The Kimberton Historic District includes sixty-two buildings and two structures along three eighteenth and nineteenth century roadways that contributed to making the village a local education, market, and transportation center. The village is also locally significant for its namesake, Emmor Kimber, a progressive Quaker educator who arrived here in 1817. The village architecture defines the village’s two phases of growth. At the western end, around an early crossroads (now Kimberton and Hares Hill roads), stand eighteenth and early nineteenth century stone buildings that are representative of the architecture of this part of Chester County. At the opposite end of the district, the structures reflect the development of building lots around the post-Civil War railroad station. In addition to the boarding school, Kimber initially owned the former Chrisman Mill, the inn, a shoemaker’s shop, a tailor’s shop, and a blacksmith shop. Also, he worked for the abolition of slavery and served as an “agent” on the underground railroad. In 1818 Kimber deeded land on a hillock southwest of the school for a Quaker meeting house. In 1876, the meetinghouse was acquired and altered by the Centennial Evangelical Lutheran Church, which it remains today.
