Exton

Text below excerpted from: Chester County Place Names, Edward Pinkowski, 1962.

On US 30 four miles east of Downingtown is Exton, settled before the Revolution but not named until after the completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh in 1852 and the Chester Valley Railroad from Norristown to Downingtown in 1858. According to Richard Trimble, his grandfather, William Trimble, who owned a large farm where the Pennsylvania Railroad intersected Lancaster Pike, named the village for his birthplace in England. Joseph C. Exton, on the other hand, claimed "the town was named in honor of my father's eldest sister, who married John D. Steele, and their son was an engineer in laying out the Chester Valley railroad. He honored his mother's maiden name by naming a station thereon." Nevertheless, James Beale was given a commission to open a post office at Exton in 1861.

School District: West Chester Area

Street Names: Lancaster Highway (Route 30), Pottstown Pike (Route 100)