Tinicum Township

Tinicum Township municipal offices are located at 629 North Governor Printz Boulevard, Essington PA 19029; phone 610-521-3530.

Beginnings [1]

It was on Tinicum Island that the first recorded settlement in Pennsylvania occurred — by the Swedish governor, John Prinz, in 1643.

For almost a century Tinicum was part of Ridley Township, but at the May court, 1780, a petition was signed by 23 "inhabitants, owners, and occupiers of the land on the island of Tinicum," praying that they be set off into a separate township. On August 31, 1780, their prayer was granted, and from that date Tinicum became a separate district, having all the rights and obligations of other townships.

Tinicum contained two villages, Essington and Corbindale, both located on the line of the Philadelphia & Reading railway that traversed the township. Connections were made here with both Chester and Philadelphia. The population in 1910 was 1,135.

1. John W. Jordan, LL.D., Librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, A History of Delaware County Pennsylvania and Its People, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1914, New York.