During my travels around Pennsylvania, I’ve been to many quaint small towns, but few have been as charming as St. Peters Village in southeastern Pennsylvania.
St. Peters Village is located in western Chester County, not far from French Creek State Park and Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site.
If you love charming villages filled with artisans and nice places to eat, you’ll definitely want to make a visit to this quaint village. There is also some great hiking in town, meaning there are plenty of things to do in St. Peters Village to make the trip worthwhile.
The community was founded in the mid-1800s as a company town in a narrow ravine along the banks of French Creek. The town was the home to workers at the iron ore mines and quarry that were located in the woods near the settlement.
Today, St. Peters Village has been amazingly well preserved and offers a great look at what a mid-19th-century industrial village would have looked like. Along the quarter-mile main street, a series of buildings are filled with artisan shops, places to eat, and even a hotel.
A series of interconnecting hiking trails allow for exploration of Hopewell Big Woods and the boulder-strewn French Creek. The main problem with hiking at St. Peters Village is there are no trail map or markers. While there is a series of interconnected trails throughout this expansive forest, it’s next to impossible to figure out exactly where you are going once you leave the area around the creek. If you opt to head deep into the woods, I’d recommend carrying a GPS so you don’t get turned around and lost.
St. Peters Village is not only an incredible example of a mid-19th-century industrial village, but the buildings are filled with the types of shops that will make you want to keep coming back to visit again. Throughout the rest of the village, there is a winery and a series of artisan shops that feature everything from blown-glass to local photography. Popping into these shops is a great way to pass the time and experience a few of the great artists that live in the region. On the edge of town, the largest building in the community is the Inn at St. Peters.
The inn has been completely restored and features seven rooms in its bed and breakfast. The inn also features a fine dining restaurant, so if you are looking for a nicer or more substantial meal, this is the place to head. Overall, St. Peters Village is a hidden gem of western Chester County, PA. While it’s not large, there’s more than enough to do in the village and on its hiking trails for a full day of adventure.
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