West Pikeland Township is home to some very special historic landmarks.  The famous mineral springs identified as “Yellow Springs” were well known to local Lenape Indians.   At the time of their discovery in 1722, the area was still deep in forest.   As settlers pushed west and cleared lands for farms in the fertile Great Valley, these and other springs as well as grains, ores, and wood became a source of income for them.   The area later became a place to “take the waters and a cure” for dwellers from Philadelphia and other growing communities.   It attracted millers, metal workers, tanners, German barn builders and stone house builders and other specialist artisans who served the agricultural community.   Their craftsmanship is seen today in stone farm homes, bank barns, and in the Anselma Mill. 

The Historic Village of Yellow Springs is a significant part of the rich cultural and historic heritage of West Pikeland.  General Washington and his staff stayed at Yellow Springs after the Battle at Brandywine.   It was the site of the first military hospital funded by the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War and served Washington’s army encamped at Valley Force during the harsh winter of 1776.  At its peak, the hospital treated 200 soldiers. 

In the first half of the 1800’s, the area was an internationally known summer resort and spa with mineral baths and hotels.   After the Civil War parts of the Village and some of the hotel buildings became an orphanage for children of Union soldiers.   At its peak, the orphanage and school housed about 250 people.  The barn and many of the auxiliary buildings remain today.

In 1912, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts bought the Village of Yellow Springs and began residential summer teaching programs.  One notable artist who studied here was Albert V. Greene.   Much of his artwork depicts West Pikeland’s rural nature at the time.

After WWII, a religious films producer, Shorty Yeaworth, bought the Village property and converted the art studios into film stages, filming many religious films, short subjects and, of course, a techno-thriller “The Blob”, starring Steve McQueen.   In 1974, the Village site, which includes 130 acres and 10 buildings, was purchased by a private trust comprised of local citizens concerned about its preservation.   The Village is a historic landmark.

West Pikeland Township was organized in 1849.   It is served today by a five-member Board of Supervisors and several other volunteer boards and committees. 

Notes of Historical Interest – Records indicate that in the early 1800’s, the Township had six grain mills and five mines for various ores including graphite and iron.   Some of the flooding of Pickering Creek at Horseshoe Trail is part of the heritage of silted dams and lowlands that served the mills during that era.

In the early to mid-1800’s, the Pickering Valley Railroad had four commercial stops.   They served mills and dairy farmers who sold their supplies to dealers in Phoenixville for export to other areas.  The complex excavations for the railroad along with some of the remaining abutments can be seen adjoining Hallman’s General Store and other spots within the Township.

By the late 1800’s, the railroad brought weekend tourists to the area.   Fegley’s Woods on Art School Road north of Pikeland Road had baseball fields and picnic groves.