A free walking tour of downtown Spring City is open to everyone this Thursday, May 14, with no registration required and tours departing in the early evening.
The event is part of the Chester County Planning Commission's Town Tours and Village Walks program, now in its 33rd year. Royersford Borough Councilor Ryan Conroy, who also serves as president of the Spring-Ford Area Historical Society (SFAHS), discussed the tour, which he wrote himself, during Tuesday's council meeting in Royersford.
"It's going to be up and down Main Street," Conroy said during the meeting. "This tour usually brings in about somewhere between 200 to 300 people. If you're interested in learning about downtown Spring City a little bit more, here's your opportunity."
Groups will depart from the starting point — the municipal parking lot at Main Street and Yost Avenue in Spring City — beginning at 5:30 p.m., with the last tour leaving at 7 p.m. Conroy encouraged anyone curious about the area's past to simply show up.
A Survey That Covered 900 Properties
The Thursday tour follows a significant milestone for local historic preservation. In late April, the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) — a division of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission — visited Royersford and Spring City with a team of 35 staff members to conduct a hands-on property survey.
Conroy gave council an update on how the visit went.
"I asked 35 people how many have ever been in Royersford or Spring City before, and there were only two," he said. "Everybody was very impressed with how the town looked and how many historic properties were still standing compared to where they've done other surveys."
Between the two boroughs, surveyors documented 900 properties using a newly developed mobile app designed to catalog potentially historic buildings. Conroy said he personally walked with one of the survey groups.
The visit was not something the borough or historical society requested — state officials reached out directly to SFAHS to select Royersford and Spring City for the exercise.
Grant Opportunities and a Possible Historical Marker
Beyond the survey itself, Conroy said the visit may have opened doors to future resources. The team discussed the potential for historic tax credits that could benefit property owners looking to move into or restore historic buildings, helping them mitigate certain modification requirements that might otherwise apply.
Conroy also noted the visit yielded "a lot of good contacts in regards to future opportunities for grants or state historical markers." That possibility had been discussed ahead of the April visit, with the Buckwalter Stove Company in Royersford, a former international manufacturer with deep roots in the borough, floated as a strong potential candidate for a state historical marker.
This article was generated with AI assistance. All content was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by John McGuire.
