Chester County’s Mushroom Capital Industry

A single county in Pennsylvania produces over 60 percent of the mushrooms grown in the United States. Kennett Square in Chester County is known as the “Mushroom Capital of the World.” The area grows white button, portabella, shiitake, and many other specialty varieties. Its mushroom industry began in the late 19th century, when a Quaker florist used empty greenhouse space to grow mushrooms from spawn imported from England. By the 1920s, European immigrants helped turn the local farms into a major commercial industry, and Chester County now has more than 2,000 mushroom-growing houses.

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