Holidays and History

The land where the City of Chester now stands was originally occupied by the Okehockings and was called Mecoponaca, which means "the stream along which large potatoes grow."  The first European settlers to the area - members of the New Sweden colony - arrived in 1644 and called it "Finlandia" (the Latin name for Finland) and then "Upland" after the Swedish province of Uppland. On October 27, 1682 William Penn arrived on the ship Welcome and renamed the settlement Chester after the English city. Chester served as the county seat for Chester County from 1682 to 1788, and then as the county seat for Delaware County from 1789 to 1851. On February 14, 1866, Chester was incorporated as a city.