Bryn Mawr

Beginnings [1]

Bryn Mawr — This station might well be cited as a model of taste and beauty. Occupying a delightful position in the midst of a fertile and well-watered country, the railroad company saw its advantages and determined to improve them. Beautiful and comfortable station-houses were built, and these were followed by a superb hotel and other improvements. Naturally these conveniences attracted visitors and residents, and from a scattered hamlet the place is growing into the proportions of an elegant town. Villas and cottages are springing up with wonderful rapidity, and it is altogether within the range of probability that Bryn Mawr will, in a few years, be one of the largest, and certainly one of the most beautiful, suburbs of Philadelphia. The old Columbia Railroad, when purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, swept, with many a wonderful curve, around the low hills which characterize this portion of the State, and one of these bends carried it half a mile south of its present route here. Progress and experience alike demonstrated that these curves must be straightened. It was speedily and successfully accomplished, but in doing it the station of White Hall was abandoned and Bryn Mawr arose to take its place. Population, about 800.

1. Sipes, William B., The Pennsylvania Railroad: Its Origin, Construction, Condition, and Connections, The Passenger Department, Pennsylvania Railroad, 1875, Philadelphia.

In addition to being at the center of five institutions of higher learning (Villanova University, Rosemont College, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College and Harcum Junior College) the area immediately surrounding Bryn Mawr station is a neighborhood of distinctive residences built ca. 1900 through the 1930s. These include row homes, half-duplex singles, and detached singles.

Bryn Mawr Map

Street Names
Bryn Mawr Avenue North • Bryn Mawr Avenue South • Central Avenue • Doyle Alley • Lancaster Avenue • Merion Avenue North • Merion Avenue South • Morris Avenue • Morton Road • Morton Terrace • Old Lancaster Road • Prospect Avenue • Reese Avenue • Roberts Road South • Route 30 • Summit Grove Avenue • Thomas Avenue • Warner Avenue North • Warner Avenue South