Ambler is a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
in
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 73rd-most populous county in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,55 ...
. It is located approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the
Center City Philadelphia
Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...
.
History
Lenape
The historical territory of the
Lenni Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...
was in the
Delaware River Valley
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before em ...
, in an area reaching from
Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Off the coast on the bay side are two ...
,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
, northward towards the lower
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
in southern New York. The area towards the south, including what is now
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and nearby Ambler, was the home of a linguistic group called the
Unami
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) was formed on 14 August 2003 by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1500 at the request of the Iraqi government to support national development efforts.
UNAMI's mandate includes ...
.
According to tradition, the Lenape established a peace treaty with
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
in the 1680s.
Harmer family
William and George Harmer are listed among the Quakers who emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1682.
In 1716, William and George Harmer purchased a 408-acre tract from William Penn, an area including most of what now is Ambler Borough.
They are credited as the first landholders to actually settle in the area.
William Harmer built a
grist mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
powered by the
Wissahickon Creek
Wissahickon Creek is a tributary of the Schuylkill River in Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties, Pennsylvania.
Wissahickon Creek rises in Montgomery County, runs approximately 23 miles (37 km) passing through and dividing Northwest ...
, "the first commercial venture in the Ambler area".
[ He also built a stone dwelling with casement windows and diamond shaped leaded glass, near what is now the intersection of Butler Pike and Morris Road. After his death in 1731, the house, mill, and property were sold to Morris Morris and his wife Susanna Heath Morris.]
Village of Wissahickon
Residents sought permission from the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
to build roads in the area. The first road built in Ambler, now known as Mt. Pleasant Avenue, was confirmed in 1730. It went from Harmer's Mill to the North Wales Road (now Bethlehem Pike
Bethlehem Pike is a historic long road in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that connects Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It began as a Native American path called the Minsi Trail which developed into a colonial highway called the King ...
).[ Butler Pike was created in 1739, and went through the town, which was known at that time as the Village of Wissahickon, after the Wissahickon Creek.][
The area at the crossroads of Butler and Bethlehem Pike was roughly the village center. It was first known as Gilkey's Corner, named for an inn which was built around 1778 and managed by Andrew Gilkinson (or Gilkeson). After 1878, the area was known as "Rose Valley".][
As of 1790, Jonathan Thomas purchased half an acre of land from Gilkinson and sited a ]tannery
Tanning may refer to:
*Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather
*Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin
**Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun
**Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...
at the intersection, causing a nearby creek to be nicknamed "Tannery Run".[ As of 1810, the tannery was sold by his son, David Thomas, to Joseph Rutter.][ As the "Rose Valley Tannery", it is mentioned as being one of the oldest in the county.][ It later became the property of Alvin Faust and the firm A. D. Faust Sons.]
Increasingly from 1750 to 1850, industries developed throughout the watershed, using local waterways to provide power and carry away waste. The area supported nine mills, producing flour, timber, paper and cloth. They are identified by Dr. Mary Hough as Plumly Mill (first owned by William Harmer), Fulling Mill (owned by Andrew and Mary Ambler), Thomson's Mill, Reiff Mill, Wertsner Mill, Hague Mill, Burk Mill, a Silk Mill, and a Clover and Chopping and Saw Mill.[ However, as steam power replaced water power in the 1870s and 1880s, the mills were unable to compete, and were abandoned.][
]
Mary Johnson Ambler
In 1855, Wissahickon Station became a stop on the North Pennsylvania Railroad line.[ On July 17, 1856, the town was the site of a disastrous ]train accident
Classification of railway accidents, both in terms of cause and effect, is a valuable aid in studying rail (and other) accidents to help to prevent similar ones occurring in the future. Systematic investigation for over 150 years has led to the r ...
: The Great Train Wreck of 1856. The northbound ''Shackamaxon'', a picnic excursion train, and the southbound ''Aramingo'' collided head on, killing 59 people instantly, with another 86 injured. Mary Ambler
Mary Johnson Ambler (March 24, 1805 – August 18, 1868) was an American humanitarian and Fulling, fuller who helped organize the rescue of survivors of the Great Train Wreck of 1856 in Pennsylvania. The borough of Ambler, Pennsylvania, Ambler w ...
