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Friends of Oakbourne
Board of Directors > Contact Information > History of Oakbourne > Meeting Schedule > Mission Statement > Sign-up Form

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Become a member of Friends of Oakbourne and join in supporting the Westtown Community and concerned individuals who want to save and preserve the restoration of Oakbourne Mansion and its surrounding land. By joining, you become part of the solution to protect our township park's natural environment.

This year the Westtown Township Board of Supervisors has allocated money to upgrade the mansion, enhance the part infrastructure (new entry way, paved walking trails, new pavilion and new playground equipment). 

Members also will support project such as controlling invasive species of vegetation and instituting a tree replacement program. In addition, fundraising will support projects that complement the township's spending plan of Phase I for the park.

"We shan't save all we should like to, but we shall save a great deal more than if we had never tried." -- Sir Peter Scott (1909-89)

Board of Directors

Friends of Oakbourne


West Chester, PA 19382

In 1882 James C. Smith of Philadelphia purchased 143 acres of land on S. Concord Rd. Westtown. The Smiths created a 27-acre park amid large trees and a small stream, building a summerhouse and pond there and enclosing it with a fancy stone wall running along the Oakbourne Rd. boundary.

Mr. Smith died in 1893 and his wife died three years later. He willed the Westtown property to the Philadelphia Episcopal City Mission with the stipulation it be used as a retreat for sick and convalescent white women 21 yrs.  and older.

For more than 70 years the James C. Smith Memorial Home was opened to women guests. By 1971 the operational cost forced the home to close its doors.

Back in 1896 the Smith Estate had sold 96 acres to the Pennsylvania Epileptic Hospital & Colony Farm. This land, subdivided several times over the years, is now part of Gaudenzia House, Oakbourne Park and Pleasant Grove.

In 1974 the Westtown Township Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to purchase the Smith Tract for use as a Township Park. Other Tracts, once part of the original Estate were acquired through purchase or donation, for a present total of 93 Park Land Acres.

Friends of Oakbourne meets the first Thursday of the month in January, April, July and October at 7:30 p.m. at Oakbourne Mansion on S. Concord Road.

Friends of Oakbourne shall work to develop and promote optimal recreational and educational utilization of the Westtown Township Oakbourne Park and Mansion with diligent regard to the enhancement of its pastoral, historic and arboreal aspects. The broadest possible private, public organizational and governmental involvement will be sought in these endeavors.

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