f riday, february 12, 1988
cabrini college, radnor, pa. 19087
vol. xxxiv, no. 13
An historic look at the Main Line According
by Rebecca Rebalsky
to Sarah -Hayward
Draper, author of Once Upon the Main Line, some Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) · officers and stockholders complemented their advertising campaign by moving to the Main Line themselves. They built elegant mansions near the Main Line train stations. "Some properties had private bridges across the tracks and private whistle stops so that the owner could board a train from his own property," writes Draper. Soon after, Draper reports, young Philadelphians followed the PRR executives' example, and c0mmunities grew. along the Main Line. In time, the Main Line region was defined to include the towns along, what is now,'· Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's RS, "Paoli Local" route: Overbrook, Merion, Narberth, Wynnewood, Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Villanova, Radnor, St. Davids, Wayne, Strafford, Devon, Berwyn, Daylesford, and Paoli. Today, the boundaries of the Main Line are "elusive" and sometimes : depend "strictly on personal opinion," • according to The 1987 Delaware Valley Community Living Guide. The guide identifies the Main Line as "one of the most desirable addresses in the nation." Most of the Main Line stops, like , Bryn Ma"'T and Narberth, have names of Welsh origin because the first settlers of the
From the first week of freshman orientation to the last days before graduation, Cabrini students are dedicated patrons of the neighboring town of Wayne. It does not take long before many come to intimately know the interiors of spots like the Wayne Tavern and Minella's Diner. Most likely, however, they do not know as much about the history of the to'.w'Il which supports these establishments. For instance, how many students are aware that Wayne was the headquarters of the Bulgarian government in exile while King Simeon II attended Valley Forge Military Academy? Or that the lakes on Eastern College's campus were once water sources for steam engines of the Pennsylvania Railroad? Or that . a tuberculosis sanitorium was located m Wayne at the turn of the century? These stories are included in Historic Wayne by Katharine Cummin of the Radnor Historical Society. Historic Wayne is one of many books written by local authors which detail the development of towns along the Main Line. Most of the authors agree that in order to un~~rst~nd the history of individual commurut1es like Wayne one must first become familiar with th~ development of the entire Main Line region. The term, "Main Line" dates back to the 1820s, when the Common. . . 7 wealth of Pennsylvania adopted a Ian to linkthe eastern and western regions of the Quakers. state with a network of railroads and According to Draper, England's canals. The project was known as "The King Charles II and his brother, the Duke Main Line of Public Works of the State of of York, gave William Penn 28 million Pennsylvania." acres of land in Pennsylvania in payment One of the railroad lines was laid of debts owed to Penn's father. Penn sold parallel to Lancaster Pik_e,the firs~hard- a fraction of the parcel, 40,000 acres, which surface toll road in Amenca, and bisected lay west of the city of Philadelphia, to a the region which today is known as the group of Welsh Quakers. The land became Main Line. known as the Welsh tract. Pennsylvania Railroad acquired The Delaware County Historical this line in the mid-1800s. In order to Society traces the origin of the name promote business, the railroad encour- 'Radnor' to a Welsh phrase meaning "red aged Philadelphians to settle in the unde- district." A translation of "Bryn Mawr" veloped area surroundin? . the western is "great hill." Berwyn, meaning "white Main Line track by advertismg the advan- boundary," still shares its name with a tages of living in the "quiet country atmos- Welsh mountain range. phere." The town of Wayne, however,
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James Henry Askin, the founder of Wayne, built his mansion, "Louella," between 1865 and 1866. The buliding was enlarged at the turn of the century to become the Louella Hotel. It is now the site of Louella Apartments on Louella Court. (photo by Sue Hill)
inside perspectives.... 2 news ............ 3-5 features ...... 6-11 sp~rts ...... 12-16
A familiar Wayne landmark, the ayne Ho el on Eas La caster Avenue, firs e · . · w i ed i , e au·ona egi r o i on Places. T bui/ing was originally k'1own as the Waynewood Hotel, and later became Wayne Hall. It then served as a conservative synagogue, until reopening as the Wayne Hotel in 1985. (photo by Sue Hill)
does not trace its name to Wales. Wayne was named for Revolutionary War General "Mad Anthony'' Wayne, whose birthplace is at Waynesborough in Chester County. Like most other Main Line towns, Wayne developed as a community after first being the site of large country estates. Between 1864 and 1870, James Henry Askin of Chester bought nearly 300 acres of farmland in what is now central Wayne, according to Cummin. Askin named his property "Louella," for his two daughters, Louisa and Ella Askin. His mansion, built in the 1860s, was later enlarged and converted into the Louella Hotel, which became a popular summer resort for Philadelphians. Today, the Louella Apartments occupy the site on what is now Louella Court. Askin eventually sold his property to George W. Childs, editor of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, and banker Anthony J. Drexel in 1880. They bought Louella and some adjacent land, calling the property Wayne Estate. According to t1ieRadnor Historical Society, under Drexel and Childs, Wayne became the United States' "first commercial real estate development in the modem sense."
Person of the week: Jeanne Reineberg (page 6)
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The pair built another summer resort hotei called the Bellevue, which had a board walk to the station. The Bellevue burned in 1900, and the AT & T building now occupies the We:;! Avenue site. Drexel and Childs also mapped out residential lots north and south of the railroad tracks. They built homes, and persuaded the railroad to add a stop, St. Davids, in east Wayne. The houses, some of which still stand on streets like Walnut and North Wayne Avenues, had five to seven bedrooms and were prired from $3,500 to $7,000. Drexel and Childs also encouraged the establishment of many businesses in Wayne. The Wayne business block which lies on East Lancaster Avenue between South Wayne and Louella Avenues, was first built in 1890. Early occupants included a barber, a druggist, and a post-card manufacturer. Today the block is the home of stores like The Gap, Pie in the Sky Pizzeria, and Wayne Sporting Goods. Drexel and Childs also installed an underlying drainage system for Wayne, arranged for utilities, and donated land for schools, a library, and a firehouse. According to Historic Wayne, "created an instant town before the advent of professional planning."
Preview the 1988 Winter Olympics (pages 14-15)