was not pleased, to say the least. He refused to post Edwin's $5,000 bail, and since the first court session was not scheduled until September, Edwin spent three months in the Lackawanna County Jail. The court didn't actually get underway until early October, by which time his father had relented enough to drop the charges and pay his son's penalty from the Rinsland lawsuit. Edwin's troubles continued, however, when May Rinsland filed a breach-of-promise lawsuit against him because he failed to go away with her after her husband divorced her. Edwin eventually won that case thanks to a technicality -- Pennsylvania law didn't recognize the validity of the promise because she was still married to Rinsland at the time -- but his reputation was destroyed and his father wanted to get him out of the state.

According to Michael Wisneski of the Everhart Museum in Scranton, Edwin couldn't handle his alcohol, and at one point he wrote a will that left all of his money to the destruction of the Catholic Church. During his prison stay in 1900, the prison doctors kept him away from alcohol and cigarettes, which his friends claimed had made him insane. Although the Scranton Times reported that he left jail "quite a new man, with a clear brain, and resolutions to live a new life in some healthy spot at a respectful distance from Scranton," in 1913 he was judged insane in San Francisco and then declared mentally incompetent four months later in New York after spending time under observation at Bellevue mental hospital. By that time, he had also married a woman from New York City who left him in 1912, but who "wept bitterly" when he was institutionalized in 1913. Isaiah's estate remained under the control of his lawyers, and most of it went to the construction of the natural history museum which still bears his name in Scranton's Nay Aug Park.

Edwin appeared in West Chester on several occasions between the time of his father's death and his own institutionalization. Once was in 1911, shortly after his father Isaiah died, when he came to see John Gheen, the lawyer who managed Isaiah's West Chester properties. Edwin returned the following year for the same purpose, claiming that he was home on vacation from his mining business in Nevada where he had "struck it rich." But a year after that, the Daily Local News reported that juries in both California and New York gad found Edwin incompetent.

The last connection to West Chester was through the person of Benjamin H. Warren, a local man who studied medicine but never practiced. Instead, he learned about birds from Benjamin, one of the West Chester Everharts, and wound up serving as the Pennsylvania State ornithologist in the 1890s and the Dairy and Food Commissioner from 1903 to 1907. In the former position, he became friends with Isaiah Everhart, and after Everhart suffered a stroke in 1907, Warren took over as the superintendent of his museum until World War I. During that period, he also handled some of the details associated with Edwin's legal troubles.

Upon Edwin's death in 1934, the last of the Everhart fortune passed into the hands of six first and second cousins from various places in Pennsylvania. None of them were from West Chester however. Edwin was buried in Dunmore Pennsylvania, about five miles northeast of Scranton, beneath an $85 stone marker.