Editing Philadelphia Main Line (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of Pennsylvania}}
===17th and 18th centuries===
[[File:Wayne-Station-Pennsylvania-08.27.2010.jpg|thumb|[[Wayne (SEPTA station)|Wayne Station]] on SEPTA's [[Paoli/Thorndale Line]] after renovations in 2010]]
The Main Line region was long part of [[Lenapehoking]], the homeland of the [[Matrilineality|matrilineal]] [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] (the "true people", or "Delaware Indians"). Europeans [[European colonization of the Americas|arrived]] in the 1600s, after [[William Penn]] sold a tract of land, called the [[Welsh Tract]], to a group of [[Welsh people|Welsh]] [[Quakers]] in [[London]] in 1681. This accounts for the many Welsh place names in the area.<ref>{{cite book| title=Overbrook Farms. Its historical background, growth and community life |first=Tello J. |last=D'Apéry| publisher= Magee Press| location=Philadelphia| year=1936| page=4| url=http://www.phillyh2o.org/backpages/PDFs_Misc/OverbrookFarms_Apery_1936.pdf#page=23}}</ref>  However, what might be termed the "Celtification" of many Main Line place and street names occurred long after colonial times. So, for instance, as a marketing device to attract wealthy new residents, the area once awkwardly named Athensville became the more culturally glamorous [[Ardmore, Pennsylvania|Ardmore]] ([[Ardmore (disambiguation)|Ardmore]] is a place name found in Ireland and Scotland) in 1873.

===19th century===
{{Further|Pennsylvania Railroad}}
The [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] built its main line during the early 19th century as part of the [[Main Line of Public Works]] that spanned Pennsylvania. Later in the century, the railroad, which owned much of the land surrounding the tracks, encouraged the development of this picturesque environment by building [[train station|way stations]] along the portion of its track closest to Philadelphia. The benefits of what was touted as "healthy yet cultivated country living" attracted Philadelphia's social [[American upper class|elite]], many of whom had one house in the city and another larger "country home" on the Main Line.

===20th century===
In the 20th century, many wealthy Philadelphia families moved to the Main Line suburbs. Part of the national trend of suburbanization, this drove rapid investment, prosperity, and growth that turned the area into greater Philadelphia's most affluent and fashionable region. Estates with sweeping lawns and towering maples, the [[debutante|débutante]] balls and the [[Merion Cricket Club]], which drew crowds of 25,000 spectators to its matches in the early 1900s, were the setting for the 1940 [[Cary Grant|Grant]]/[[Katharine Hepburn|Hepburn]]/[[James Stewart|Stewart]] motion picture ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]].''<ref>Fodor's Philadelphia & the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, 16th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides), New York, p. 106.</ref>

The railroad placed stops about two minutes apart, starting with Overbrook. The surrounding communities became known by the railroad station names which started at [[Broad Street Station (Philadelphia)|Broad Street Station]] in Center City Philadelphia and went on to 32nd Street Station, replaced by [[30th Street Station]] in 1933, the [[52nd Street station (SEPTA Regional Rail)|52nd Street Station]] (decommissioned), and then the Main Line stations: [[Overbrook station|Overbrook]], [[Merion station|Merion]], [[Narberth station (SEPTA)|Narberth]], [[Wynnewood Station|Wynnewood]], [[Ardmore, Pennsylvania (Amtrak station)|Ardmore]], [[Haverford station (SEPTA Regional Rail)|Haverford]], [[Bryn Mawr (SEPTA Regional Rail station)|Bryn Mawr]], [[Rosemont station (SEPTA)|Rosemont]], [[Villanova Station|Villanova]], [[Radnor station (SEPTA Regional Rail)|Radnor]], [[St. Davids station|St. Davids]], [[Wayne station|Wayne]], [[Strafford (SEPTA station)|Strafford]], [[Devon station|Devon]], [[Berwyn (SEPTA station)|Berwyn]], [[Daylesford station|Daylesford]],  [[Paoli Station|Paoli]], and [[Malvern station (SEPTA)|Malvern]].  At least five of these station buildings, along with the first Bryn Mawr Hotel, were designed by [[Wilson Brothers & Company]]. 

