Cheltenham Township is a

home-rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance ...

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

located in the southeast corner of

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County, colloquially referred to as Montco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,553, making it the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania after Philadel ...

, United States. It borders

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to the south and east, Abington Township and

Jenkintown Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is approximately north of Center City Philadelphia. History The community was named for William Jenkins, a Welsh pioneer settler. The borough was settled in about ...

to the north, and Springfield Township to the west. Cheltenham was founded in 1682, and its early history was defined by mills, which used

Tookany Creek Frankford Creek is a minor tributary of the Delaware River in southeast Pennsylvania. It derived its name from today's Frankford, Philadelphia neighborhood. The stream originates as Tookany Creek at Hill Crest in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvani ...

to power gristmills, manufacture shovels, hammers, and spades, and later carpentry products such as doors, window frames, and shutters. The development of regional railroads in the early 19th century helped power the

American Industrial Revolution The technological and industrial history of the United States describes the emergence of the United States as one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. The availability of land and literat ...

, connecting heavy industry factories in Philadelphia with the

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

s and other mining and heavy manufacturing industries in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

to its north. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Cheltenham transitioned to a community of wealthy industrial and merchant Philadelphians, who built large estates in what was still rural land. The 20th century and

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

established Cheltenham as one of Philadelphia's inner ring and

streetcar suburbs A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, whe ...

, and attracted high density housing construction that continued into the

postwar A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

years and the 21st century. The

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976. Commonly called the Reading Railr ...

tracks in Cheltenham Township were

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

in 1931, which offered faster passenger service. In 1983, following the Reading Railroad's acquisition by

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

, the rail lines became part of the heavily-traveled

SEPTA Main Line The SEPTA Main Line is the section of the SEPTA Regional Rail system from the Zoo Interlocking in West Philadelphia to Lansdale Station in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. The line is long, and serves all 13 SEPTA Regional Rail lines. Service Serv ...

. In the 21st century, historic homes and buildings designed by

Frank Furness Frank Heyling Furness (November 12, 1839 – June 27, 1912) was an American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his diverse, muscular, often inordinately scaled ...

Horace Trumbauer Horace Trumbauer (December 28, 1868 – September 18, 1938) was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of t ...

, and

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

coexist with split level, twin, row, and other forms of high-density housing, along with parks, arboretums, recreational and educational facilities, tree-lined streets, and commercial corridors.

History

image:TookanyCreek.JPG,

in Cheltenham Township contributed to the township's industrialization in the 18th century. image:Twenty-sixth United States Colored Volunteer Infantry, massed. Camp William Penn, Pennsylvania., ca. 1897 - ca. 1897 - NARA - 533126.tif, Soldiers at

Camp William Penn Camp William Penn was a Union Army training camp located in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania from 1863 to 1865 during the American Civil War. The camp was notable for being the first training ground dedicated to African American troops who e ...

17th century

Cheltenham was established in 1682 as part of

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is the most populous of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania and the 24th-most populous county in the nation. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,603,797. It is coextensive with Philadelphia, the nation's ...

by 15

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

from

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, England, including Richard Wall and Tobias Leech, who purchased of land from

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

. Upon creation of

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Montg ...

in 1784, Cheltenham became the smallest township in the new county. Cheltenham Township's 15 original founders were: Cheltenham was fueled by the development of various mills along

. Communities and villages grew around these mills and formed what is now modern Cheltenham neighborhoods. The first gristmill was built by Richard Dungworth in 1690. After changing ownership several times, the Rowland family eventually made the mill the second-largest producer of shovels in the United States. The site was demolished in 1929.

18th century

The U.S. Colored Troops 3rd Regiment were the first to be trained at

. It is tradition that soldiers have a grand parade before leaving for war, but Philadelphia was partially a racist community at that time and the government believed that a parade might cause a riot, so it was cancelled. The leader of the Camp (Colonel Louis Wagner) was furious and made sure the next regiment to come through would have a parade.

19th century

In the late 19th century, Cheltenham established itself as one of the most prominent communities in the Philadelphia area. Railroad tycoon

Jay Cooke Jay Cooke (August 10, 1821 – February 16, 1905) was an American financier who helped finance the Union war effort during the American Civil War and the postwar development of railroads in the northwestern United States. He is generally acknowle ...

was one of the first to build his mansion in Cheltenham. His 200-acre estate was eventually converted to a school in 1883 and was later demolished.

John Wanamaker John Wanamaker (July 11, 1838December 12, 1922) was an American merchant and religious, civic and political figure, considered by some to be a proponent of advertising and a "pioneer in marketing". He served as United States Postmaster General ...

built his mansion Lindenhurst, which was destroyed by a fire in 1907. His second Lindenhurst was destroyed by another fire in 1944. Henry Breyer Jr. eventually bought the land from Wanamaker. Other notable mansions built include Abraham Barker's "Lyndon,"

Cyrus H. K. Curtis Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis (June 18, 1850June 7, 1933) was an American publisher of magazines and newspapers, including the ''Ladies' Home Journal'' and ''The Saturday Evening Post''.Ingham, John N. Biographical Dictionary of American Busine ...

's " Curtis Hall,"

George Horace Lorimer George Horace Lorimer (October 6, 1867 – October 22, 1937) was an American journalist, editor, author and publisher who worked as the editor of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' from 1899 to 1936. During his time as editor, circulation rose from s ...