, a local Quaker woman, walked two miles to the crash site, bringing medical supplies and directing rescue efforts. She turned her house at Tennis Avenue and Main Street into an impromptu hospital for nursing the survivors. Thirteen years later, in 1869, the railway company renamed the station Ambler in her honor. The post office followed suit, and when the borough was formally incorporated on June 16, 1888, it too took the name of Ambler, in honor of Mary Ambler.[
]
Keasbey and Mattison
In 1881, the Keasbey and Mattison Company, whose business included the manufacture of asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
, moved to Ambler from Philadelphia. Ambler's location along the railroad line was a primary consideration in the location of Keasbey and Mattison Company in Ambler, as it meant that raw asbestos could be easily brought in from Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and finished products sent out to markets. Another consideration was the availability of magnesium carbonate
Magnesium carbonate, (archaic name magnesia alba), is an inorganic salt that is a colourless or white solid. Several hydrated and basic forms of magnesium carbonate also exist as minerals.
Forms
The most common magnesium carbonate forms are ...
, from local dolomite Dolomite may refer to:
*Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral
*Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock
*Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
*Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
mines. The original K&M factory was built as of 1883.
When the company arrived, the town consisted of "70 houses, 250 residents, a drug store, general store and a few other businesses." Keasbey and Mattison invested heavily in the town, bringing in Southern Italian stoneworkers to build 400 houses for workers and managers, as well as offices, an opera house, the Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church, and Mattison's personal estate, Lindenwold Castle. Many of the Italians stayed in Ambler, helping to form its cultural identity. Maida, Calabria
Maida ( Calabrian: ; ( sq, Vina) is an Arbëreshë is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Catanzaro, in the Calabria region of southern Italy. The British routed the French in the Battle of Maida in 1806, as part of the War of the Third Coalit ...
is the town's sister city today. The company also employed African Americans, originally from West Virginia, in the less-desirable wet-processing areas of the asbestos plant. They tended to settle in west and south Ambler.[
By ]World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Ambler was known as the "asbestos capital of the world". However, the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
took its toll, and the company was sold to an English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
concern, Turner & Newall
Turner & Newall was a manufacturing business based in Manchester, United Kingdom. At its peak, it was a constituent of the FT 30 index of leading companies on the London Stock Exchange. As part of their business, the company was one of the first ...
(T&N), in 1934.[ The plant continued to operate under the K&M name.
In England in 1924, doctors reported the first case of ]asbestosis
Asbestosis is long-term inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis, scarring of the human lung, lungs due to asbestos, asbestos fibers. Symptoms may include shortness of breath, cough, wheezing, and chest pain, chest tightness. Complications may include ...
, a chronic illness caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibers. By the 1950s, evidence linking asbestos to cancer was mounting. Richard Doll, an epidemiologist at Turner and Newall, reported (in spite of company pressure) that people exposed to asbestos for 20 or more years had a 10 times higher risk of developing lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
than the general population. Also, a formerly rare and almost always fatal cancer, mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The most common area affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lining ...
, was reported in epidemic proportions near asbestos mines in South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. In the 1960s, the ''British Journal of Industrial Medicine'' indicated that simply living near an asbestos factory, or in an asbestos-insulated building, increased mesothelioma risk.[
Turner & Newall operated the factory until it closed in 1962, then sold the property to CertainTeed Corporation and Nicolet Industries.] By 1973, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), began to restrict the use of asbestos, stopping the sale of insulation spray in 1973, and of solid asbestos insulation in 1975.[ In 1974, Nicolet held a competition, offering a $20,000 prize for the proposal of a "feasible commercial application" for its waste chalk piles.] Nicolet filed for bankruptcy in 1987.[ By 1989, most remaining products were banned, under the 1989 Asbestos Ban and Phaseout Rule. Although the Ban was struck down in 1991, few asbestos-based products remain in the domestic marketplace.][
]Federal-Mogul
Federal-Mogul Corporation is an American developer, manufacturer and supplier of products for automotive, commercial, aerospace, marine, rail and off-road vehicles; and industrial, agricultural and power-generation applications. It was acquire ...
, an American automotive supplier, purchased the remaining assets of Turner & Newall in 1998. As health concerns about asbestos became widely known, it too found itself in Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
bankruptcy due to asbestos liability.
Legacy of asbestos
A 2011 study by the Pennsylvania Department of Health
Pennsylvania Department of Health is a cabinet-level agency in Pennsylvania.
