Place:Radnor, Delaware, Pennsylvania, United States

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Radnor Township, often called simply Radnor, is a first class township with home rule status in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2019 United States census estimate, the township population is 31,875. Radnor Township is the largest municipality in Delaware County by land area and the fourth-largest by population, following Upper Darby Township, Haverford Township, and Chester.

Radnor Township is one of the oldest municipalities in Pennsylvania. Radnor Township was founded as a part of the Welsh tract. The original settlers were Welsh-speaking Quakers, led by John Roberts, in an attempt to establish an barony of Wales in Pennsylvania. In about 1681, a group of Welsh Quakers met with William Penn to secure a grant of land in which they could conduct their affairs in their own language. The parties agreed on a tract covering 40,000 acres (160 km²), to be constituted as a separate county whose people and government could conduct their affairs in Welsh. William Penn, an English Quaker, laid out the township in an elongated rectangle located parallel to the Schuylkill River, and the borders of the township have remained unchanged since its founding in 1682.

In 1717, the Welsh Friends built a meeting house on a trail made by the Susquehannock Indians in Radnor Township. Radnor Township grew around the meeting house and remained the center of population of the township for 200 years. The new township was named "Radnor" after the county in Wales called Radnorshire. The influence of the Welsh, some of whom were forced by heavy taxation to sell their land, waned in the latter half of the 18th century. A hint of Radnor's beginnings remain in the names of streets and places evident throughout the community, such as the St. Davids neighborhood, named for Saint David, the patron saint of Wales.^[1]

There are a number colleges and universities located in Radnor Township. The two largest, Villanova University and Cabrini University. The Valley Forge Military Academy and College is located in the neighborhood of Wayne and Eastern University is located in the neighborhood of St. Davids.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Colonial era

In 1681, Richard Davies purchased 5,000 acres from William Penn. These lands were sold to various purchasers and were mainly in the location of current Radnor Township. The township was part of the Welsh Tract and was named for Radnorshire in Wales. In 1717, the Welsh Friends erected a Quaker meetinghouse (Radnor Friends Meetinghouse) near what is now the intersection of Conestoga Road and Sproul Road at the geographic center of the township. The new town, "Radnorville", later known as the community of "Ithan" after nearby Ithan Creek, grew around the meetinghouse. The Welsh influence waned in the late 18th century as many left the area due to high taxation. Stone monuments were erected in various locations throughout the township in the late 20th century to commemorate the township's Welsh heritage.

18th century

In 1794, the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike was built through Radnor Township, making it the first toll road in the United States, and connecting the cities of Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The turnpike was populated by businesses over time and forms the modern Lancaster Avenue. Lancaster Avenue is the largest and busiest roadway in Radnor Township that is not an interstate, and along it lies many notable places, including Villanova University and Downtown Wayne.

The Columbia Railroad, later part of the Pennsylvania Railroad also passed through the township in 1832. As a result, Radnor Township is today recognized among the collection of Philadelphia suburbs known as the Main Line. The Main Line railroad facilities are still used by SEPTA (the Philadelphia area's transit authority) for its Paoli/Thorndale Line and Amtrak.

19th and 20th century

In the 1880s, George W. Childs bought property in the community of Louella in the western part of Radnor Township, renamed the area Wayne, Pennsylvania (after American Revolutionary War hero Anthony Wayne) and organized one of the United States's first suburban developments.

A separate railroad passing through Radnor Township, the Philadelphia and Western Railroad, was opened in the early 20th century. Today, parts of that railroad are still used as SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line, while others have been repurposed into walking trails.

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