's "Belgrame," and

John B. Stetson John Batterson Stetson (May 5, 1830 – February 18, 1906) was an American hat maker who invented the cowboy hat in the 1860s. He founded the John B. Stetson Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1865, and it became one of the largest h ...

's "Idro." Perhaps the most famous mansions that still stand to this day are the prominent

Widener family The Widener family is an American family from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded by Peter Arrell Browne Widener (1834–1915) and his wife, Hannah Josephine Dunton (1836–1896), it was once one of the wealthiest families in the Unite ...

mansion

Lynnewood Hall Lynnewood Hall is a 110-room Neoclassical Revival mansion in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. It was designed by architect Horace Trumbauer for industrialist Peter Arrell Brown Widener, Peter A. B. Widener and built between 1897 and 1899. Lynnewood H ...

, the Elkins Estate which was home to William Elkins, and

Grey Towers Castle The Grey Towers Castle is a building on the campus of Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, which is located in Cheltenham Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, United States. The castle was designed by Horace Trumbauer and built starting ...

which was home to William Welsh Harrison. The latter is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

and was designed by famed architect

, who designed many buildings and homes in Cheltenham. As the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

ended and the

hit the country, many of the estates and mansions were destroyed and made way for the building of houses in their place. Many of the communities that were formed in the early stages of Cheltenham remained, and still exist to this day. As the 20th century progressed, many people moved out of the city and into the first community over the city line, Cheltenham. With the population increase, the township's identity evolved from being largely a community of prominent Philadelphians and their mansions to several distinct communities. One of the major groups to come to Cheltenham was Koreans. The original

Koreatown A Koreatown (), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have only been in existence s ...

was located in the Olney section of

, but eventually was moved north to

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gove ...

. Large pockets of Koreans were eventually established in Cheltenham, and also in Upper Darby Township and

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Although there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the n ...

. Other immigrants migrated to Cheltenham, making it one of the most diverse municipalities in the

Delaware Valley The Philadelphia metropolitan area, also known as Greater Philadelphia and informally called the Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia tri-state area, and locally and colloquially Philly–Jersey–Delaware, is a major metropolitan area in the Nor ...

. By the 2000 census, Cheltenham Township was one of two municipalities in Montgomery County that had a non-white population exceeding 20 percent; the other was Norristown. Cheltenham and other early communities in the Philadelphia area, including Upper Darby Township, Haverford,

Lower Merion Lower Merion Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Philadelphia Main Line. The township's name originates with the county of Merioneth in north Wales. Merioneth is an English-language trans ...

, and

have retained their distinct identities while being surrounded by suburbia over the middle to late part of the twentieth century. Cheltenham and Lower Merion are of the few townships in Montgomery County who had a large population prior to the postwar population boom and thus whose majority of houses, communities, and streets have remained virtually unchanged since the early 20th century. Cheltenham has 13 listings on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, the most of any municipality in Montgomery County. Cheltenham became a township of the first class in 1900. In 1976, it passed a home rule charter that took effect in 1977. Cheltenham was the former home of

Cradle of Liberty Council The Cradle of Liberty Council (#525) is a Scouting America council created in 1996 with the merger of the former Philadelphia Council (covering the city and county of Philadelphia) and the former Valley Forge Council (covering Delaware and Montg ...

Breyer Training Area. Henry W. Breyer Jr. used property formerly owned by Cheltenham resident

. It closed in 1990 and is now the home of

Salus University Salus at Drexel University is a private graduate school in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. A part of Drexel University, Salus specializes in degree programs for the health care professions. History The university's founding college, the Pennsylvani ...

. Cheltenham was named a

Preserve America Preserve America is a United States government program, established under President George W. Bush, intended to encourage and support community efforts to preserve and enjoy the country's cultural and natural heritage. As of 2017, more than 900 ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

, a

U.S. government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executi ...

program established to preserve historic communities throughout the United States. It is also a

Tree City USA The Arbor Day Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has more than one million members and has planted more than 500 million trees in neighborhoods, communitie ...

member, a program dedicated to forestry management. In 2013, Cheltenham Township was named a "Classic Town of Greater Philadelphia," for being "one of the most diverse, unique, and livable communities in our region" and "truly at the center of it all."

Books

There are at least four books about Cheltenham Township's history: * ''A History of Cheltenham Township'' by Elaine Rothschild * ''Images of America Cheltenham Township'' by Old York Road Historical Society * ''Remembering Cheltenham Township'' by Donald Scott Sr. * ''Making Marathon: A History of Early Wyncote'' by Thomas J. Wieckowski

Unincorporated districts

Cheltenham Township has ten districts: Glenside, Laverock, Edge Hill, Wyncote, Cedarbrook, Chelten Hills, La Mott, Elkins Park, Melrose Park, and Cheltenham Village.

Township seal

The seal of Cheltenham was adopted from the seal of the namesake and sister city,

, England. It appears on all formal documents, resolutions, proclamations, and all legal records or documents. The pigeon on top of a blue sphere represents the founding of the fountain spa which made

famous. They are placed above a wreath of Oak leaves. The two books represent Education, in particular, the Pates Grammar School and the

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

. The silver cross in the middle represents religion. The two pigeons represent the flock that would gather at the spas. Finally, the Oak tree represents the many Oak trees that line the streets of Cheltenham and promenades.

Geography

The Henry West Breyer Sr. House, Cheltenham Township Municipal Building on

Old York Road Old York Road, originally York Road, with reference to New York, is a roadway that was built during the 18th century to connect Philadelphia with New York City. The road was built along the Raritan tribe, Raritan tribe's Naraticong Trail, als ...

