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unenlightenedgoblin OP t1_j4o3mw4 wrote

Reply to comment by PsychicSarahSays in What happened to Chester, PA? What are its future prospects? by unenlightenedgoblin

Thanks for your response. I had never heard of Widener before today but it sounds like they’re a real anchor in an otherwise suffering community. The potential is so clear to me, but the challenges are really intense.

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TomsterTruck t1_j4om6al wrote

I’m currently a senior at widener, but have lived in the area for my whole life. Not everyone in Chester is super happy about Widener either. Tbh I’m not very involved in goings-on, but I do know we got a Starbucks on campus which took place of a small art/history museum, in which pieces donated by people of chester are now presumably sitting in storage instead of display.

At least they sprinkle cocoa powder on the trash before they burn it so it smells like the Hershey Factory

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TomsterTruck t1_j4oms8g wrote

And for what it’s worth, Chester used to be a massive export town, huge in Oil and ship building. Check out “Sun Oil” or “Sun Shipbuilding”. You may also see things about Baldwin trains that were big in the area (same as the train from Polar Express). Combine that with used-to-be golf courses and resorts, Chester has some of the nicest houses I’ve ever seen, which used to be full of lawyers, doctors, you name it. The companies left, and the rich left. Big houses turned into split apartments. Now the most notable factory in Chester is a toilet paper factory, Kimberly Clark I believe. There is also a Boeing facility nearby, but not technically in Chester

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Jumpy-Natural4868 t1_j4tg87f wrote

Sun oil is Sunoco and started in Pittsburgh. Did they have an east coast operation in Chester?

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TomsterTruck t1_j4ys87o wrote

It was technically Sun shipbuilding but same company as Sun oil, I think they shipped a lot of their product from Chester, since it’s right on the Delaware and not too far from the ocean

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