Chester, PA

Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Delaware Valley (i.e. the Philadelphia metropolitan area) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. The population of Chester was 32,605 at the 2020 census.Incorporated in 1682, Chester is the oldest city in Pennsylvania and was the location of William Penn's first arrival in the Province of Pennsylvania. It was the county seat for Chester County from 1682 to 1788 and of Delaware County from 1789 to 1851. Chester evolved over the centuries from a small town with wooden shipbuilding and textile factories into an industrial city producing steel ships for two World Wars and a myriad of consumer goods. Since the mid-twentieth century, it has lost its manufacturing base, over half of its residents, and devolved into a post-industrial city struggling with pollution, poverty, and crime.