Cheltenham is a residential township in the southeasternmost part of Montgomery County, which is in Southeastern Pennsylvania (locally known as the

). It is one of seven municipalities in Montgomery County that borders Philadelphia and is northeast of the Center City, Philadelphia, Center City. It also borders Abington Township and

on the north side and Springfield Township on the west side. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the township has a total area of , all land. The area consists of rolling hills and also features a few streams flowing through it, most notably the

. The highest elevation is , at the intersection of Sunset and Lindley Roads. The lowest elevation is , in the southeasternmost part of the township, where Tookany Creek flows into Philadelphia. It includes the

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

s of

Arcadia University Arcadia University is a private university in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, with a Glenside mailing address. The university enrolls approximately 3,200 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. The 94-acre (380,000 m2) Glenside cam ...

, Glenside, and Wyncote. Other communities include

Elkins Park Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the northern suburbs outside of Philadelphia, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue rough ...

, Melrose Park, La Mott and Laverock, Edge Hill, and Cedarbrook. All of the communities form a border with

along

Cheltenham Avenue Cheltenham Avenue is a major east-west road in Philadelphia and its suburbs. It is served by SEPTA bus routes, trolleys, regional rail, and subway. Cheltenham Avenue is an unsigned quadrant route in Montgomery County. It serves as the border b ...

Communities in Cheltenham

''Edge Hill, Laverock, and Cedarbrook's exact populations and land area are uncertain.''

Demographics

image:Curtis residence.jpg, The home of

, a longtime Cheltenham resident image:ConnieMackGrave.JPG, The grave of Baseball Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, Cheltenham Township was 56.6% White, 32.8% Black or African-American, 0.2% Native American, 7.7% Asian, and 2.5% were two or more races. 3.9% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. The median income for a family in Cheltenham in the 2010 Census was $72,584. According to the 2010 Census, 30.4% of the townships households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were headed by married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.05. The age distribution was 22.8% under 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who were 65 or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.0 males. In 2022, the median income for a family in Cheltenham was $138,731 and for a married couple family it was $158,275 vs $136,304 and $152,228 respectively for Montgomery County as a whole. In 2022, the median income for a household in the township was $102,589, up from $61,713 in 2010. In 2010, males had a median income of $50,564 versus $36,439 for females. The per capita income for the township in 2010 was $31,424 (~$ in ). About 3.0% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.5% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

Weather

Cheltenham is located on the borderline of the

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa'') and the hot-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfa'') zones. As with most

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

townships, Cheltenham has four distinct seasons. Summers are warm and have occasional heat waves. Autumn is cool and comfortable. Winters are cold, most days hovering around the freezing mark with nights dipping to the teens. Spring is pleasant with often not too much precipitation. The

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

is 7a. The largest snowstorm as of late was in 2010, when the first storm came on February 5–6 and nearly of snow fell. Just two days later, a second storm came and dropped another .

Politics and government

Cheltenham Township does not have a mayor. Rather it is governed by a

Board of Commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States. A county usually has three to five ...

, who are elected one from each of the township's seven wards for a four-year term. A President of the Board is elected by these commissioners for a one-year term to serve as the head of the government. Daniel B. Norris is the current Board President. A school board is in charge of the school district. The township is in the Fourth Congressional District (represented by Rep.

Madeleine Dean Madeleine Dean Cunnane (born June 6, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district since 2019. The district includes almost all of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Mont ...

), and Pennsylvania's 154th Representative District (represented by Rep.

Napoleon Nelson Napoleon J. Nelson, Sr. is an American politician. He is a Democrat representing District 154 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Early life Nelson attended Central High School and graduated in 1998. He then graduated from the Massac ...

). It is also in Pennsylvania's 4th Senatorial District (represented by Sen. Arthur L. Haywood III). Cheltenham is currently a very Democratic heavy community, winning by large margins in each of the past six presidential elections. The only municipality in Montgomery County in the 2012 election that had a higher Democratic voting percentage was Norristown's 82.99%, compared to Cheltenham's 80.85%. Cheltenham is one of only seven Townships in Pennsylvania, and of 29 municipalities in the entire state, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity by executive order.

Commissioners

''The following is a table of the current commissioners of Cheltenham Township along with their Wards and the areas of the township they serve:''

Education

Cheltenham High School, established in 1884 The

Cheltenham Township School District The Cheltenham Township School District is a public school district serving Cheltenham Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The district is one of the 500 public school districts of Pennsylvania. The District encompasses approximately ...

serves the township. There are seven public schools and a number of private schools. Public schools include Cheltenham Elementary School (k-4), Myers Elementary School (k-4), Glenside Elementary School (k-4), Wyncote Elementary School (k-4), Elkins Park School (5–6), Cedarbrook Middle School (7–8), and

Cheltenham High School Cheltenham High School is a public high school in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, located from the border of the city of Philadelphia and from Center City. Serving grades 9 through 12, Chel ...

(9–12

Bishop McDevitt High School (Wyncote, Pennsylvania), Bishop McDevitt High School (9–12) under the jurisdiction of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Archdiocese of Philadelphia () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia originally included all of Pennsylvania and Dela ...

, was a private Catholic high school open from 1958 until its closure in 2021. Other current day private schools include Wyncote Academy, Perelman Jewish Day School, Ancillae-Assumpta Academy, Presentation B.V.M. School and Gospel of Grace Christian School. The section of

in Cheltenham is the former home of

Tyler School of Art The Tyler School of Art and Architecture is part of Temple University, a large, urban, public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Tyler currently enrolls about 1,350 undergraduate students and about 200 graduate st ...

