What to See in Exton - Top Sights and Attractions

Arboretum in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Tyler Arboretum is a nonprofit arboretum located at 515 Painter Road, Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is open daily except for major holidays; an admission fee is charged to non-members.

The property's history began in 1681, when William Penn signed a "lease and release" agreement with Thomas Minshall, an English Quaker, for property in Pennsylvania that contained the site now occupied by the arboretum. Between 1681 and 1944, the property was home to eight generations of the same family. The arboretum itself started in 1825 when two brothers, Jacob and Minshall Painter, set aside land to systematically plant more than 1,000 varieties of trees and shrubs. In 1944, descendant Laura Tyler bequeathed the property, in memorial to her husband John J. Tyler, to be a nonprofit arboretum.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Today, Tyler Arboretum attracts 70,000 visitors a year to its 650-acre campus and boasts 17 miles of pathways and hiking trails. The horticultural collections include the following major features:

• The original Painter Trees: 1. Lebanon Cedar (Cedrus libani), a Pennsylvania state champion; 2. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba); 3. Yulan Magnolia (Magnolia denudata), a Pennsylvania state champion; 4. Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum); 5. Red Maple (Acer rubrum) 6. Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera), blown down by a hurricane in 1954, just the rot-resistant trunk remains; 7. Cucumbertree Magnolia (Magnolia acuminata); 8. Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum); 9. Leatherleaf Mahonia (Mahonia bealei); 10. Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera); 11. Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava); 12. River Birches - 2 (Betula nigra); 13. Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), the largest giant sequoia in Pennsylvania and possibly in the eastern United States; 14. White Oaks -2 (Quercus alba); 15. Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor); 16. Sweetgums - 2 (Liquidambar styraciflua); 17. Corsican Pine (Pinus nigra spp. laricio); 18. Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum); 19. American Linden (Tilia americana); 20. Common Pear (Pyrus communis); and 21. Oriental Spruce (Picea orientalis), a Pennsylvania state champion.
• Ornamentals: collections of flowering cherry (begun in 1951 with 45 plants representing 23 species and varieties); magnolia (begun 1951); crabapple (1951–1953); rhododendron (begun 1959 with more than 500 rhododendrons and 200 azaleas); holly; and lilac.
• Pinetum (34 ha / 85 acres, begun in 1954), containing pines, spruces, hemlocks, firs, cedars, cypresses and larches.
• Native Woodland Walk (begun in 1970).
• Meadow Maze, a recent four-ring labyrinth of meadow grasses based on a classical seven-ringed design.
• Pink Hill, a serpentine barren of serpentine stone with wildflowers.
• Uncultivated land (180 ha / 450 acres) that remain natural and contain 32 km / 17 miles of marked hiking trails.
• Wister Rhododendron Collection, a collection of more than 500 rhododendrons.

The Zook House, also known as the William and Elizabeth Owen House, built in 1750, is a historic single-family dwelling located near Exton, Pennsylvania on the property of the Exton Square Mall, on the north side of U.S. Route 30 Business. It was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 1, 1976 following renovations. In 1984 a boundary increase was also listed on the National Register. In 1998 the house was moved about 300 feet to the southwest due to an expansion of the shopping mall. On July 27, 2000 the house was re-listed on the National Register, even though it remains listed on the Register at its old address.

The land in the area of the house was first sold by William Penn to Welch Quaker Richard Thomas in 1683 as part of the Welsh Tract. Thomas's son, also named Richard, claimed the land in two stages, 1704 and 1717. He sold the land to English Quaker John Morgan in 1718, and Morgan sold the land to English Quaker William Owen in 1734. Owen built the house in 1750 and sold land and the house to Quaker James Brown in 1760. Morritz (or Morris) Zug bought the farm and house in 1770. Morritz Zug later anglicized his name to Zook. He and his family were founding members of the Great Valley Ominist (Amish) Society. The house was added to in 1800, and 1820. During the 1998 move, a new foundation was laid and the 1750 basement was lost.

Six generations of the Zook family lived in the house until 1970. The Jacob Zook House, nearby on the south side of U.S. 30 Business, is listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places.^[9]