Gallery – Haverford Civic Association

Clockwise from top: The newly opened Ardmore Train Station, seen from Station Road; outbound platform on the Suburban Square side; elevators from inbound and outbound platforms open onto well-lit tunnel underneath the tracks, seen from the south side; the outside waiting area on the inbound platform with skylight and wood planking; interior waiting room with south-facing windows, bathrooms, water fountain and electronic arrivals board.

Six Years in the Making

It took six years and 59 million dollars, but the renovated Ardmore Train Station reopened on Monday, March 23, to the great relief of commuters and nearby businesses. The station and an adjacent 90-bay parking lot that has also reopened serve both SEPTA and AMTRAK riders.

Local businesses are hoping the reopening will take some pressure off their bottom line. The closure impacted foot traffic in the area and cost many of them a significant chunk of their customer base.

The new station lays on a slew of improvements including better lighting; train-level platforms for easier and faster boarding; elevators, ramps and other ADA-compliant features; a temperature-controlled indoor waiting room with south-facing windows, two bathrooms and a water fountain; and an outdoor covered platform with skylights and exposed wooden planking.

Throughout construction SEPTA was burdened with a seemingly endless series of delays, including a pandemic, supply chain disruptions and – just as the work was nearing completion last fall – draconian cuts to SEPTA’s budget and transit services when the state Legislature failed to fully fund its operating budget. A reprieve came only after Gov. Josh Shapiro authorized use of money set aside for capital projects to pay for the agency’s day-to-day expenses.

The station reopening follows the recent presentation of design plans for the transformation of Ardmore’s nearby Schauffele Plaza and an adjacent parking lot into a verdant town square. Both projects are elements of the township’s ambitious Ardmore Master Plan of 2023, which envisions the station area as a regional transit hub, serving as a gateway to Suburban Square, downtown Ardmore and the greater Main Line. Long-range planning includes construction of a multi-modal, muti-use parking garage with ground-level retail and access to national and regional rail service as well as local bus lines.

“Preserving Our Past for the Future”

Ever wonder about the ownership history of your property or your home? Want to know who’s buried in Lower Merion cemeteries? Curious how the Main Line got its name?

You’ll find answers to these burning questions and plenty more at the Lower Merion Academy, where the Lower Merion Historical Society keeps its trove of memorable treasures. The Academy building, ensconced between an elementary and middle school in Bala Cynwyd, was built in 1812 on land bequeathed by Quaker farmer Jacob Jones. Upon his death in 1810, Jones also left 800 pounds to build a school and another 500 pounds to hire teachers “for the free education and instruction of Poor and Orphaned children of both sexes . . . without regard to their religious Profession or Education.” Thus was established the first public school in the township, a quarter century before the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania mandated public schooling for all its residents.

Lower Merion Academy building in an undated photo.

In 1914, after Lower Merion School District built Cynwyd Elementary on part of the original Jones tract, the Academy building was reconstructed to serve as a classroom annex. Then, in 2000, with the expansion of Bala Cynwyd Middle School, the school district had room to spare and subleased a portion of the Academy building to the Lower Merion Historical Society, which partnered with the district to repurpose the building as a special library. Two years later, the building got listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2004 the Academy became the Society’s headquarters.

Today, the thousands of books, maps, photographs, oral histories and artifacts in the Society’s collection are mostly housed on the second floor of the Academy building. Among the many antique maps plotting the development of the township from farmland to upscale suburban enclave, are a dozen or so Pennsylvania Railroad atlases of the Main Line, including three editions depicting every property between Overbrook and Paoli.

The library also includes seven different collections of books, indentures, letters and artifacts, as well as property and burial records.

Early pictures of township landmarks such as the Merion Cricket Club (still going strong) and the Haverford Hotel (long gone) are among thousands of photographs and post cards in the collection.

One of the most poignant pieces of history in the Society’s holdings is the Byerly Collection. It’s a compilation of hundreds of letters between Russ Byerly, a shop teacher at Lower Merion High School, and local residents serving in the Armed Forces during World War II. Byerly‘s students – mostly young men but a few women as well – were about to leave home to fight in an overseas war against the forces of fascism and autocracy. He asked them to write him letters about their experience that he could share with others, and promised to write them back, preserving and promoting the bond between those on the home front and those on the war front. Byerly’s newsletter and hundreds of these back-and-forth missives have been painstakingly conserved and catalogued alphabetically by name of correspondents.

The Byerly Collection is but one example of how the Historical Society has been “Preserving Our Past for the Future” since 1949. Its vast collection of rare and noteworthy items is open to the public on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. or by appointment. Call (610) 664-3216 or email LMHistory@comcast.net. The Academy building is located at 506 Bryn Mawr Avenue in Bala Cynwyd. Here’s a link to the website: https://lowermerionhistory.org/. (NOTE: Lower Merion Academy, as a listed historical building, is not handicapped accessible.)

Go ahead, take a trip down memory lane. Delve into Lower Merion and Narberth’s past and discover the remarkable stories of the people and communities who came before.