West Chester

West Chester may refer to some places in the United States:

See also

Chester

Coordinates: 53°11′25″N 2°53′30″W / 53.1903°N 2.8916°W / 53.1903; -2.8916

Chester (/ˈtʃɛstər/ CHESS-tər) is a walled city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is the largest and most populous settlement of the unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a combined population of 328,100 according to the 2001 Census, increasing to 329,608 at the 2011 Census. Chester was granted city status in 1541.

Chester was founded as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix, during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian in AD79. One of the three main army camps in the Roman province of Britannia, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia, which later became Chester's first cathedral, and the Saxons extended and strengthened the walls, much of which remain, to protect the city against the Danes. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans. William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle, to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border.

The Westchester

The Westchester is a 890,000-square-foot (83,000 m²), upscale shopping mall in downtown White Plains, New York. It is operated by Simon Property Group, which owns 40% of the mall, and is home to some of today's most fashionable and well-known retailers, many with their only location in affluent Westchester County, New York. It is anchored by Neiman Marcus and New York state's first Nordstrom, the fourth in the New York City metropolitan area to open after locations in Short Hills, Menlo Park, and Paramus, New Jersey.

Opened in 1995, The Westchester was built on the site of one of the first suburban branch department stores in the United States, a B. Altman & Co. store which opened in 1930, as well as the terminal for the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway White Plains branch. B. Altman's was located where Nordstrom is now situated. The mall was built adjacent to the (once) freestanding location of Neiman Marcus, which originally opened in 1972 as the only out-of-town location of its sister chain, New York-based Bergdorf Goodman. An interesting feature of the mall is that an old fountain, once located in the original Altman store in New York, is featured in one of the lobbies leading from the parking garage into the mall.

West Chester University

West Chester University of Pennsylvania (WCUPA) is a public university located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, about 25 miles (40 km) west of Philadelphia. It is one of the 14 state universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). West Chester was ranked 69th in the Master's Universities (North) category by U.S. News & World Report for 2009. The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSACS).

History

The university traces its roots to the private, state-aided school that existed from 1812 to 1869. As the state began to take increasing responsibility for public education, the academy was transformed into West Chester Normal School, still privately owned and state certified. The normal school admitted its first class, consisting of 160 students, on September 25, 1871. In 1913, West Chester became the first of the normal schools to be owned outright by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

West Chester became West Chester State Teachers College in 1927 when Pennsylvania initiated a four-year program of teacher education. In 1960, as the Commonwealth paved the way for liberal arts programs in its college system, West Chester was renamed West Chester State College, and two years later introduced the liberal arts program that turned the one-time academy into a comprehensive college.

University of Chester

The University of Chester is a public university located in the historic city of Chester, England. The university, based on three campuses in Chester and one in Warrington, offers a range of foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as undertaking academic research.

The university is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Cathedrals Group, the North West Universities Association and Universities UK.

For the 2015 academic year the average student at the University of Chester achieved an average UCAS tariff of 306.

History

1839 to 2000

The university was founded as Chester Diocesan Training College in 1839 by a distinguished group of local leading figures in the Church of England, including future Prime Ministers William Ewart Gladstone and the 14th Earl of Derby. It was the UK's first purpose-built teacher training college, which makes it one of the longest established higher education institutions in the country. In 1842, Gladstone opened the College's original buildings for its first intake of ten male student teachers on the Parkgate Road site, just outside the City Walls, that the University occupies today.