Secretaries
See also
* Health department
* List of Pennsylvania state agencies
State related agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Agencies
*Pennsylvania A ...
reviewed data from 1992 to 2008, and reported that mesothelioma was diagnosed 3.1 times more often in Ambler residents than in other Pennsylvania residents. The higher rates were attributed to previous asbestos exposure in the factories.[
In Ambler, where more than 1.5 million cubic yards of asbestos waste were discarded in a 25-acre area known as the "White Mountains",][ contamination remains an issue.] From 1973 to 1993 the United States EPA oversaw remediation of the BoRit Asbestos waste dump,[ also known as the "Ambler Asbestos Piles".][ It was proposed to the National Priorities List (NPL) as a ]Superfund
Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...
site on October 10, 1984, and formally added to the list as of June 10, 1986. Various remedies were completed as of August 30, 1993 and the site was consequently deleted from the National Priorities List on December 27, 1996, after remediation. The site is reviewed every five years by the EPA.[
Local government has made redevelopment of the sites a priority. A 2005 proposal for a 17-story ]condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
tower was withdrawn after community opposition to the project. One of the concerns was asbestos waste at the location. In 2009 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
designated the proposed development as part of a second Superfund site, the BoRit Asbestos Site.[ The site includes an asbestos waste pile, an 11-acre pond and a former park.] The EPA estimated that it would complete the initial cleanup phase at the BoRit site as of 2015.
In 2013, Heckendorn Shiles Architects and Summit Realty Advisers successfully converted the derelict factory and smokestack of the Keasbey & Mattison company into a LEED Platinum Certified multi-tenant office building, the Ambler Boiler House. The adaptive reuse project won support from the EPA’s Brownfields Program and the EnergyWorks program. The renovations cost $16 million, and have resulted in a building with substantial green features including a grey-water system, geothermal energy, solar panels and a reflective roof system, and high-efficiency glass.
Historic buildings
Dawesfield
Dawesfield, also known as Camp Morris, is an historic country house estate located in Ambler in Whitpain Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The property has eleven contributing buildings, one contributing site, and one contributing stru ...
was added to the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1991. During the American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, "Dawesfield" was the property of James Morris, and was used by General George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
as a headquarters from October 21 to November 20, 1777. James Morris also owned one of the mills in the Ambler area.
The Keasbey-Mattison houses are of interest in part because of the class differences revealed in the construction of different types of houses for workers, supervisors, and administrators, (not to mention Lindenwold Castle, home of Mattison himself.)
File:Dawesfield House from The Morris Family of Philadelphia Volume 4.jpg, Dawesfield House, 1908
File:James Morris Mill from The Morris Family of Philadelphia Volume 4.jpg, Mill belonging to James Morris, Montgomery County, PA, US, 1908
File:Philadelphia Old Historic Paper Mill Wissahickon ca1908.jpg , Remains of Paper Mill, Wissahickon Creek, 1908
File:14f Mary Ambler homestead 1936.TIFF , Mary Ambler homestead, c. 1936
File:Keasbey and Mattison Company, Attached Row House Type, 100-114 South Chestnut Street, Ambler, Montgomery County, PA HABS PA,46-AMB,10R-1.tif , Workman's row houses
File:Keasbey and Mattison Company, Two-Story House, Front Gable Type, Ambler, Montgomery County, PA HABS PA,46-AMB,10T-2.tif, Workman's two-story houses
File:Keasbey and Mattison Company, Supervisor's House, Ambler, Montgomery County, PA HABS PA,46-AMB,10Q-1.tif, Supervisor's house
File:Keasbey and Mattison Company, Supervisor's House, Ambler, Montgomery County, PA HABS PA,46-AMB,10P-1.tif , Supervisor's house
File:Keasbey and Mattison Company, Executive's House, Carriage House, 8 Lindenwold Avenue, Ambler, Montgomery County, PA HABS PA,46-AMB,10M-1.tif, Victorian Executive's carriage house/barn
File:Keasbey and Mattison Company, Executive's House, Ambler, Montgomery County, PA HABS PA,46-AMB,10C-3.tif , Victorian Executive's house
Other buildings of interest, some of which no longer exist, include:
File:Ambler PA Opera House Block Postcard 1906.jpg, Opera House, 1906
File:Ambler PA Post office Postcard 1906.jpg, Post office, 1906
File:Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church Ambler PA 1906.jpg , Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church, 1906
File:Ambler PA 1st Presby PHS14.jpg, First Presbyterian Church of Ambler
Geography
Ambler is located at (40.155099, -75.220160). According to the U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the borough has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
As of the 2010 census, the borough was 76.5% White, 12.8% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 3.8% Asian, 0.3% Native Hawaiian, and 3.4% were two or more races. 7.9% were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry, an almost four-fold increase since the 2000 censu
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 6,426 people, 2,510 households, and 1,598 families residing in the borough. The population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 7,605.8 people per square mile (2,953.7/km2). There were 2,605 housing units at an average density of 3,083.3 per square mile (1,197.4/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 83.29% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 12.03% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.25% Native American, 2.47% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.06% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.50% from other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.40% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 2.13% of the population.
