The history and colonial charm of the borough of West Chester is sometimes overlooked, but local writer Bruce E. Mowday’s new book, entitled West Chester: Six Walking Tours, highlights and explores the architecture and attractions that have helped to add West Chester to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s List of Distinctive Destinations. “West Chester is such a beautiful and historic town,” said Mowday, who is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Chester County Historical Society. “We tried to give background on the buildings, the history of some of the people who lived in West Chester and note some of the town’s excellent architecture.”
When describing the format of his book, Mowday said, “Schiffer publishing has produced an excellent book with great reproductions of photographs by photographer Rick Davis, a lifelong resident of West Chester.” The book is a collaboration of a number of people, including Malcolm Johnstone of the West Chester Business Improvement District, Mayor Dick Yoder, who wrote the foreword, and Steve Pinkston, along with many other local historians.
Mowday designed the book to give readers a feeling of being in the middle of West Chester
The six tours, which cover over 75 sites, include the university, the east end, and the northeast, northwest and central and western sections of West Chester. Maps for each tour help the reader navigate through town and focus on the most historical and architecturally impressive sites.
“The hardest part of the book was deciding which areas of the town to highlight,” Mowday said. “If we tried to include the whole borough, I’m sure the book would have been way too heavy to carry on walking tours.”
Mowday is president of The Mowday Group, Inc., a media relations firm in Chester County, and the author of nine books. In addition to his new piece, he has also written September 11, 1777: Washington’s Defeat at Brandywine Dooms Philadelphia, Unlikely Allies: Fort Delaware’s Prison Community in the Civil War, The Selling of an Author, The Republican Committee of Chester County: 150 Years of Public Service, and four Arcadia books on Along the Brandywine River, Coatesville, Downingtown and West Chester.
Mowday has scheduled book signings in three area locations. His first is scheduled at the Chester County Historical Society on High Street on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2006, from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. He will also be signing books beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15, at the Chester County Book Company in the West Goshen Shopping Center. Mowday will complete his area book signings on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble store in Exton.
All of Mowday’s books are available at local bookstores, at the Historical Society and from Mowday’s website at www.mowday.com, in addition to local bookstores. The cost of the book is $19.95.