Chester, city, Delaware County, southeastern Pennsylvania, a port on the Delaware River; incorporated as a borough 1701, as a city 1866. The city, which is highly industrialized, was an important shipbuilding center until the early 1980s and retains major ship-repairing yards. Manufactures include metal products, paper and paper products, and electric and nonelectric machinery. Widener University (1821) is in Chester, and Swarthmore College is nearby. The oldest permanent settlement in the state, Chester was founded as Upland by Swedes about 1644. William Penn, the English Quaker who founded Pennsylvania, landed here in 1682 and renamed the community for Chester, England; during the same year, he convened the first Pennsylvania Assembly here. Several 17th- and 18th-century structures survive. The city suffered serious economic decline in the 1970s. Population 45,794 (1980); 41,856 (1990); 36,854 (2000).Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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