In 1726,
Thomas Willcox along with Thomas Brown built a
mill dam across the
Chester Creek. In 1729 a paper mill was erected and the first paper was sold. The Ivy Mills is the second oldest paper mill built in America. Only the
Rittenhouse mill in
Philadelphia is older. The first output from Ivy Mills was
pressboard and then printing paper. Thomas Willcox was a friend of
Benjamin Franklin and was known to have made paper for him. Willcox received the first order for paper used in the production of colonial and continental currency. After 1775, the mill was devoted almost entirely to making government paper for the continental bills, loan certificates and bills of exchange. At the time of the
American Revolution, the government depended entirely on Ivy Mills for paper for currency. The Ivy Mills supplied paper for the
Continental and United States governments as well as many
South American countries. Paper was produced at Ivy Mills until 1886. The mill gradually fell into ruins. A
mission chapel was established at Ivy Mills in 1730, making it the oldest Roman Catholic
parish in Pennsylvania. In 1837, St. Mary's Chapel was built as part of the new Ivy Mills Mansion. Eventually the size of the congregation was sufficient to warrant the construction of a new church in 1852 named
St. Thomas the Apostle Church a mile away in what would become the borough of
Chester Heights. This district was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1972. ==Gallery==