Radnor Hunt is located in Willistown Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.  Originally settled by The Okehocking tribe of the Lenni Lenape Native Americans, Willistown Township was part of the 50,000-acre Welsh Tract surveyed for Pennsylvania founder William Penn in 1684. This tract was to be reserved for settlement by persons from North and South Wales and the adjacent counties of Havefordshire, Shropshire, and Cheshire in Great Britain.

Much of the southern portion of Willistown Township was settled by second generation English Quakers who migrated up the Ridley Creek and Crum Creek valleys from earlier settlements near the Delaware River. Pennsylvania Surveyor-General Thomas Holme’s Map of 1687 is the first reference to Willistown Township, calling it “Willeston”. Six original land grants were made by William Penn in the Township.

In 1704, Willistown was organized as a township. A Native American reservation was located in Willistown, and the first roads in the township were Native American trails. In 1710, three cowpaths were established: Goshen, Sugartown, and Boot. These roads are still in existence today, under the same names.

John Bowater and his wife, Frances, were probably the first settlers in Willistown Township. They moved from Middletown Township in what is now Delaware County, to the Smedley/Yarnall Tract in 1702 and established a household on land that was surveyed in Mr. Bowater’s name. After Bowater’s death in 1705, his widow sold the 400-acre Bowater property to George Smedley. Francis Yarnall was another early settler who owned large tracts of land in Willistown Township.

Willistown was first represented at court by Thomas Garrett, as constable, in 1705. A large part of the township was within the boundary lines of the Welsh tract, but many surveys were made for other persons, especially in the southern part. The families of Hibberd, Massey, Smedley, Thomas, Garrett, and Yarnall were among the earliest and most numerous, and many of their descendants remain inhabitants of the township today.

Willistown Township is located between the old Lancaster Turnpike (now Lancaster Pike) on the north and West Chester Pike on the south. It contains some of the most beautiful land in the Philadelphia area. The open fields of green that descend into the steep Ridley Creek valley or into the winding banks of Crum Creek, include fine examples of 18th and 19th century vernacular architecture.  The old mill seats that line these streams were important to the development of the area, and the remains of their former grandeur achieve a harmony with the natural forests and fields along the way. Agriculture was the main industry throughout the 1700s and dominated the lives of early inhabitants. Major crops included wheat, rye, corn, oats, and hay. Dairy farming was also common.

The Paoli Massacre during the American Revolution occurred within the boundaries of Willistown Township as they existed at the time, where Monument Avenue and Warren Avenue lie today. A number of survivors from that battle retreated to, and took refuge in, a swamp, which was then south of Paoli Pike. Those who were killed in the massacre were buried at the Paoli Memorial Grounds, which is located on Monument Avenue.

Scattered villages emerged in the late 1700s as business grew. The villages usually emerged at major crossroads and contained a school, tavern, general stores, and craft shops. Sugartown, White Horse, and Plumsock were the earliest villages in Willistown Township. Those villages are mostly residential now, but they serve as historic reminders of their importance to the early agricultural community. In 1832, A Gazetteer of the State of Pennsylvania described Willistown as five and one half miles in length and three and one quarter in breadth, with a total area of 11,800 acres. Located twenty miles from Philadelphia and six miles from West Chester, the land surface was noted as gentled declivity with gravely soil. Bartram’s Covered Bridge, Garrett Farmstead, Okehocking Historic District, Sugartown Historic District, and White Horse Historic District in the Township are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Willistown Township was home to many English Quakers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During most of the early years of the township, education was initiated and controlled by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). In what was to become the Village of Sugartown, the Goshen Meeting established a school in 1783, and another was later built near the present site of the Willistown Friends Meeting. Public schools were located in White Horse, Shady Grove, East Willistown, and Sugartown. It is notable that both the Enos Hibberd House (1856-1857) and the Benjamin Hibberd House c. 1796 on Radnor Hunt’s grounds were built by Quakers and are historic structures owned by Radnor Hunt. The 1883 Foundation was founded in 2021 to help preserve these historic structures as part of its charitable mission for the benefit of the community and enjoyment of all.