This article is part of a series about celebrating America 250 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. I’ll be adding more throughout the year, so be sure to come back periodically to see what else is happening in Chadds Ford to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.

✨ OMG, friends. I think I discovered something interesting today. I might have figured out how the Walkable Chadds Ford design came to be! Keep reading to find out. 😲

Birmingham Hill Trail along one of the Battle of Brandywine Audio Tours

Intending to enjoy a quick walk along the Birmingham Hill Trail a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled on a whole lot more. Have you heard of the free self-guided audio tours about the Battle of Brandywine available on your smartphone?

Leave your wool trench coats at home. Bring water and snacks if you wish, but no need to ration your provisions for this adventure. Instead, put on your walking shoes and march through the fields that George Washington and his army of American soldiers traversed on September 11, 1777.

These audio tours are posted to a site called izi.Travel. There isn’t a ton of information about the company other than:

It’s an open and free storytelling platform for producers to publish stories
It includes a smartphone app for consumers to hear stories
The single platform allows museums and creators around the world to develop audio tours that are simple for visitors to use in a consistent format (no developing or downloading lots of new apps)

It’s unclear who owns the app, though their corporate offices are in the United Arab Emirates. I also can’t tell who created these specific audio tours. The creator’s username is “vwsolutions.” If you know who this is, I’d love to find out.

The three Battle of Brandywine audio tours include both walking and driving sections. They include many audio recordings from various locations around a particular part of the battlefield. While exploring the Birmingham section, I started mostly on foot, but had to get in my car for a few minutes twice to move between areas.

Battle of Brandywine Audio Tours

There are three audio tours:

Battle of Brandywine at Chadds Ford (Village of Chadds Ford, Brandywine Museum of Art, Rt 1 and Ring Rd)
Battle of Brandywine at Birmingham (Birmingham Hill Trail, Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse, Sandy Hollow)
Battle of Brandywine Loop Tour (larger around the entire Brandywine Battlefield area with 44 stops, definitely a driving expedition)

If you haven’t checked them out, I highly recommend doing so. I’m not a history buff in any sense, so it was almost all new information to me. My favorite part was the history of the Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse’s use as a hospital during the battle.

Did you know the meetinghouse hospital served both armies? Can you imagine fighting against opponents only to later lie next to them in a hospital bed receiving medical treatment? What an intense experience of cognitive dissonance!

I think these tours could make really neat school field trip opportunities for our local kiddos. Get a little outdoor time and listen to stories about history (instead of just slogging through a textbook) while walking the ground where the battles took place. How cool?!

If you try any of them, let me know how it goes. I’ve only done the Birmingham Hill audio tour so far, and I look forward to checking out the other two in Chadds Ford.

Signage and view of Birmingham Hill on Brandywine Battlefield

Is this the basis for the Walkable Chadds Ford design?!

Last but not least, my epiphany. Look at the map for the Battle of Brandywine at Chadds Ford audio tour below. This almost exactly matches the path that Walkable Chadds Ford will follow.

So many people have asked why Walkable Chadds Ford is designed as it is. While I’m looking forward to connecting more places in Chadds Ford without a car, the inspiration for the design has been a mystery to me.

Do you think this is it? Do you think whoever made this audio tour is connected to the initial design phase of Walkable Chadds Ford? I’m so curious. Spill the beans if you know!