Elkins Park, Pennsylvania

Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue roughly 6 miles (9.7 km) from downtown. It is four station stops from Center City Philadelphia on Septa Regional Rail.[2]

Elkins Park, Pennsylvania

Ogontz
Shoemakertown[1]
Unincorporated community
Neighborhood of Cheltenham Township
Clockwise from top, Wall House, Cheltenham Twinning Fingerpost, Cheltenham EMS Building, Cheltenham Township Municipal Building, Township Police Headquarters sign on Old York Road, Beth Shalom Synagogue
Nickname(s): 
EP
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
Location of Elkins Park in Pennsylvania
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (the United States)
Coordinates: 40°04′37″N 75°07′37″W
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyMontgomery
TownshipsAbington, Cheltenham
CommissionersAnn L. Rappoport (West)
Mitchell Zygmund-Felt (Central)
Brad M. Pransky (West)
Elevation
157 ft (48 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern Standard Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight Time)
ZIP Code
19027
Area code(s)215, 267 and 445

Historically Elkins Park was home to Philadelphia's early 20th century business elite, among them John B. Stetson, John Wanamaker, Henry W. Breyer, Jay Cooke, William Lukens Elkins and Peter A.B. Widener. In the later 20th century it was home to Ralph J. Roberts, co-founder of Comcast, as well as to the Gimbels family,[3] founders of the department store chain.

Today it remains home to many gilded age mansions such as Lynnewood Hall, a 110-room, neoclassical estate, the Elkins Estate presently being restored as a hotel-spa, distillery and events center[4] and the Henry West Breyer Sr. House, the former residence of the ice cream magnate which now serves as the Cheltenham Township Municipal building.[5]

Elkins Park is notable for its varied architectural styles (among them: Modern, American colonial and Dutch colonial, Queen Anne, English Cottage and Tudor[6]) its wealth of homes designed by renowned 19th and 20th century architects such as Horace Trumbauer,[7] Louis Kahn[8] and Robert A.M. Stern[9] and its diversity of religious institutions. With six synagogues it also makes up the foundation of the "Old York Road Corridor" of the Philadelphia area Jewish community, supported by the approximately 25,000 Jews in the Cheltenham-Jenkintown-Abington region.[10]

Points of interest
Lynnewood Hall, a 110-room, derelict Gilded Age mansion

Government

Elkins Park is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the suburbs of Philadelphia. It is represented by Madeleine Dean in Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district.

Schools

The portion in Cheltenham Township is zoned to Cheltenham Township School District.

  • Myers Elementary School
  • Elkins Park Middle School
  • Lynnwood Elementary School (now closed and converted into an administrative building); served as an elementary school from February 1951 through 1977

The portion in Abington Township is zoned to Abington School District.

  • McKinley Elementary School

Private:

Tertiary:

Transportation

Public transportation

Elkins Park is served by SEPTA Regional Rail trains on the Glenside Line, Warminster Line, West Trenton Line and Lansdale/Doylestown Line at the Elkins Park station. The Jenkintown and Melrose Park stations are also found near the neighborhood of Elkins Park, and are served by the same regional rail lines. SEPTA bus routes 28, 55, 70 and 77 also provide service to Elkins Park.

Road

Toward the western end of Elkins Park is Pennsylvania Route 611 (Old York Road). In Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Route 73 runs along Township Line Road, mostly marking the border between Cheltenham and Abington townships.

Locale

Notable people

In the AMC period drama television series Mad Men, the character Betty Draper was raised in the "tiny Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania". During the show's second season, Betty's father has a series of strokes, and is taken to "Elkins Park Hospital"[20]. This would have actually been the former Rolling Hill Hospital, which opened in 1953, and is now known as Mossrehab and Einstein at Elkins Park, part of the Einstein Healthcare Network.

Ann Patchett's 2019 novel The Dutch House is primarily set in Elkins Park.

See also

References
  1. "Elkins Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved April 22, 2008.
  2. "SEPTA | Regional Rail Schedules". septa.org. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  3. Lasky, Julie (June 27, 2018). "$925,000 Homes in Maryland, California and Pennsylvania". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  4. "Elkins Estate set for major renovation". PBS39 WLVT. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  5. "History - Cheltenham Township PA". cheltenhamtownship.org. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  6. McQuate, Bridget. "Foursquare, Years to Go". Old House Journal Magazine. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  7. "Trumbauer, Horace (1868 - 1938) -- Philadelphia Architects and Buildings". philadelphiabuildings.org. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  8. Romero, Melissa (August 15, 2017). "9 homes Louis Kahn designed in and around Philly". Curbed Philly. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  9. Romero, Melissa (September 28, 2016). "Elkins Park apartment designed by a young Robert A.M. Stern asks $399K". Curbed Philly. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  10. "Old York Road". Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  11. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  12. Daniel Arkin, Judge confines Bill Cosby to his Pennsylvania home until he is sentenced, NBC News (April 27, 2018).
  13. Steve Goldstein, Life in academia for a planner of Iraq war, Philadelphia Inqurier (January 29, 2007).
  15. DiStefano, Joseph N. "Raymond G. Perelman, master investor and philanthropist, dies at 101". https://www.inquirer.com. Retrieved January 23, 2020. External link in |website= (help)
  16. correspondent, Michael Elkin. "Brad Raider of Elkins Park: A Hollywood insider who now helps the stars look inward". Bucks County Courier Times. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  17. dmichaels (February 26, 2014). "The Cheltenham Man Behind the Oscar-nominated 'American Hustle'". Jewish Exponent. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  18. Writers, By Michael D. Schaffer and Bill Reed, Inquirer Staff. "A bear-hug farewell to Jan Berenstain, cocreator of the Bear family". https://www.inquirer.com. Retrieved January 23, 2020. External link in |website= (help)
  19. "Ilene Chaiken is a breakout star of 2004". EW.com. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  20. "Mad Men: Season 2, Episode 10 script | Subs like Script". subslikescript.com. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
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