, a conceptual fine-arts school that is part of

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

. Cheltenham is also home to

(formerly known as Beaver College),

(formerly known as The Pennsylvania College of Optometry),

Westminster Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian theology, theological seminary in the Reformed theology, Reformed theological tradition in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was founded by members of the faculty of Prince ...

Gratz College Gratz College is a private Jewish college in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origins to 1856 when banker, philanthropist, and communal leader Hyman Gratz and the Hebrew Education Society of Philadelphia (es ...

and

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) is a Jewish seminary in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. It is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Assoc ...

, the only

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

affiliated with

Reconstructionist Judaism Reconstructionist Judaism () is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish movement based on the concepts developed by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983)—namely, that Judaism as a Civilization, Judaism is a progressively evolving civilization rather ...

. Cheltenham was also the former home of the

Oak Lane Day School Oak Lane Day School, located in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, was an independent school founded in 1916 which served preschool and elementary-aged children, which also operated an eight-week children's camp program in the summer. The school's stated ...

for 44 years until it moved to its current home in Blue Bell.

Infrastructure

Transportation

SEPTA Buses waiting on the docks at the Cheltenham-Ogontz Bus Loop Cheltenham-Ogontz Bus Loop waiting area Elkins Park Fire Company Engine 3

Regional Rail

Cheltenham is a major thoroughfare for

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

Regional Rail Regional rail is a public transport, public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connectin ...

. All trains going north of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City (with the exception of the Trenton Line) pass through Cheltenham. This includes the Airport Line,

Lansdale/Doylestown Line The Lansdale/Doylestown Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line connecting Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia to Doylestown (SEPTA station), Doylestown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Until 1981, SEPTA diesel service, diesel-powered tr ...

West Trenton Line The West Trenton Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail service connecting Center City Philadelphia to the West Trenton section of Ewing Township, New Jersey. Route The West Trenton Line connects Center City Philadelphia with the West Trenton ...

Warminster Line The Warminster Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail commuter rail system. It serves stations between its namesake town, Warminster (SEPTA station), Warminster, and Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia. Half of the route is s ...

and the Fox Chase Line. Following Cheltenham, many of the lines split to their respective destinations, which makes Cheltenham stations some of the busiest in

. The stations carry the names of the neighborhoods in which they are located:

, Glenside, and Melrose Park. Jenkintown-Wyncote and

straddle the township's border.

Buses

Cheltenham is served by many SEPTA City Division buses. Many of the buses originate at the Cheltenham-Ogontz Bus Loop, which is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Ogontz Avenue (

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 ...

) and

. The loop is across the street from

Greenleaf at Cheltenham Greenleaf at Cheltenham, formerly the Cheltenham Square Mall, is an outdoor shopping center and former enclosed shopping mall, which is situated on Cheltenham Avenue between Ogontz Avenue ( PA 309) and Washington Lane on the border of Philadelph ...

, which attracts many shoppers from

North Philadelphia North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as ...

. Several other buses run throughout other major streets in the township, as well as residential streets. The following routes are in Cheltenham: * 6 – connects Cheltenham-Ogontz with Olney Transportation Center via Broad Street. * 16 – connects Cheltenham-Ogontz with Center City, Philadelphia, Center City at 15th and Market (

Suburban Station Suburban Station is an Art Deco office building and underground commuter rail station in Penn Center in Philadelphia. Its official SEPTA address is 16th Street and JFK Boulevard. The station is owned and operated by SEPTA and is one of the t ...

) via Broad Street. * 18 – third busiest bus route in the SEPTA system, connects Cedarbrook Shopping Center with Fox Chase via Olney. * 22 – connects Willow Grove and

Warminster Warminster () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of 18,173 in 2021. The name ''Warminster'' occurs first i ...

to Olney Transportation Center via Easton Road. * 24 – connects Rockledge and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

with

Frankford Transportation Center Frankford Transit Center is a transportation terminal in the Frankford section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was once known as the Bridge-Pratt station before a complete reconstruction in 2003. Frankford Transit Center is th ...

via Huntingdon Pike. * 28 – connects

Fern Rock Transportation Center The Fern Rock Transit Center is a SEPTA rail and bus station located at 10th Street and Nedro Avenue in the Fern Rock, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Fern Rock neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fern Rock serves as the northern terminus an ...

with Torresdale-Cottman via Rhawn Street. * 55 – connects Willow Grove and Doylestown with Olney Transportation Center via Easton and

. * 57 – connects Whitman Plaza with Rising Sun/Olney or Fern Rock via 3rd & 4th Street. * 70 – connects Fern Rock with Frankford-Gregg via Cottman Avenue * 71 – connects Cheltenham-Ogontz with Broad-Erie via West Mount Airy * 77 – connects Chestnut Hill with Roosevelt Boulevard via Township Line Road * 80 – express connect between Horsham and Olney Transportation Center via Limekiln Pike. * 81 – connects Cheltenham-Ogontz with Broad-Erie via Germantown. Cheltenham ranked in the top three municipalities in Montgomery County for percentage of population who uses Bus/Trolley and Regional Rail. In addition, Cheltenham Township partners with the Montgomery County-sponsored Suburban Transit Network, Inc. (TransNet) to subsidize free transportation for residents ages 65 and older anywhere in the Township on Mondays through Fridays from 9 am to 3:30 pm. Taiwanese airline

EVA Air EVA Airways Corporation ( ; ) () is an international airline headquartered in Taoyuan City. It is one of the two largest airlines in Taiwan along with state-owned China Airlines. The privately owned airline operates passenger and dedicated c ...

provides a private bus service to and from

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...

in New York City for customers based in the Philadelphia area. It stops in Cheltenham.

