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Coordinates: 39°59′36″N 75°15′04″W / 39.99333°N 75.25111°W / 39.99333; -75.25111
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{{About|the community in Pennsylvania|the golf club|Merion Golf Club|the cricket club|Merion Cricket Club|the ocean liner|SS Merion|Merion SEPTA Station|Merion station}}
{{About|the community in Pennsylvania|the golf club|Merion Golf Club|the cricket club|Merion Cricket Club|the ocean liner|SS Merion|Merion SEPTA Station|Merion station}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Merion Station
| name = Merion Station
| native_name =
| native_name =
| other_name = Merion
| other_name = Merion
| settlement_type = [[Unincorporated community]]
| settlement_type = [[census-designated place]]
<!-- images, nickname, motto -->
<!-- images, nickname, motto -->
| image_skyline = Merion Friends Meeting House, 615 Montgomery Avenue (changed from Montgomery Avenue & Meetinghouse Lane), Merion Station (Montgomery County, Pennsylvania).jpg
| image_skyline = Merion Station post office.jpg
| image_caption = [[Merion Friends Meeting House]]
| image_caption = Merion Station post office, which is part of the [[Merion station|SEPTA Regional Rail]] station
| image_flag =
| image_flag =
| image_shield =
| image_shield =
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| elevation_ft = 233
| elevation_ft = 233
<!-- population -->
<!-- population -->
| population_as_of =
| population_as_of = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes =
| population_footnotes =
| population_total =
| population_total = 5741
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_density_sq_mi=
| population_density_sq_mi=
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| utc_offset2_DST =
| utc_offset2_DST =
<!-- postal codes, area code -->
<!-- postal codes, area code -->
| postal_code_type = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code_type = [[ZIP Code]]
| postal_code = 19066
| postal_code = 19066
| area_code_type =
| area_code_type =
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}}
}}


'''Merion Station''' (also known as '''Merion''') is an unincorporated community in [[Pennsylvania]], United States, bordering [[Philadelphia]] to the city's west. It is one of the communities that make up the [[Philadelphia Main Line]], and is part of the municipality of [[Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania|Lower Merion Township]], [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania|Montgomery County]]. Merion Station is known for its grand mansions and for the wealth of its residents.
'''Merion Station''', also known as '''Merion''', is an [[Unincorporated area|unincorporated community]] in [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]]. It borders [[Philadelphia]] to its west and is one of the communities that make up the [[Philadelphia Main Line]]. Merion Station is part of [[Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania|Lower Merion Township]], [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania|Montgomery County]]. The community is known for its grand mansions and for the wealth of its residents.


Merion Station is contiguous to the [[Overbrook, Philadelphia|Overbrook]] and [[Overbrook Park, Philadelphia|Overbrook Park]] neighborhoods of Philadelphia and is also bordered by [[Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania|Lower Merion Township's]] unincorporated communities of [[Wynnewood, Pennsylvania|Wynnewood]] and [[Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania|Bala Cynwyd]], and the borough of [[Narberth, Pennsylvania|Narberth]].
Merion Station is contiguous to the [[Overbrook, Philadelphia|Overbrook]] and [[Overbrook Park, Philadelphia|Overbrook Park]] neighborhoods of Philadelphia and is also bordered by Lower Merion Township's unincorporated communities of [[Wynnewood, Pennsylvania|Wynnewood]] and [[Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania|Bala Cynwyd]] and the borough of [[Narberth, Pennsylvania|Narberth]]. As of the [[2020 United States census]] the population was 5,741.<ref>https://data.census.gov/all?q=Merion%20Station%20CDP,%20Pennsylvania {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
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== Nomenclature ==
== Nomenclature ==
The community was named after [[Merionethshire]], Wales, the native home of a large share of the first settlers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Espenshade |first=A. Howry |title=Pennsylvania place names |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012934249;view=1up;seq=249 |year=1925 |publisher=The Pennsylvania State College |location=State College, PA |page=245 }}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Merion is often referred to as "Merion Station," as this is the place name that the [[United States Postal Service]] recommends using in order to distinguish Merion from other areas in Pennsylvania with similar names.<ref>[http://www.merioncivic.org/faq/faq.htm Merion Civic - Frequently Asked Questions<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> However, the historical name of the town, used by historical figures such as [[Theodore Roosevelt]], is Merion.<ref>http://www.merioncivic.org/about/ModelMerion.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>
The community was named after [[Merionethshire]], Wales, the native home of a large share of the first settlers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Espenshade |first=A. Howry |title=Pennsylvania place names |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012934249;view=1up;seq=249 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011103658/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012934249;view=1up;seq=249 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |year=1925 |publisher=The Pennsylvania State College |location=State College, PA |page=245 }}</ref> Merion is often referred to as "Merion Station," as this is the place name that the [[United States Postal Service]] recommends using in order to distinguish Merion from other areas in Pennsylvania with similar names.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.merioncivic.org/faq/faq.htm |title=Merion Civic Frequently Asked Questions<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=May 31, 2012 |archive-date=March 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325062150/http://www.merioncivic.org/faq/faq.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, the historical name of the town, used by historical figures such as [[Theodore Roosevelt]], is Merion.<ref>http://www.merioncivic.org/about/ModelMerion.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>


