Place:Upper Darby, Delaware, Pennsylvania, United States

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Upper Darby Township (often shortened to Upper Darby) is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Upper Darby is home to the Tower Theater, a historic music venue on 69th Street built in the 1920s, and is also home to several Underground Railroad sites. Upper Darby's population is diverse, representing over 100 ethnic cultures. The township hosts a range of housing types including densely populated rowhouse sections similar to houses in neighboring West Philadelphia, tree-lined neighborhoods of turn-of-the-century single-family houses and mid-century developments. It is Pennsylvania's sixth most populous municipality.

As of the 2020 census, the township had a total population of 85,681, making it the sixth most populated city or borough in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Reading, and Erie. Upper Darby is 65% residential, 25% commercial, and 8% other.

Because of a home-rule charter adopted in 1974 and effective in 1976,^[1] Upper Darby utilizes a mayor-council form of management, unlike communities that are still under the Pennsylvania Township Code. ("First Class" townships in Pennsylvania have a board of commissioners and are divided into wards, and "Second Class" townships have a board of supervisors, which are usually elected "at-large".)

History

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

Earliest settlement

In 1650, the area that eventually became Upper Darby had been inhabited by the Lenape tribe of Native Americans for thousands of years. The Lenape were part of the larger late Woodland culture, living in longhouses and birch bark homes, and engaging in the type of agriculture featuring companion planting of the Three Sisters (winter squash, maize, and beans).

The first permanent Europeans settlers arrived in late 1653 with a group from New Sweden. Soon after, in 1655, New Sweden was taken over by the Dutch, and then came under English rule in October 1664 as part of England's overall conquest of New Amsterdam. The region was controlled as a possession of the English king until it was included in a large land grant to William Penn in 1681.

Upon Penn's founding of the colony of Pennsylvania the next year, the area was designated as part of the municipality of Darby Township, in Chester County. It was subsequently part of the eastern section of that county which was split off on September 26, 1789, to form Delaware County.

The Lower Swedish Cabin, thought to have been built in 1654, is located on Creek Road along the Darby Creek and is believed by many to be a remnant of the early Swedes, who introduced the log cabin to this area. Today the "Swedish Cabin" is designated with a Pennsylvania Historical Marker. The Cabin is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Division of Upper and Lower Darby

Darby Township originally occupied the area between the current border of Upper Darby to the north, Cobbs Creek and then Darby Creek to the east and south, and Ridley and Springfield townships to the west. This continued until 1736, when, for the convenience of the inhabitants, it was decided at a town meeting to separate the upper part from the lower "in all matters save the levies made for the support of the poor," with the northern part thereafter to be called Upper Darby Township. The exact boundary was not established until 1787, when a petition was presented to the court. The following is an excerpt from this petition:

Industrialization and population growth

The abundance of creeks and streams in the area favored the development of mills, and it was in Upper Darby that some of the first mills in Delaware County could be found. Some notable examples were the Cardington Mills in the Cardington section of the township and the Kent Mills in the Kellyville section. The site of the former Kent Mills is now a recreation area and dog park known as Kent Park.

One notable local mill owner was the Garrett family, who owned mills along the Darby Creek.

In addition to mills, the township was part of a region that was home to rock quarries, factories, and other various industrial concerns. Not only did this industrialization greatly increase the population of the township (from just over 800 in 1800 to almost 5,000 by 1890), it also spurred residential and commercial development and attracted an influx of European immigrants. To serve this influx, churches were founded across the township. One notable example of these is Saint Charles Boromeo, founded by local mill owner Charles Kelly to serve his largely Catholic workforce.

The township's population explosion turned out to be a double-edged sword as beginning in 1885, the township lost large sections of territory as the citizens of more populated neighborhoods petitioned the state to be recognized as separate municipalities. The first of these was the borough of Clifton Heights (incorporated on June 1, 1885), followed by the boroughs of Lansdowne (July 6, 1893), Aldan (September 22, 1893), Millbourne (October 12, 1909), and East Lansdowne (June 3, 1911). (Part of the territory of Aldan was also taken from Darby Township.)

Involvement in the Underground Railroad and the Civil War

Reflecting the Quaker background of its earliest English settlers, Upper Darby was active in the antislavery movement. At least one abolition society existed prior to 1830, and sent a committee of twelve prominent citizens to the 1830 meeting of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia.

Many homes in the area were stops on the Underground Railroad, including Hoodland, the home of abolitionist Thomas Pennock, which was eventually bequeathed to the township's public library and which currently houses the children's library, connected to a much larger modern annex which houses the Main Branch. Another prominent abolitionist, Thomas Garrett, grew up in Upper Darby and Thornfield, his home until the age of 32, still stands at Garrett Road and Maple Avenue in the Drexel Hill neighborhood.

The aforementioned influx of immigrants industrialization attracted not only caused the township's population to explode, it gave Upper Darby a role in the Civil War. Two regiments from Upper Darby took part in the fighting in the American Civil War. Most notable was the 106th, which was involved in important battles such as the Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Gettysburg.

Commercial and residential development

In 1907, the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company recognized the potential for growth in the township and extended the Market-Frankford elevated train line (or "El") from just west of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia to 69th and Market Streets in Upper Darby. The El terminus at 69th Street Station became a busy terminal serving several trolley and light rail lines into the suburbs, as well as numerous city and suburban bus routes. Commuter traffic spurred the development of the 69th St. shopping district in the 1920s by John McClatchy, and made Upper Darby the second busiest shopping area in the region, second only to Center City Philadelphia. The business district is noted for many fine examples of Art Deco style buildings. A population explosion in the township followed, and by the 1960s Upper Darby ranked as the 7th most populous municipality in Pennsylvania.

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