Roads

As of 2019, there were of public roads in Cheltenham Township, of which were maintained by the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT ...

(PennDOT) and were maintained by the township. There are several major roads in Cheltenham Township.

is a major roadway and is an easy access point to many of the other roadways like

Pennsylvania Route 611 Pennsylvania Route 611 (PA 611) is a state highway in eastern Pennsylvania running from Interstate 95 in Pennsylvania, Interstate 95 (I-95) in the southern part of Philadelphia north to Interstate 380 (Pennsylvania), I-380 in Coolbaugh Townshi ...

and

. It is also the border between Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and the City of

, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

ends on the westside at Paper Mill Road in

Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania Wyndmoor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,853 at the 2020 census. Wyndmoor has the same ZIP code, 19038, as the towns of Glenside, North Hills, ...

which is part of Springfield Township.

Pennsylvania Route 73 Pennsylvania Route 73 (PA 73) is a long east–west state highway in southeastern Pennsylvania. It runs from PA 61 near Leesport southeast to the New Jersey state line on the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge over the Delaware River ...

is one of the major roadways in Cheltenham Township, known as 'Church Road' and 'Township Line Road' because it is the border line between Cheltenham and Abington Townships. Pennsylvania Route 309 starts in Cheltenham Township and serves as a major highway. It goes through multiple counties and ends up in PA 29 in Monroe Township in Wyoming County.

Pennsylvania Route 152 Pennsylvania Route 152 (PA 152) is a List of State Routes in Pennsylvania, state highway located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route travels north–south from an interchange with Pennsylvania Route 309, PA 309 loc ...

starts in Cheltenham Township and is known as 'Limekiln Pike.' It ends on the north end of Pennsylvania Route 309 in

Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

starts in Philadelphia and runs through Cheltenham Township as Old York Road. It is the main access road to Willow Grove in Abington and Upper Moreland Townships. Many of the roads in Philadelphia continue into Cheltenham such as Old York Road, Willow Grove Avenue, Limekiln Pike, Ogontz Avenue, Washington Lane, 12th Street, Oak Lane, Oak Lane Road, 2nd Street, Hasbrook Avenue, Cottman Avenue, Central Avenue, Ryers Avenue and Church Road. Cheltenham was one of several communities in Pennsylvania to make the United States Main Street Program. Locations receiving this honor were: * Glenside – Easton Road from

north to Mt. Carmel Avenue, and Glenside Avenue between Limekiln Pike and Keswick Avenue, and Rices Mill Road and Glenside Avenue. * Cheltenham Village – Central and Ryers Avenues between Cottman Avenue and Old Soldiers Road, and Cottman Avenue between Hasbrook Avenue and the Church Road vicinity. *East

– East Cheltenham Avenue from the SEPTA train tracks to Bell Mawr Road. *Elkins Park East – High School Road and Montgomery Avenue area. *Elkins Park West –

between Township Line Road and Chelten Hills Drive, and Church Road between Brookside Road and the train tracks.

Government services

Fire services

The Cheltenham Township Fire Department consists of five all volunteer fire companies. * Glenside Fire Company * La Mott Fire Company * Elkins Park Fire Company * Cheltenham Hook & Ladder Company * Ogontz Fire Company (Closed and decertified by the Township Commissioners on December 16, 2020)

Police

The Cheltenham Police Department was founded in 1903. In 2008, the department responded to over 25,000 calls. With 73 full-time sworn officers in 2016, the department is the third largest in Montgomery County. In 2016, a member of canine unit, Odie, was the top-ranked explosives detection dog in the United States.

Libraries

Cheltenham Township has four libraries, which are the East Cheltenham Free Library, Elkins Park Free Library, La Mott Free Library, and the Glenside Free library.

Notable people

150px, Michael Brecker image:Cyrus Curtis 001.jpg, 150px,

image:George Steinbrenner s life work 13july2010 000120 Reggie Jackson signs with the Yankees.jpg, 150px,

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cal ...

image:Mark Levin.jpg, 150px,

Mark Levin Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American broadcast news analyst, columnist, lawyer, political commentator, radio personality, and writer. He is the host of syndicated radio show '' The Mark Levin Show'', as well as '' Life, ...

150px, Lil Dicky 150px, William Lukens Elkins 150px, Lucretia Mott 150px, Benjamin Netanyahu 150px, Wallace Triplett image:John Wanamaker.jpg, 150px,

*Jay Ansill, composer and folk musician *Eddie Applegate, actor *Samuel Arbuckle, California politician, served on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors * Abraham Barker, soldier during the Civil War, U.S. House of Representatives member * Chris Bartlett, activist and executive director of William Way Community Center * Michael Baylson, Senior Federal Judge on the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Philad ...

* Brandon Bing, professional football player for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

* Robert Hood Bowers, composer and conductor *

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

, saxophonist *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock music, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was ...