== Merion Civic Association ==
== Merion Civic Association ==
[[File:20120405 0625HAZELHURST.jpg|thumb|left|Merion Tribute House (April 2012)]] The Merion Civic Association was organized in 1913 by [[Edward W. Bok]] with the motto "To be Nation right and State right, we must first be Community right." The Merion Civic Association made several important improvements to Merion such as paving, better lighting, cast-iron street signs, better fire and police protection, and planned tree-planting. President Theodore Roosevelt wrote an article in 1917 for Bok's magazine entitled "Model Merion."<ref>Bok, Edward. ''The Americanization of Edward Bok.'' New York, Scribners, 1923.</ref>
[[File:20120405 0625HAZELHURST.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Merion Tribute House (April 2012)]] The Merion Civic Association was organized in 1913 by [[Edward W. Bok]] with the motto "To be Nation right and State right, we must first be Community right." The Merion Civic Association made several important improvements to Merion such as paving, better lighting, cast-iron street signs, better fire and police protection, and planned tree-planting. President Theodore Roosevelt wrote an article in 1917 for Bok's magazine entitled "Model Merion."<ref>Bok, Edward. ''The Americanization of Edward Bok.'' New York, Scribners, 1923.</ref>


After [[World War I]], the Merion Civic Association sought to construct a community center in memorial to the 81 men from Merion Station who served in the armed forces during the conflict.<ref>Joel Fram, "Volunteer of the week" ''The Main Line Times'', (Volume 77, No. 28, July 12, 2007 - July 18, 2007) page 2.</ref> [[Eldridge R. Johnson]], the founder and president of the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]], donated his house on Hazelhurst Avenue to this cause. The house was demolished and a new Merion Tribute House was built on its foundation. It was built with careful attention to detail, with Gothic patterns and local stone. The stone was shaped on site and window mullions all hand cut to match. The Tribute House is still used today for meetings of the Merion Civic Association and is supported by renting the space for parties or meetings. Merion also has its own public elementary school—Merion Elementary of the [[Lower Merion School District]] on South Bowman Avenue.<ref>Jones, Dick. ''The First Three Hundred: The Amazing and Rich History of Lower Merion.'' Ardmore: Lower Merion Historical Society, 2001.</ref>
After [[World War I]], the Merion Civic Association sought to construct a community center in memorial to the 81 men from Merion Station who served in the armed forces during the conflict.<ref>Joel Fram, "Volunteer of the week" ''The Main Line Times'', (Volume 77, No. 28, July 12, 2007 July 18, 2007) page 2.</ref> [[Eldridge R. Johnson]], the founder and president of the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]], donated his house on Hazelhurst Avenue to this cause. The house was demolished and a new Merion Tribute House was built on its foundation. It was built with careful attention to detail, with Gothic patterns and local stone. The stone was shaped on site and window mullions were all hand cut to match. The Tribute House is still used today for meetings of the Merion Civic Association and is supported by renting the space for parties or meetings. Merion also has its own public elementary school—Merion Elementary of the [[Lower Merion School District]] on South Bowman Avenue.<ref>Jones, Dick. ''The First Three Hundred: The Amazing and Rich History of Lower Merion.'' Ardmore: Lower Merion Historical Society, 2001.</ref>


