On South High Street, just a short distance from the bottom of the Borough of West Chester there is a huge rock with a bronze plaque on it describing the trail starting from the Susquehanna and Conestoga Rivers in Lancaster County to the west. That path traverses east through Chester County to West Chester and then southeast to the Delaware River. The Great Minquas Path, was the way to or through the town of Turks Head, which would become West Chester and was traveled as a trade route before either ever existed. As early as 1620 the Lenni-Lenape and other native fur traders used this “Beaversrede” or beaver road to deliver their pelts to the fur traders in and near Philadelphia and the Schuylkill River as well as the Dutch and Swedish settlements along the Delaware River. Parts of the path follow Pennsylvania Route #741 in Lancaster County and Route #162 in Chester County. The path enters Chester County near the town of Gap, it then enters Atglen, and passes through Parksburg, and Mortonville before it arrives at West Chester and continues into Lima, the Rose Valley, and Darby in Delaware County.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 03:12:56 +0000