, jazz, rock, and R&B trumpeter * Justin Brown, NFL wide receiver *

Michael Stuart Brown Michael Stuart Brown ForMemRS NAS AAA&S APS (born April 13, 1941) is an American geneticist and Nobel laureate. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph L. Goldstein in 1985 for describing the regulation of choles ...

, physician, geneticist, and Nobel laureate * Jim Callahan, NFL player, writer, and member of the

Hall of Fame * Ibraheim Campbell,

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

safety,

Northwestern football The Northwestern Wildcats football team represents Northwestern University as an NCAA Division I college football team and member of the Big Ten Conference based near Chicago in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern began playing fo ...

alumni * George Castle, son of J.R. Castle, professional lacrosse player for the

Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia Wings may refer to any of three distinct professional lacrosse teams: * Philadelphia Wings (1974–1975), a member of the original National Lacrosse League * Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) The Philadelphia Wings were a member of ...

* J.R. Castle, former lacrosse player *

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

, theoretical linguist and political activist *

Laurie Colwin Laurie Colwin (June 14, 1944 – October 24, 1992) was an American writer who wrote five novels, three collections of short stories and two volumes of essays and recipes. She was known for her portrayals of New York society and her food columns in ...

, author and columnist *

Chris Conlin Christopher Howard Conlin (born June 7, 1965) is an American former professional football player and an All-American offensive tackle at Penn State University. College career Conlin was a three-year starter at Penn State and earned All-Amer ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

football player at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, financier – had his "country estate" in Chelten Hills *

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

, comedian *

Rebecca Creskoff Rebecca Creskoff is an American actress. Career Creskoff graduated from the University of Pennsylvania before attending New York University, where she received her master of fine arts degree. She has guest-starred in a number of notable televisi ...

, actress *

, founder of the

Curtis Publishing Company The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the ''Ladies' Home ...

, which published ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' and ''

Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century ...

'' *

Louisa Knapp Curtis Louisa Knapp Curtis (October 21, 1851 – February 25, 1910) (also known as Louisa Knapp) was an American columnist and the first editor of the ''Ladies' Home Journal'' from 1883 to 1889. It became one of the most popular magazines published in th ...

, columnist and first editor of ''Ladies Home Journal'' * Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr., son of banker Fitz Eugene Dixon Sr. and Eleanor Widener (member of the

) *

Tony Donatelli Anthony Donatelli (born June 7, 1984, in Glenside, Pennsylvania) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the Baltimore Blast of the Major Arena Soccer League. Career Youth and College Donatelli played for Hunter Soccer Club a ...

, soccer player for VSI Tampa Bay FC *

William Lukens Elkins William Lukens Elkins (May 2, 1832 – November 7, 1903) was an American businessman and art collector. He began his working career as a grocer in Philadelphia and became a business tycoon with financial interests in oil, natural gas and transpor ...

, prominent role in history of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

and several other railroads. * Josh Fattal, hiker detained in Iran from 2009 to 2011 *

Tom Feeney Thomas Charles Feeney III (born May 21, 1958) is an American politician from Orlando, Florida. He represented . He was defeated in the 2008 election by Democrat Suzanne Kosmas. Early life He was born in Abington, Pennsylvania, a suburb of P ...

, member of Congress, R-FL *

Douglas Feith Douglas Jay Feith (; born July 16, 1953) is an American lawyer who served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from July 2001 until August 2005. He is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. Feith has been descri ...

, former Under-Secretary of Defense *

Stuart F. Feldman Stuart Franklin Feldman (January 20, 1937 – July 11, 2010) was an American lobbyist and social activist who worked in the administrations of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon. He co-founded in 1978 what became Vietnam Vete ...

, co-founder of

Vietnam Veterans of America Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. (VVA) is a national non-profit corporation founded in 1978 in the United States that is committed to serving the needs of all veterans. It is funded without any contribution from any branch of government. VVA is t ...

. *

Marian Filar Marian may refer to: People * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places *Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensland, a town in Australia * Marian, a village in toe comm ...

, Polish-born American-based concert pianist and virtuoso * Glenn A. Fine, Inspector General,

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

* Wilmot E. Fleming, State Senator * Jim Foster,

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

women's basketball coach at St. Joseph's, Vanderbilt,

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, and

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

. * Jon D. Fox, U.S. Congressman * Benjamin Hallowell, first president of the

Maryland Agricultural College The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Universi ...

* Laura Harper, professional basketball player *

Marvin Harrison Marvin Darnell Harrison Sr. (born August 25, 1972) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played his entire 13 year career for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for ...

, NFL wide receiver * Alfred Hunt, first president of the

Bethlehem Iron Company The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

, later to become

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

Trina Schart Hyman Trina Schart Hyman (April 8, 1939 – November 19, 2004) was an American illustrator of children's books. She illustrated over 150 books, including fairy tales and Arthurian legends. She won the 1985 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustra ...

, artist and illustrator * Bill Hyndman, amateur golfer * Clifford C. Ireland, U.S. Representative *

, Hall of Fame baseball player and actor – grew up in township *

Charles Wellford Leavitt Charles Wellford Leavitt Jr. (March 13, 1871 – April 22, 1928) was an American landscape architect, urban planner, and civil engineer who designed everything from elaborate gardens on Long Island, New York (state), New York and New Jersey es ...

, urban planner, architect, and engineer who designed

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the fir ...

and much of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, conservative talk radio host and attorney *

Richard Levinson Richard Leighton Levinson (August 7, 1934 – March 12, 1987) was an American screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link. Life and career Levinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the Univ ...