== Institutions ==
== Institutions ==
[[File:Barnes-foundation.png|thumb|upright=1.1|Barnes Foundation in Merion Station, April 2010]]
[[File:Barnes-foundation.png|thumb|left|Barnes Foundation, Merion (April 2010)]] The institution for which Merion Station was singularly world-renowned was the [[Barnes Foundation]], an important art collection of [[Impressionist]] and [[Post-Impressionist]] paintings amassed by drug entrepreneur [[Albert C. Barnes]] that since the 1920s had been housed in a granite mansion with gardens on Latches Lane.<ref>Barnes Foundation. ''Great French Paintings from the Barnes Foundation.'' New York: Alfred Knopf, 1995.</ref> The Barnes collection has been moved to a newly designed museum building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City Philadelphia that includes a replication of Barnes's original gallery in Merion.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/books/sensation.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Andrew Solomon: Sensation. NYT, May 11, 2003] - review of: Anderson, John. ''Art Held Hostage: The Battle Over the Barnes Foundation''. Boston: W. W. Norton, 2003.</ref> The Barnes Foundation Merion grounds remain open to the public as the Arboretum at the Barnes Foundation.
The institution for which Merion Station was singularly world-renowned was the [[Barnes Foundation]], an important art collection of [[Impressionist]] and [[Post-Impressionist]] paintings amassed by drug entrepreneur [[Albert C. Barnes]] that since the 1920s had been housed in a granite mansion with gardens on Latches Lane.<ref>Barnes Foundation. ''Great French Paintings from the Barnes Foundation.'' New York: Alfred Knopf, 1995.</ref> The Barnes collection has been moved to a newly designed museum building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City Philadelphia that includes a replication of Barnes's original gallery in Merion.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/books/sensation.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Andrew Solomon: Sensation. NYT, May 11, 2003] review of: Anderson, John. ''Art Held Hostage: The Battle Over the Barnes Foundation''. Boston: W. W. Norton, 2003.</ref> The Barnes Foundation Merion grounds remain open to the public as the Arboretum at the Barnes Foundation.

In addition to public Merion Elementary, Catholic, all-girls [[Merion Mercy Academy]] and its feeder school, Catholic, coeducational [[Waldron Mercy Academy]], and [[Kohelet Yeshiva High School]], formerly Stern Hebrew High School, are located in Merion. Before its move to Bryn Mawr, [[Akiba Hebrew Academy]] was located in Merion as was [[Episcopal Academy]] prior to its consolidation in Newtown Square.


[[Merion Botanical Park]] is located between Merion Road and the railroad tracks and City Line Ave and Civic Center Drive.
[[Merion Botanical Park]] is located between Merion Road and the railroad tracks and City Line Ave and Civic Center Drive.


==Education==
[[Saint Joseph's University]] straddles City Avenue. It also purchased and repurposed the former [[Episcopal Academy]] campus on the Merion Stationside of the Avenue to contain classroom and student activity buildings.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060109092520/http://www.ea.pvt.k12.pa.us/eax_global.aspx?ptid=386&contentId=613 Agreement Finalized With St. Joseph's University] - August 18, 2005</ref> The University bought and renovated Merion Gardens Apartments, at the northwest corner of the East Wynnewood Road/City Avenue intersection, for student housing.
The zoned school district is the [[Lower Merion School District]]<!--UNI 14160-->.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st42_pa/schooldistrict_maps/c42091_montgomery/DC20SD_C42091.pdf |title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Montgomery County, PA |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]] |access-date=2024-12-11}} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st42_pa/schooldistrict_maps/c42091_montgomery/DC20SD_C42091_SD2MS.txt Text list]</ref> School zoning is as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st42_pa/place/p4248768_merion_station/DC20BLK_P4248768.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Merion Station CDP, PA|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|access-date=2024-12-11}} - Compare to the LMSD boundary maps.</ref> Elementary schools with attendance boundaries covering portions of the CDP include: Merion Elementary School (the majority of the area), Cynwyd Elementary School, and Belmont Hills Elementary School.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lmsd.org/fs/resource-manager/view/11e0ec80-9ee7-4927-b55c-0bc041b3bcb1|title=Elementary School Boundaries|publisher=[[Lower Merion School District]]|access-date=2024-12-11}} - Compare to the CDP map.</ref> Almost all of the CDP is in the zone for Bala Cynwyd Middle School, while a portion is in Welsh Valley Middle School.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lmsd.org/fs/resource-manager/view/2a4ee877-b6a3-45d5-b981-c005a07c0727|title=Middle School Boundaries|publisher=[[Lower Merion School District]]|access-date=2024-12-11}} - Compare to the CDP map.</ref> All of the CDP is in a choice zone where students may choose between [[Harriton High School]] and [[Lower Merion High School]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lmsd.org/fs/resource-manager/view/9a84f4e6-e212-40ac-9a93-058c395869f3|title=High School Boundaries|publisher=[[Lower Merion School District]]|access-date=2024-12-11}} - Compare to the CDP map.</ref>

