Merionshire, the village of Gladwyne was the earliest village in what is now Lower Merion. The native residents, the Lenni Lenape Indians, had cleared fields and made paths that led from the fields to the Schuylkill River.
The settlers’ first dwellings were built into the steep hillsides close to the river, but were quickly replaced by log cabins.
Stone houses and mills soon followed above the river along Mill Creek and some of these structures are in use today as homes and offices, others are skeletal testimony to the industry founded along Mill Creek.
Since water provided the only power to the area, Mill Creek valley had as many as 23 mills with smaller buildings and houses for the workers and their families. These mills were active through the Civil War, but began to be replaced in the late 1800’s by other sources of power. A flood in 1894 destroyed or damaged most of them. Barker’s Mill remained a working mill until WW I.
English and German settlers soon outnumbered the Welsh, the growth of the area greatly sponsored by the building of the Philadelphia and Lancaster Railroad in the 1830’s which became known as the Main Line with towns developing along the line such as Bryn Mawr and Villanova . The village of Gladwyne grew as well, but less affected than other parts of Lower Merion since it was distanced from the railroad. Most of the residents were farmers whose social life was centered around three churches in the village. Following the Civil War, the area was discovered by wealthy Philadelphians who began to purchase the farms and built summer homes, later to be established as year round estates. Farmers and mill workers found employment as caretakers of these vast properties.
The large estates and farms began to breakup early in the 20th century. In 1927 township zoning was established and development of smaller properties accelerated during the 1940’s. The Gladwyne Civic Association was established in 1948 to insure the planning of development to enhance the natural beauty of the area.
Info below added 12/7/97 – thanks Gladwyne Library. Well over a century ago, the “war Office” (most recently occupied by the lamp store on Righters Mill Road) served as headquarters for the Merion Square Whigs. Tammany Hall (the house next to the Library) was home to the Democrats. Records suggest that politics were taken very seriously in the last century, and “disturbances” were common at election time.
One of the important issues of the 1844 election was the possible imposition of a tariff, and the Whigs and Democrats stood on opposite sides of this issue. On the evening of September 7, 1844, ill feeling had mounted, and members of the two parties met in the bar room of the Merion Square Hotel (The Old Guard House Inn) looking for trouble. About 10 P.M., fights exploded in the bar room and fists flew as Whigs and Democrats tangled. Following the melee, Richard Young, who was badly beaten in the brawl, instituted charges of riot, assault and battery. A trial was held, and a voluminous record of the proceedings exists. Who was found guilty? Was Richard Young appeased? Was punishment meted out – if so, to whom? Unfortunately, no record of the verdict has ever been found, and a little piece of Gladwyne history has been lost in the mists of time.
As for real explosions, we must look back to the days just prior to the American Revolution. With colonists in open rebellion against England, the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety issued an urgent appeal for gunpowder in 1775 and offered loans to “such persons as are willing to erect Powder Mills in this Province within 50 Miles of this City”. Records reveal that George Lush (or Losch) advised the Committee in 1776 that he had rented a mill site “on a stream call’d Mill Creek, in the possession of John Roberts” and intended to make gunpowder. For reasons unknown, the Committee lost interest in Lower Merion’s powder mills, and nothing further is known of George Lush.
By 1778, mill owner and Quaker pacifist John Roberts had been hung for treason and his property confiscated. New owners fulfilled George Lush’s intention of making gunpowder, but the venture was fraught with misfortune. In July 1788, an explosion occurred with a force so great that Philadelphians thought it was an earthquake. Further explosions took place in 1804 and 1805. A final explosion in 1806 blew the roof off the mill, took the life of the miller and wrote the final chapter in the Roberts’ powder mill saga. The Quakers of Merion Meeting said it best when they recorded this epitaph: “They now give out makeing”.
Today Gladwyne retains its community feeling and the village is a delightful center of activity. There are four churches, a synagogue, a wonderful library that sponsors many activities (including Internet training), several schools, playgrounds, parks, businesses and retail shops to meet the needs of its residents.
Gladwyne is one of the premier living locations in the Philadelphia area and is convenient to downtown Philadelphia and Wilmington, DE and to the Rt. 202 “High Tech” Corridor.