, Emmy Award-winning writer and producer *

Chad Levitt Chad Aaron Levitt (born November 21, 1975) is an American former NFL football player. He is Jewish, was born in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania, is 6'1", and had a playing weight of 231 pounds. He played high school football, and wrestled and comp ...

, NFL football player *

Franz Lidz Franz Lidz (born September 24, 1951) is an American writer, journalist and former pro basketball executive. A ''New York Times'' archaeology, science and film essayist, who originated the archaeological column "Lost and Found". He's a former '' ...

, journalist whose memoir, ''

Unstrung Heroes ''Unstrung Heroes'' is a 1995 American comedy-drama film directed by Diane Keaton and starring Andie MacDowell, John Turturro, Michael Richards, and Maury Chaykin. The screenplay by Richard LaGravenese is based on the memoir of the same name by ...

'', became a 1995 feature film directed by

Diane Keaton Diane Keaton (née Hall; born January 5, 1946) is an American actress. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Diane Keaton, various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including an Academy Award, a Bri ...

Lil Dicky David Andrew Burd (born March 15, 1988), better known by his stage name Lil Dicky, is an American rapper, singer, comedian, and actor. He first received recognition after the music video for his 2013 song, "Ex-Boyfriend" became a viral video, v ...

, born Dave Burd, rapper and comedian *

William Link William Theodore Link (December 15, 1933 – December 27, 2020) was an American film and television screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with Richard Levinson. Biography Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...

, Emmy Award-winning writer and producer *

Craig Littlepage Craig Littlepage (born August 5, 1951) is an American college athletics administrator and former basketball player and coach. He is the former athletic director at the University of Virginia. He was named to that position in 2001 and has been wi ...

, college administrator and educator *

John Luther Long John Luther Long (January 1, 1861 – October 31, 1927) was an American lawyer and writer best known for his short story "Madame Butterfly", which was based on the recollections of his sister, Jennie Correll, who had been to Japan with her husba ...

, lawyer and writer, best known for short story "

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

" *

Jeff Lorber Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for ''Prototype'' ...

, musician *

, longtime editor of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' *

Bernie Lowe Bernard Lowe (born Lowenthal, November 22, 1917 – September 1, 1993) was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, pianist and bandleader. Born in Philadelphia, Lowe started Teen Records and in 1955 was working with Freddie Bell and t ...

, founder of

Cameo Records Cameo Records was an American record label that flourished in the 1920s. It was owned by the Cameo Record Corporation in New York City. Cameo released a disc by Lucille Hegamin every two months from 1921 to 1926. Cameo Records are also noted f ...

Joel Keith Mann Joel Keith Mann (August 1, 1780 – August 28, 1857) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Jacksonian member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1831 to 1835. Early life Mann was born in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylv ...

, PA House Representative, PA State Senator,

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Mary Ellen Mark Mary Ellen Mark (March 20, 1940 – May 25, 2015) was an American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography. She photographed people who were "away from mainstream society and t ...

, photographer * John Charles Martin, newspaper publisher *

Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of '' Spoon River Anthology'', ''The New Star Chamber and Other Essays'', ''Songs and Satires'', ''The Great V ...

, lawyer and author of the Spoon River Anthology – spent final years and died in Elkins Park * Steve McCarter, member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

, representing the 154th legislative district *

Pat Meehan Patrick Leo Meehan (born October 20, 1955) is a former American Republican Party politician and federal prosecutor from Pennsylvania who represented parts of Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Berks, and Lancaster counties in the United States Hou ...

, US Politician representing

Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district includes all of Carbon, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties, and parts of Monroe County. It has been represented by Republican Ryan Mackenzie since 2025. From March 2003 through 2018, the district inc ...

* Humphrey Morrey, founder of Cheltenham, first

Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Cherelle Parker, who is the first woman to hold the ...

Lucretia Coffin Mott Lucretia Mott (née Coffin; January 3, 1793 – November 11, 1880) was an American Quaker, abolitionist, women's rights activist, and social reformer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position of women in society when she was amongst t ...

, prominent

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

, and

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

) * Robert J. Myers, co-creator of United States Social Security program *

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

, currently serves his third term as Israeli prime minister – lived in township during high school *

Yonatan Netanyahu Yonatan Netanyahu (; March 13, 1946 – July 4, 1976) was an Israeli military officer who commanded Sayeret Matkal during the Entebbe raid. The raid was launched in response to the 1976 hijacking of an international civilian passenger flight ...

, Israeli soldier who died in

Operation Entebbe The Entebbe raid, also known as the Operation Entebbe and officially codenamed Operation Thunderbolt (also retroactively codenamed Operation Yonatan), was a 1976 Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda. It was launched in response to th ...

Iddo Netanyahu Iddo Netanyahu (; born July 24, 1952) is an Israeli physician, author, and playwright. He is the younger brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yonatan Netanyahu, a highly decorated soldier who was killed leading the Ent ...

, Israeli physician, author, playwright, brother of

and

Ron Perelman Ronald Owen Perelman (; born January 1, 1943) is an American banker, businessman, investor, and philanthropist. MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated, his company, has invested in companies with interests in groceries, cigars, licorice, makeup, car ...

, businessman, 26th richest American *

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

, poet – grew up in township * Jesse Purnell, professional baseball player for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

* Ralph J. Roberts, co-founder of

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

, father of current Comcast CEO,

Brian L. Roberts Brian L. Roberts (born June 28, 1959) is an American entrepreneur, business executive and billionaire. He is the chairman and CEO of Comcast, a multinational telecommunications and media company providing entertainment and communications products ...