In addition to the public schools, [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], all-girls [[Merion Mercy Academy]] and its feeder school, Catholic, coeducational [[Waldron Mercy Academy]], and [[Kohelet Yeshiva High School]], formerly Stern Hebrew High School, are located in Merion. Before its move to Bryn Mawr, [[Akiba Hebrew Academy]] was located in Merion as was [[Episcopal Academy]] prior to its consolidation in Newtown Square.

[[Saint Joseph's University]] straddles City Avenue. It also purchased and repurposed the former [[Episcopal Academy]] campus on the Merion Stationside of the Avenue to contain classroom and student activity buildings.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060109092520/http://www.ea.pvt.k12.pa.us/eax_global.aspx?ptid=386&contentId=613 Agreement Finalized With St. Joseph's University] August 18, 2005</ref> The university bought and renovated Merion Gardens Apartments, at the northwest corner of the East Wynnewood Road/City Avenue intersection, for student housing.


== Transportation ==
== Transportation ==
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Merion Station is located in zipcode 19066. [[Lower Merion Township]] is responsible for all governance.
Merion Station is located in zipcode 19066. [[Lower Merion Township]] is responsible for all governance.


According to the [[United States Census, 2000]] Merion Station has 5,951 residents, 93.6% of whom are White; 2.1% are Black or African American; 2.7% are Asian; and 1.3% are Hispanic or Latino. 95.1% have a high school diploma or higher and 76.7% have a bachelor's degree or higher. 9.4% were born in a foreign country. 12.3% speak a language other than English at home, and out of that percentage the number that speak Hebrew at home is 10.1%. The median household income in 1999 was $103,229, and 2.7% of individuals were below the poverty line.
According to the [[2000 United States census|2000 U.S. census]], Merion Station has 5,951 residents, 93.6% of whom are White; 2.1% are Black or African American; 2.7% are Asian; and 1.3% are Hispanic or Latino. 95.1% have a high school diploma or higher and 76.7% have a bachelor's degree or higher. 9.4% were born in a foreign country. 12.3% speak a language other than English at home, and out of that percentage the number that speak Hebrew at home is 10.1%. The median household income in 1999 was $103,229, and 2.7% of individuals were below the poverty line.