A branch line of the Main Line (currently known as SEPTA's [[Cynwyd Line]]) extended to the communities now known as [[Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania|Bala]] and [[Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania|Cynwyd]] (via Wynnefield Station in Philadelphia), then proceeded to the [[West Laurel Hill Cemetery]], where there was once a station, and crossed back into Philadelphia over the [[Schuylkill River]] via the famous [[Manayunk Bridge]]. Broad Street Station was replaced with [[Suburban Station]] in 1930, and 30th Street Station replaced 32nd Street three years later. Suburban service now extends west of the Main Line to the communities of Exton, Whitford, Downingtown, and Thorndale.<ref name="mainlinetoday">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.mainlinetoday.com/Main-Line-Today/January-2008/COVER-STORY/|title=Where the Tracks Lie|author=Jim Waltzer|date=January 2008|magazine=Main Line Today|access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref>

The railroad line then continued on to [[Chicago]], with major stations at [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]], [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]] and [[Pittsburgh]].  The railroad, since taken over by [[Amtrak]], is still in service, although its route is slightly different from the original. It also serves the [[Paoli/Thorndale Line]] of the [[SEPTA]] Regional Rail system.<ref name="mainlinetoday" />

===Gilded Age===
{{Further|Gilded Age}}
It was not only extremely wealthy people on the Main Line in the period 1880–1920. Wealthy households required large numbers of servants in order to maintain their lifestyle. Often these servants were Black migrants from the South and recent immigrants from Europe. For example, in the 1900 census,<ref>1900 census: Tredyffrin, Chester, Pennsylvania</ref> Tredyffrin Township was 13.5% Black; another 15% had been born in Europe. The two largest countries of origin were Italy and Ireland. The corresponding figures for Lower Merion Township<ref>1900 census: Lower Merion, Montgomery, Pennsylvania</ref> were 6% Black and 15% born in Europe; almost 11% were from Ireland.

Another dimension of this story is illustrated by the community of Mount Pleasant, in Tredyffrin Township just north of Wayne. This is a community that became predominantly Black in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tehistory.org/hqda/html/v12/v12n1p002.html|title=TEHS – Quarterly Archives}}</ref>

As of the [[1920 United States census|1920 census]],<ref>US Census, 1920, Enumeration District 78, Tredyffrin, Eastern Precinct, Chester County, Pennsylvania</ref> most of the Black residents in the Mount Pleasant region, or their parents, had come from the [[Southern United States|South]]. Many of the men in this neighborhood, along Henry Avenue and Mount Pleasant Avenue, were employed by the railroad, as quarry workers, or as chauffeurs and gardeners by private families. The occupations often given for women were cooks and laundresses. This remains a predominantly Black community to the present day.

===21st century===
[[File:MilePostRadnor.JPG|thumb|A mile post on [[U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania|U.S. Route 30]] in front of Anthony Wayne Theater with AT&T tower in background]]
Today, the Main Line is another name for the western suburbs of Philadelphia along [[U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania|Lancaster Avenue (U.S. Route 30)]] and the former main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and extending from the city limits to, traditionally, Bryn Mawr and ultimately [[Paoli, Pennsylvania|Paoli]],<ref>[http://www.trainweb.org/phillynrhs/prr.html Philly NRHS – PRR History]</ref> an area of about {{convert|200|sqmi|km2}}. The upper- and upper middle-class enclave has historically been one of the bastions of "[[old money]]" in the Northeast, along with places like Long Island's [[North Shore (Long Island)|North Shore]] (AKA: "Gold Coast"); [[Westchester County, New York]]; [[Middlesex County, Massachusetts]]; and [[Fairfield County, Connecticut]].

Neighborhoods along the Main Line include nineteenth and early twentieth-century [[Streetcar suburb#Railroad suburbs|railroad suburbs]] and post-war subdivisions, as well as a few surviving buildings from before the suburban development era. The area today is known primarily for several educational institutions as well as robust suburban life.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/intelligent-travel/2013/06/10/beyond-philly-the-main-line-afitz/| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190118144616/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/intelligent-travel/2013/06/10/beyond-philly-the-main-line-afitz/| url-status = dead| archive-date = January 18, 2019| title = Beyond Philly: The Main Line| website = [[National Geographic Society]]| date = 10 June 2013}}</ref>