David Saxon David S. Saxon (February 8, 1920 – December 8, 2005) was an American physicist and educator who served as the President of the University of California as well as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the MIT Corporation, the governing b ...

, physicist, educator and administrator * Ronald M. Shapiro, sports agent, corporate attorney, ''New York Times'' best-selling author *

Robert C. Solomon Robert C. Solomon (September 14, 1942 – January 2, 2007) was a philosopher and business ethicist, notable author, and Distinguished Teaching Professor of Business and Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, where he held a named c ...

, PhD, author and educator *

Jeffrey Solow Jeffrey Solow (born January 3, 1949) is an American cellist. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Solow began cello lessons at the age of 7 with Gregory Aller, the grandfather of Leonard Slatkin, and had further studies with Gabor Rejto. He studied w ...

, virtuoso cellist * Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Senior Associate Dean for Executive Programs and

Lester Crown Lester Crown (born June 7, 1925) is an American businessman and is the son of Chicago financier Henry Crown (died 1990), who created the Material Service Corporation with two brothers in 1919, which merged with General Dynamics in 1959. Crown ...

Professor in the Practice of Management at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

Dan Trachtenberg Dan Trachtenberg (born May 11, 1981) is an American filmmaker and podcast host.Rachel Kurland, Scare Tactics Pay off for Cheltenham's Dan Trachtenberg'. The Jewish Exponent. March 14, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2017. He made his feature film de ...

, filmmaker and

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

host. He directed the 2016 horror-thriller film ''

10 Cloverfield Lane ''10 Cloverfield Lane'' is a 2016 American science fiction horror thriller film directed by Dan Trachtenberg in his directorial debut, produced by J. J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber and written by Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, and Damien Chaze ...

'' * Wallace Triplett, professional football player *

David Uosikkinen David Uosikkinen (born February 11, 1956) is an American drummer and Internet content manager, best known for being a member of rock band The Hooters. Early life Born in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, U.S., Uosikkinen grew up in Levittown, Pennsyl ...

, drummer for rock band

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* Kate Vrijmoet, artist *

, businessman sometimes called the father of the

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

– had a second home in the township * Richard Ward, actor *

Paul Westhead Paul William Westhead (born February 21, 1939) is an American former basketball coach. He was the head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and also coached in the National Collegiate Ath ...

, NBA championship-winning coach, taught English at Cheltenham High School in the 1960s * Thomas Wharton Jr., first

Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

George Dunton Widener George Dunton Widener (June 16, 1861 – April 15, 1912) was an American businessman who died in the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic''. Early life Widener was born in Philadelphia on June 16, 1861. He was the eldest son of Hannah Josephine Du ...

, Philadelphia businessman who died in the sinking of the ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' * George Dunton Widener Jr., businessman, thoroughbred horse racer * Gertrude Widener, thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder *

Harry Elkins Widener Harry Elkins Widener (January 3, 1885 – April 15, 1912) was an American businessman and bibliophile, and a member of the Widener family. His mother built Harvard University's Widener Memorial Library in his memory, after his death on the foun ...

, businessman who died on the ''

''; Harvard University's Widener Memorial Library was built in his honor * Joseph E. Widener, businessman, founding benefactor of

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

Peter A. B. Widener Peter Arrell Browne Widener (November 13, 1834 – November 6, 1915) was an American businessman, art collector, and patriarch of the wealthy Widener family. He began his career as a butcher, ran a successful chain of meat stores, and won a lucra ...

, head of the prominent

* Chris Williams, professional soccer player for

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

George Wilson George Wilson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Balch Wilson (1927–2021), American composer, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan * George Washington Wilson (1823–1893), Scottish photographer * George Christopher (ac ...

collegiate football player * Stan Yerkes, professional baseball player

Fictional residents

Betty Draper Elizabeth "Betty" Draper Francis (formerly Draper, née Hofstadt) is a fictional character played by January Jones on AMC's television series ''Mad Men''. She begins the show married to protagonist Don Draper (Jon Hamm); following a separation ...

, ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

'' character who was raised in the "tiny Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania."

Miscellaneous

*Cheltenham has its own

Public-access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...

cable TV channel, Channel 42 (Cheltenham School District/Township) on

Cablevision and Channel 1960 on Verizon FiOS. *The Fox sitcom ''

'Til Death ''Til Death'' is an American sitcom that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from September 7, 2006, to June 20, 2010. The series was created by husband and wife team Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, who were also the writers and executive pr ...

'' is set in Cheltenham. *The movie '' The in Crowd'' was filmed partly at Cheltenham High School.The In Crowd filming locations
/ref>

Cheltenham, England

Cheltenham is officially twinned with their namesake,

, England.

Points of interest

Pennsylvania Historic Site

Other points of interest

* Elkins Estate * Holy Sepulchre Cemetery

References

External links

* {{authority control 1682 establishments in Pennsylvania Home Rule Municipalities in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1682 Townships in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania

History

17th century

18th century

19th century

Books

Unincorporated districts

Township seal

Geography

Communities in Cheltenham

Demographics

Weather

Politics and government

Commissioners

Education

Infrastructure

Transportation

Regional Rail

Buses

Roads

Government services

Fire services

Police

Libraries

Notable people

Fictional residents

Miscellaneous

Cheltenham, England

Points of interest

Pennsylvania Historic Site

Other points of interest

See also

References

External links