==Faith Communities==
==Faith communities==
Merion Station has a comparatively large Jewish population and serves as home to [[Temple Adath Israel of the Main Line]], a [[Conservative Jews|Conservative Jewish]] congregation. Its [[Orthodox Jewish]] population is served by Lower Merion Synagogue on Old Lancaster Road, Aish HaTorah on Montgomery Avenue, Young Israel of the Main Line on Montgomery Avenue, and the Chabad Center of the Main Line, located in the former [[General Wayne Inn]] on Montgomery Avenue. Reform Jews in Merion are likely to travel a mile west up Montgomery Avenue to Main Line Reform Temple-Beth Elohim, to [[Gladwyne]]'s Beth David Congregation, or to [[Congregation Rodeph Shalom (Philadelphia)|Congregation Rodeph Shalom]] on North Broad Street in Center City.
Merion Station has a comparatively large Jewish population and serves as home to [[Temple Adath Israel of the Main Line]], a [[Conservative Jews|Conservative Jewish]] congregation. Its [[Orthodox Jewish]] population is served by Lower Merion Synagogue on Old Lancaster Road, Aish HaTorah on Montgomery Avenue, Young Israel of the Main Line on Montgomery Avenue, and the Chabad Center of the Main Line, located in the former [[General Wayne Inn]] on Montgomery Avenue. Reform Jews in Merion are likely to travel a mile west up Montgomery Avenue to Main Line Reform Temple-Beth Elohim, to [[Gladwyne]]'s Beth David Congregation, or to [[Congregation Rodeph Shalom (Philadelphia)|Congregation Rodeph Shalom]] on North Broad Street in Center City.


== Shopping ==
==Shopping==
The main commercial area of Merion Station is located along Montgomery Avenue east and west of its intersection with Old Lancaster Road and extends into neighboring Bala Cynwyd, officially known as the Merion-Cynwyd Commercial District. It includes restaurants, gift shops and other stores, and local landmarks more than a half century old whose reputations extend well beyond Merion Station's limits, notably Hymie's Merion Delicatessen, The Tavern Restaurant, Murray's Delicatessen, Babis's Pharmacy, Bob Wark's Liberty Service Station, and the Township Cleaners.
The main commercial area of Merion Station is located along Montgomery Avenue east and west of its intersection with Old Lancaster Road and extends into neighboring Bala Cynwyd, officially known as the Merion-Cynwyd Commercial District. It includes restaurants, gift shops and other stores, and local landmarks more than a half century old whose reputations extend well beyond Merion Station's limits, notably Hymie's Merion Delicatessen, The Tavern Restaurant, Murray's Delicatessen, Babis's Pharmacy, Bob Wark's Liberty Service Station, and the Township Cleaners.


== Hospitals ==
==Hospitals ==
Merion Station is served by [[Lankenau Medical Center]], which is part of the larger [[Main Line Health|Main Line Health System]] that includes [[Bryn Mawr Hospital]] and [[Paoli Hospital]]. Lankenau, on Lancaster Avenue (U.S. Route 30) in nearby Wynnewood near the Overbrook border, has traditionally been affiliated with either Jefferson or Hahnemann (now Drexel) colleges of medicine and is always (with Bryn Mawr and Paoli) on the list of the nation's top community hospitals. The Lankenau Hospital campus includes affiliated doctors' office and medical services in Medical Building East, Medical Build West and Saunders House, a rehabilitation facility, is located adjacent to Lankenau Hospital.

Merion Station is served by [[Lankenau Medical Center]] which is part of the larger [[Main Line Health|Main Line Health System]]which includes [[Bryn Mawr Hospital]] and [[Paoli Hospital]]. Lankenau, on Lancaster Avenue (U.S. Route 30) in nearby Wynnewood near the Overbrook border, has traditionally been affiliated with either Jefferson or Hahnemann (now Drexel) colleges of medicine and is always (with Bryn Mawr and Paoli) on the list of the nation's top community hospitals. The Lankenau Hospital campus includes affiliated doctors' office and medical services in Medical Building East, Medical Build West and Saunders House, a rehabilitation facility, is located adjacent to Lankenau Hospital.


