Wawa is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 located in Middletown Township

Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Middletown Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,064 at the 2000 census. The Pennsylvania State University has an undergraduate satellite campus located in the north-central portion of the township, while Neumann College, a private...

 in Delaware County

Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. Named for the Ojibwe

Ojibwe language

Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...

 word for "goose" (taken from The Song of Hiawatha

The Song of Hiawatha

The Song of Hiawatha is an 1855 epic poem, in trochaic tetrameter, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, featuring an Indian hero and loosely based on legends and ethnography of the Ojibwe and other Native American peoples contained in Algic Researches and additional writings of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft...

),

Wawa was originally known as Grubb's Bridge. Ashmead's 1884 "History of Delaware County" depicts the Edward Worth estate called "Wawa" here, and it is possible the name came to be applied to the whole community.

Wawa is also the former location of the Franklin Mint

Franklin Mint

The Franklin Mint is a private corporation founded by Joseph Segel in 1964. The private mint operated from Wawa, Pennsylvania but that operation has now closed...

, which produced fine collector's items. The Wawa train station

Wawa (SEPTA station)

Wawa is an abandoned train station adjacent to U.S. Route 1 in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania. The station was a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's West Chester Branch...

 and junction

Junction (rail)

A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...

 served the Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

's (PRR) three branch lines:

1. West Chester Branch
   West Chester Branch
   The West Chester Branch was a local passenger and freight railroad line owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad and later Penn Central. The line connected with the Philadelphia-Washington Main Line at Arsenal Junction near the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia-Chicago Main Line near...
   
   , now the SEPTA Media/Elwyn Line
   Media/Elwyn Line
   The Media/Elwyn Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia west to Elwyn in Delaware County.Originally known as the Media/West Chester Branch, service was truncated on September 19, 1986 from West Chester to its current terminus at Elwyn. Service expansion beyond Elwyn...
   
   , Currently inactive west of Elwyn
   Elwyn (SEPTA station)
   Elwyn is the southern terminus of the SEPTA Media/Elwyn Line. Until 1986, service continued west to West Chester. Services was suspended due to poor track conditions...
   
   , but plans are in place to restore service west to a new park-and-ride facility in Wawa
   Wawa (SEPTA station)
   Wawa is an abandoned train station adjacent to U.S. Route 1 in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania. The station was a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's West Chester Branch...
   
   .
2. Chester Creek Branch
   Chester Creek Branch
   The Chester Creek Branch railroad line ran from Lamokin Street in Chester, Pennsylvania to Lenni in Middletown Township, until 1972. It was operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad , and later by Penn Central. The branch diverged from the Northeast Corridor main line near the now-defunct SEPTA Lamokin...
   
   . PRR's successor Penn Central ended train service in 1971, following damage to the line from severe storms in both 1971 and 1972. SEPTA currently owns the right-of-way, and the railroad bed is to be converted into a paved trail.
3. Octoraro Branch. Penn Central ended service in 1971 between Wawa and Chadds Ford
   Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania
   Chadds Ford Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, about 30 miles southwest of Philadelphia. Prior to 1996, Chadds Ford Township was known as Birmingham Township, Delaware County, and the name was changed to allow the township to correspond to both its...
   
   , following damage to the line from the same severe storms described above. SEPTA owns the right-of-way and leases the section south of Chadds Ford to short-line freight railroads.

The community is headquarters of Wawa Inc. a chain of 570 convenience store/gas stations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, employing 16,000.