There were 2,510 households, out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.7% were married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.3% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the borough the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 32.5% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $47,014, and the median income for a family was $51,235. Males had a median income of $40,305 versus $30,735 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the borough was $21,688. About 2.4% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.
Politics and government
Ambler has a city manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...
form of government with a mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
and a nine-member borough council. The mayor is Jeanne Sorg. The borough is part of the Fourth Congressional District (represented by Rep. Madeleine Dean
Madeleine Dean Cunnane (born June 6, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district. The district includes almost all of Montgomery County, a suburban county north of ...
), the 148th State House District (represented by Rep. Mary Jo Daley
Mary Jo Daley (born September 16, 1949) is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 148th Legislative District since 2013. Her district is located in Montgomery County, and includes all of Conshohocken ...
) and the 12th State Senate District (represented by Sen. Maria Collett
Maria Collett (born July 21, 1974) is a Greek-born American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who represents the 12th District. Her district includes portions of eastern Montgomery County and southern ...
).
Education
Ambler is served by the Wissahickon School District. In 2004, the Wissahickon School District had 4,535 students. Wissahickon School District has six schools: four elementary, one middle (grades 6-8) and one high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
(grades 9-12).
There is an area Catholic grade school, Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School, in Maple Glen. Our Lady of Mercy was formed in 2012 by the merger of St. Anthony-St. Joseph in Ambler, St. Alphonsus in Maple Glen, and St. Catherine of Siena in Horsham
Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
.
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
, whose main campus is in nearby urban Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, has a suburban campus that is referred to as the Ambler Campus. The main contact address for the campus has an Ambler postal address
An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along w ...
, 580 Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, PA 19002.[ However, it is technically outside the borough limits, in Upper Dublin Township,] and is in the purview of the Upper Dublin Township Police. Temple University Ambler was founded in 1910 as the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women
The Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women was one of the first horticultural schools to be established by and for women in the United States, opening on February 10, 1911. As the second institution to provide women with a practical educat ...
. It offers an array of undergraduate, graduate, and non-credit programs.
Arts and culture
![Exterior of Ambler Theater in Ambler Pennsylvania](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Exterior_of_Ambler_Theater_in_Ambler_Pennsylvania.jpg)
Act II Playhouse
Act II Playhouse is a 130-seat professional theatre founded in 1998. Act II has been nominated for 31 Barrymore Award
The Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre is an annual, nationally recognized award program by Theatre Philadelphia for professional theater productions in the Greater Philadelphia area. Each season culminates in the Fall with an awards cerem ...
s and has won six.
Ambler Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1951, the Ambler Symphony Orchestra currently performs several concerts per year under the musical direction of WRTI
WRTI (90.1 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a service of Temple University. The Temple University Board of Trustees holds the station's license. The broadcast tower used by the s ...
program director Jack Moore.
Ambler Theater
Originally opened in 1927 as a Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
movie theater
A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
, the recently restored and renovated Ambler Theater is a non-profit, community owned movie theater that shows independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
and limited-distribution films.
Post Office
Post office murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
through the Section of Painting and Sculpture
The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury.
Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...
, later called the Section of Fine Arts
The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury.
Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...
, of the Treasury Department. The murals were intended to boost the morale of the American people from the effects of the Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...
by depicting uplifting subjects.Rediscovering the People's Art: New Deal Murals in Pennsylvania’s Post Offices
. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission: 2014. The murals were funded as a part of the cost of the construction or renovation with 1% of the cost set aside for artistic enhancements.[University of Central Arkansas.]
Arkansas Post Office Murals
. In 1939, artist Harry Sternberg
Harry Sternberg (1904–2001), was an American painter, printmaker and educator. He taught at the Art Students League of New York, from 1933 to c. 1966.
Biography Childhood, family life, and education
Sternberg's parents had immigrated from Ru ...
completed the mural ''The Family, Industry and Architecture'' for the town's post office. The artist and his family are the main figures in the painting.