==Neighborhoods==
==Neighborhoods==
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==Notable people==
==Notable people==
* [[Edward Bok]], magazine editor and publisher
* [[Albert C. Barnes]], MD, art collector of the 1920s and creator of the Barnes Foundation
* [[Kian R Conley]], World famous boss of everyone, 9 time grammy and oscar winner, 14 time world cup winner, 19 golden boot winner, 23 time champions league winner.
* [[Ella B. Silk]], CEO of Lululemon
* [[Ava S. Wilson]], Famous Dancer on the Grammys
* [[Wendell P. Bowman]], Pennsylvania National Guard major general
* [[Wendell P. Bowman]], Pennsylvania National Guard major general
* [[Kate DiCamillo]], author, spent her early childhood in Merion
* [[Kate DiCamillo]], author
* [[Sophie Drinker]], pioneering musicologist
* [[Sophie Drinker]], musicologist
* [[Ted Eisenberg]], [[Guinness World Record]] holding breast surgeon and professional knife thrower
* [[Ted Eisenberg]], [[Guinness World Record]]-holding breast surgeon and professional knife thrower
* [[Rob Evans (Christian musician)|Rob Evans]], Christian children's songwriter and performer, best known as ''The Donut Man''
* [[Rob Evans (Christian musician)|Rob Evans]], Christian children's songwriter and performer
*[[Murray Gerstenhaber]] (born 1927), mathematician and law professor
*[[Murray Gerstenhaber]], mathematician and law professor
*[[Melissa Klapper]], historian and storyteller
*[[Paul Makler Jr.]] (born 1946), Olympic fencer
*[[Paul Makler Jr.]], Olympic fencer
* [[Chaim Potok]] (1929–2002), author of ''The Chosen'' and ''My Name is Asher Lev'' and other novels, was a long-time Merion resident<ref>Potok, Chaim. A Collection of Five Books by Chaim Potok. New York: Fawcett Crest, 2000.</ref>
* [[Chaim Potok]], author<ref>Potok, Chaim. A Collection of Five Books by Chaim Potok. New York: Fawcett Crest, 2000.</ref>
* [[Milton Shapp]], Governor of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979, resided in Merion
* [[Milton Shapp]], former Pennsylvania governor
* [[Georg Ludwig von Trapp]] and his family, depicted in ''[[The Sound of Music (film)|The Sound of Music]]'', settled temporarily in Merion after escaping Europe<ref>[http://www.trappfamily.com/story The von Trapp Story | Trapp Family Lodge<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* [[Georg Ludwig von Trapp]] and his family, life fictionalized in ''[[The Sound of Music (film)|The Sound of Music]]''<ref>[http://www.trappfamily.com/story The von Trapp Story | Trapp Family Lodge<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


== Points of interest ==
== Points of interest ==
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{{authority control}}
{{authority control}}


[[Category:Pennsylvania Main Line]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Main Line]]
[[Category:Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Unincorporated communities in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Unincorporated communities in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]]

Latest revision as of 03:40, 12 December 2024

Merion Station
Merion
Merion Station post office, which is part of the SEPTA Regional Rail station
Merion Station post office, which is part of the SEPTA Regional Rail station
Merion Station is located in Pennsylvania
Merion Station
Merion Station
Location of Merion Station in Pennsylvania
Merion Station is located in the United States
Merion Station
Merion Station
Merion Station (the United States)
Coordinates: 39°59′36″N 75°15′04″W / 39.99333°N 75.25111°W / 39.99333; -75.25111
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyMontgomery
TownshipLower Merion
Elevation
233 ft (71 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
5,741
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP Code
19066
Area codes610 and 484

Merion Station, also known as Merion, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia to its west and is one of the communities that make up the Philadelphia Main Line. Merion Station is part of Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County. The community is known for its grand mansions and for the wealth of its residents.

Merion Station is contiguous to the Overbrook and Overbrook Park neighborhoods of Philadelphia and is also bordered by Lower Merion Township's unincorporated communities of Wynnewood and Bala Cynwyd and the borough of Narberth. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 5,741.[1]

History

[edit]

Merion Meeting House was built at the present intersection of Montgomery Avenue and Meetinghouse Lane in 1695 by Welsh settlers.

The General Wayne Inn and Merion Friends Meeting House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Merion Friends Meeting House is also a National Historic Landmark.[2]

Nomenclature

[edit]

The community was named after Merionethshire, Wales, the native home of a large share of the first settlers.[3] Merion is often referred to as "Merion Station," as this is the place name that the United States Postal Service recommends using in order to distinguish Merion from other areas in Pennsylvania with similar names.[4] However, the historical name of the town, used by historical figures such as Theodore Roosevelt, is Merion.[5]

Merion Civic Association

[edit]
Merion Tribute House (April 2012)

