In 1986, the East Brandywine Historical Society recommended to the Township Planning Commission the creation of an East Brandywine Historical Commission. By resolution, the Board of Supervisors established the Historical Commission in the spring of that year. The Board’s resolution identified a broad range of duties, including survey and research, review of demolition permits affecting historic resources, publishing historical books and brochures, and maintaining official historic resource maps and archives.

In 1989, the Board of Supervisors, as part of an updated Township Zoning Ordinance, adopted a historic resource protection article. Among other things, the new article created a historic preservation overlay district, to be regulated through the Historical Commission (as an advisor to the Board of Supervisors) and a Board of Historical and Architectural Review (HARB). In the absence of a Certified Historic District, however, the latter was never established; the provisions authorizing the HARB eventually were deleted from the Zoning Ordinance. Also in 1999, the Village of Guthriesville was determined eligible for the National Register.

Since its establishment, the Historical Commission has wit-nessed a period of relatively intense development in the Township. Farming has waned dramatically, and in its place a number of large parcels have been developed or are in various stages of the development process.

After some years of relative inactivity, the Historical Com-mission has undertaken a renewed interest in protecting the Township’s historic resources. First, the Commission recently completed the process of surveying and inventorying all Township resources 50 years and older. Second, it continues to represent the Township's interest in placing the Guthriesville Historic District on the National Register. That outcome remains uncertain in the face of unresolved land use issues affecting village properties, but could be an important complement to the recommendations of the Guthriesville Village Vision and Strategic Development Plan (as presented in Chapter VII, East Brandywine Comprehensive Plan).

In 2007, the Historical Commission authored a substantial strengthening of the Zoning Ordinance provisions protecting historic resources. Adoption of this revised zoning article occurred in 2008. The new language and map incorporate the Commission's inventory results, while a comprehensive review of demolition proposals (including a procedure for denial of a proposed demolition), attention to demolition by neglect, and a Historic Resource Impact Study procedure are important additions. In combination, these measures should help protect the Township's most important historic resources, as well as the surrounding historic landscape.

Source: East Brandywine Comprehensive Plan. p 25