Notable People
* Kathleen "Kay" McNulty Mauchly Antonelli - an Irish computer programmer and one of the six original programmers of the ENIAC, one of the first general-purpose electronic digital computers.
* Herbert Raudenbusch Amey, Jr. - a United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and Silver Star Medal recipient who served in World War II.
* John Di Domenico - Comedian, actor, and writer
* Martin Kilson
Martin Luther Kilson Jr. (February 14, 1931 – April 24, 2019) was an American political scientist. He was the first black academic to be appointed a full professor at Harvard University, where he was later the Frank G. Thomson Professor of Gov ...
- an American political scientist. He was the first black academic to be appointed a full professor at Harvard University
* Tanoh Kpassagnon - American football defensive end for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL)
* John Dallas Cecil Ford - an American Negro league pitcher in the 1910s.
* Michael F. "Mike" Gerber - a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 148th Legislative District from 2005 to 2012.
* Elwood Lewis Richie - a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1906 to 1913. He would play for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Doves and Philadelphia Phillies.
* Curtis Thomas Simmons - an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1947 to 1950 and 1952 to 1967.
* Jane Zhou - an American sloth enthusiast noted for having the world's largest private collection of sloth memorabilia.
* David J. Sloane - an American former professional ice hockey defenseman and right winger. He played in one National Hockey League (NHL) game with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2008–09 season.
* Ruth Williams
Ruth Williams ''Heverly(February 12, 1926 – February 10, 2005) was a pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 139 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.
Ruth Williams debuted ...
- a pitcher who played from 1946 through 1953 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
Transportation
Butler Avenue serves as the main street through Ambler, with the road known as Butler Pike outside the borough. Butler Pike heads southwest to Plymouth Meeting and northeast to Horsham Township. Bethlehem Pike
Bethlehem Pike is a historic long road in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that connects Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It began as a Native American path called the Minsi Trail which developed into a colonial highway called the King ...
runs along the eastern border of Ambler and heads north to Montgomeryville and south to Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Pennsylvania Route 309
Pennsylvania Route 309 (PA 309) is a state highway that runs for 134 miles (216 km) through eastern Pennsylvania. The route runs from an interchange between Pennsylvania Route 611, PA 611 and Cheltenham Avenue on the border of Philadelphia an ...
passes to the east of Ambler on a freeway called the Fort Washington Expressway, with access to Ambler at a southbound exit and northbound entrance at Butler Pike and a northbound exit and southbound entrance at Susquehanna Road. The Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's we ...
(Interstate 276) has an interchange with PA 309 south of Ambler in Fort Washington.
Ambler is served by SEPTA Regional Rail
The SEPTA Regional Rail system is a commuter rail network owned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and serving the Philadelphia Metropolitan area. The system has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in Philadelphi ...
's Lansdale/Doylestown Line
The Lansdale/Doylestown Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line connecting Center City Philadelphia to Doylestown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Until 1981, diesel-powered trains continued on the Bethlehem Branch from Lansdale to Quakertown, Bethle ...
, which provides service to Center City Philadelphia
Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...
, Lansdale
Lansdale is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a densely-populated commuter town, with many residents traveling daily to Philadelphia using SEPTA Regional Rai ...
, Doylestown and other intermediate points, at the Ambler station
Ambler station is a SEPTA Regional Rail station in Ambler, Pennsylvania. It was originally built by the Reading Company as Wissahickon, until being renamed in 1869 after Mary Johnson Ambler, who helped direct the aftermath of the Great Train Wreck ...
, which is a major park-and-ride facility on the line. SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority operates or contracts operations of these routes serving points in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, with a few routes operating into the city of Philadelphia. The Suburb ...
and also serve Ambler, with Route 94 connecting Ambler to the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and the Montgomery Mall and Route 95 connecting Ambler to Willow Grove and Gulph Mills.
Sister City
Ambler is a sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
with:
* Maida, Calabria
Maida ( Calabrian: ; ( sq, Vina) is an Arbëreshë is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Catanzaro, in the Calabria region of southern Italy. The British routed the French in the Battle of Maida in 1806, as part of the War of the Third Coalit ...
, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
References
External links
Borough of Ambler
*
{{authority control
1888 establishments in Pennsylvania
Boroughs in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Categpry:Boroughs in Pennsylvania
Populated places established in 1859