The Merion Civic Association was organized in 1913 by Edward W. Bok with the motto "To be Nation right and State right, we must first be Community right." The Merion Civic Association made several important improvements to Merion such as paving, better lighting, cast-iron street signs, better fire and police protection, and planned tree-planting. President Theodore Roosevelt wrote an article in 1917 for Bok's magazine entitled "Model Merion."[6]

After World War I, the Merion Civic Association sought to construct a community center in memorial to the 81 men from Merion Station who served in the armed forces during the conflict.[7] Eldridge R. Johnson, the founder and president of the Victor Talking Machine Company, donated his house on Hazelhurst Avenue to this cause. The house was demolished and a new Merion Tribute House was built on its foundation. It was built with careful attention to detail, with Gothic patterns and local stone. The stone was shaped on site and window mullions were all hand cut to match. The Tribute House is still used today for meetings of the Merion Civic Association and is supported by renting the space for parties or meetings. Merion also has its own public elementary school—Merion Elementary of the Lower Merion School District on South Bowman Avenue.[8]

Institutions

[edit]
Barnes Foundation in Merion Station, April 2010

The institution for which Merion Station was singularly world-renowned was the Barnes Foundation, an important art collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings amassed by drug entrepreneur Albert C. Barnes that since the 1920s had been housed in a granite mansion with gardens on Latches Lane.[9] The Barnes collection has been moved to a newly designed museum building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City Philadelphia that includes a replication of Barnes's original gallery in Merion.[10] The Barnes Foundation Merion grounds remain open to the public as the Arboretum at the Barnes Foundation.

Merion Botanical Park is located between Merion Road and the railroad tracks and City Line Ave and Civic Center Drive.

Education

[edit]

The zoned school district is the Lower Merion School District.[11] School zoning is as follows:[12] Elementary schools with attendance boundaries covering portions of the CDP include: Merion Elementary School (the majority of the area), Cynwyd Elementary School, and Belmont Hills Elementary School.[13] Almost all of the CDP is in the zone for Bala Cynwyd Middle School, while a portion is in Welsh Valley Middle School.[14] All of the CDP is in a choice zone where students may choose between Harriton High School and Lower Merion High School.[15]

In addition to the public schools, Catholic, all-girls Merion Mercy Academy and its feeder school, Catholic, coeducational Waldron Mercy Academy, and Kohelet Yeshiva High School, formerly Stern Hebrew High School, are located in Merion. Before its move to Bryn Mawr, Akiba Hebrew Academy was located in Merion as was Episcopal Academy prior to its consolidation in Newtown Square.

Saint Joseph's University straddles City Avenue. It also purchased and repurposed the former Episcopal Academy campus on the Merion Stationside of the Avenue to contain classroom and student activity buildings.[16] The university bought and renovated Merion Gardens Apartments, at the northwest corner of the East Wynnewood Road/City Avenue intersection, for student housing.

Transportation

[edit]

The Paoli/Thorndale Line, originally part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, was built through Merion station in the late 19th century. Most SEPTA trains heading east to Philadelphia or west to Thorndale stop at Merion Station, located in the center of Merion Station.

Other public transportation options in Merion Station include the SEPTA Route 44 buses that travels along Old Lancaster Road and Montgomery Avenue between Ardmore and Center City, some of which stop at the Narberth Station; the SEPTA Route 65 bus that traverses the length of City Line Avenue; and the SEPTA Route 105 bus that runs the entire length of the Main Line along Lancaster Avenue (Route 30) and stops at the Wynnewood Shopping Center. All are within walking distance of Merion Station.

Demographics and government

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Merion Station is located in zipcode 19066. Lower Merion Township is responsible for all governance.

According to the 2000 U.S. census, Merion Station has 5,951 residents, 93.6% of whom are White; 2.1% are Black or African American; 2.7% are Asian; and 1.3% are Hispanic or Latino. 95.1% have a high school diploma or higher and 76.7% have a bachelor's degree or higher. 9.4% were born in a foreign country. 12.3% speak a language other than English at home, and out of that percentage the number that speak Hebrew at home is 10.1%. The median household income in 1999 was $103,229, and 2.7% of individuals were below the poverty line.

Faith communities

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Merion Station has a comparatively large Jewish population and serves as home to Temple Adath Israel of the Main Line, a Conservative Jewish congregation. Its Orthodox Jewish population is served by Lower Merion Synagogue on Old Lancaster Road, Aish HaTorah on Montgomery Avenue, Young Israel of the Main Line on Montgomery Avenue, and the Chabad Center of the Main Line, located in the former General Wayne Inn on Montgomery Avenue. Reform Jews in Merion are likely to travel a mile west up Montgomery Avenue to Main Line Reform Temple-Beth Elohim, to Gladwyne's Beth David Congregation, or to Congregation Rodeph Shalom on North Broad Street in Center City.

Shopping

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The main commercial area of Merion Station is located along Montgomery Avenue east and west of its intersection with Old Lancaster Road and extends into neighboring Bala Cynwyd, officially known as the Merion-Cynwyd Commercial District. It includes restaurants, gift shops and other stores, and local landmarks more than a half century old whose reputations extend well beyond Merion Station's limits, notably Hymie's Merion Delicatessen, The Tavern Restaurant, Murray's Delicatessen, Babis's Pharmacy, Bob Wark's Liberty Service Station, and the Township Cleaners.

Hospitals

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Merion Station is served by Lankenau Medical Center, which is part of the larger Main Line Health System that includes Bryn Mawr Hospital and Paoli Hospital. Lankenau, on Lancaster Avenue (U.S. Route 30) in nearby Wynnewood near the Overbrook border, has traditionally been affiliated with either Jefferson or Hahnemann (now Drexel) colleges of medicine and is always (with Bryn Mawr and Paoli) on the list of the nation's top community hospitals. The Lankenau Hospital campus includes affiliated doctors' office and medical services in Medical Building East, Medical Build West and Saunders House, a rehabilitation facility, is located adjacent to Lankenau Hospital.

Neighborhoods

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The community north of Montgomery Avenue surrounding General Wayne Park is usually referred to as Merion Park and is in the same zipcode as Merion Station. It was built by developer Ralph Madway decades after the closing of the General Wayne Racetrack that once drew thousands of spectators to Merion for horse races on the green now the Park's grounds and bounded by Maplewood and Revere Roads.

Notable people

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Points of interest

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References

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  1. ^ https://data.census.gov/all?q=Merion%20Station%20CDP,%20Pennsylvania [bare URL]
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. ^ Espenshade, A. Howry (1925). Pennsylvania place names. State College, PA: The Pennsylvania State College. p. 245. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021.
  4. ^ "Merion Civic – Frequently Asked Questions". Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  5. ^ http://www.merioncivic.org/about/ModelMerion.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ Bok, Edward. The Americanization of Edward Bok. New York, Scribners, 1923.
  7. ^ Joel Fram, "Volunteer of the week" The Main Line Times, (Volume 77, No. 28, July 12, 2007 – July 18, 2007) page 2.
  8. ^ Jones, Dick. The First Three Hundred: The Amazing and Rich History of Lower Merion. Ardmore: Lower Merion Historical Society, 2001.
  9. ^ Barnes Foundation. Great French Paintings from the Barnes Foundation. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1995.
  10. ^ Andrew Solomon: Sensation. NYT, May 11, 2003 – review of: Anderson, John. Art Held Hostage: The Battle Over the Barnes Foundation. Boston: W. W. Norton, 2003.
  11. ^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Montgomery County, PA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved December 11, 2024. - Text list
  12. ^ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Merion Station CDP, PA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved December 11, 2024. - Compare to the LMSD boundary maps.
  13. ^ "Elementary School Boundaries". Lower Merion School District. Retrieved December 11, 2024. - Compare to the CDP map.
  14. ^ "Middle School Boundaries". Lower Merion School District. Retrieved December 11, 2024. - Compare to the CDP map.
  15. ^ "High School Boundaries". Lower Merion School District. Retrieved December 11, 2024. - Compare to the CDP map.
  16. ^ Agreement Finalized With St. Joseph's University – August 18, 2005
  17. ^ Potok, Chaim. A Collection of Five Books by Chaim Potok. New York: Fawcett Crest, 2000.
  18. ^ The von Trapp Story | Trapp Family Lodge