Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in

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 * Mon ...

, Pennsylvania. It is split between

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

and Abington Townships in the northern

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

s outside of Philadelphia, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue roughly from Center City. The community is four station stops from Center City on Septa Regional Rail. It was listed as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a 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 counterparts of incorporated places, su ...

prior to the 2020 census. Historically, Elkins Park was home to Philadelphia's early 20th century business elite, among them John B. Stetson,

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 was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a ...

, Henry W. Breyer, Jay Cooke, William Lukens Elkins and Peter A.B. Widener. In the later 20th century, it was home to

Ralph J. Roberts Ralph Joel Roberts (March 13, 1920June 18, 2015) was an American businessman who was the founder of Comcast, serving as its CEO for 46 years. In 2011 he served as founder and chairman emeritus of Comcast's board of directors until his death. E ...

, co-founder of

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

, as well as to the

Gimbels Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the compa ...

family, founders of the department store chain. Today, it remains home to many gilded age mansions such as Lynnewood Hall, a 110-room, neoclassical estate, the

Elkins Estate The Elkins Estate is an American estate located in Elkins Park, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The estate contains seven buildings, the most notable being Elstowe Manor and Chelten House, mansions designed by Horace Trumbauer. Elstowe Manor ...

presently being restored as a hotel-spa, distillery and events center and the

Henry West Breyer Sr. House Henry W. Breyer Sr. House, also known as Haredith and officially known today as the Cheltenham Township Municipal Building, is a historic home located at Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, Elkins Park, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 19 ...

, the former residence of the ice cream magnate which now serves as the Cheltenham Township Municipal building. In 2018, '' New York Magazine'' described Elkins Park as "an old, elegant neighborhood of close-clustered homes". It is notable for its varied architectural styles (among them: Modern,

American colonial American colonial architecture includes several building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States, including First Period English (late-medieval), French Colonial, Spanish Colonial, Dutch Colonial, and Georgian. T ...

and Dutch colonial, Queen Anne,

English Cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

and Tudor) its wealth of homes designed by renowned 19th and 20th century architects such as Horace Trumbauer, Louis Kahn and Robert A.M. Stern and its diversity of religious institutions. With six synagogues it also makes up the foundation of the " Old York Road Corridor" of the Philadelphia area Jewish community, supported by the approximately 25,000 Jews in the Cheltenham- Jenkintown-Abington region. Seasonally Elkins Park hosts a variety of religious and cultural festivals such as the "Taste of Greece" food festival, the Romanian food festival, the Serbian food festival, various Jewish festivals such as a multi-congregation Purim celebration, and arts festivals like "Arts in the Park". Though distinct communities, the neighborhoods of Melrose Park and historic La Mott share a postal code with Elkins Park.

Demographics

Points of interest

* Beth Sholom Synagogue, the only

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

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

, former family summer home of Pennsylvania Railroad Company magnate William L. Elkins
High School Park
an 11-acre park with four distinct ecosystems, was the original grounds of Cheltenham High School and became a township park in 1996 after the building burned down * Lynnewood Hall, a 110-room, Gilded Age mansion * St. Paul's Episcopal Church, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 * Richard Wall House Museum, a house listed on State and National Registers of Historic Places, had the distinction of being the oldest Pennsylvania house in continuous residence until rehabilitation work began, now a museum

Government

Elkins Park is split between

and Abington Townships in the

s outside of Philadelphia. It is represented by Madeleine Dean in Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district.

Schools

The portion in Cheltenham Township is zoned to

Cheltenham Township School District The Cheltenham Township School District is a public school district serving Cheltenham Township Cheltenham Township is a home rule township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Cheltenham's population density ranges from over 10, ...

. *Myers Elementary School (Kindergarten through 5th grade) *Lynnwood Elementary School (now closed and converted into an administrative building); served as an elementary school from February 1951 through 1977 *Elkins Park School (5th and 6th grade) *Cedarbrook Middle School (7th and 8th grade) *Cheltenham High School (9th grade through 12th grade) The portion in Abington Township is zoned to Abington School District. *McKinley Elementary School (Kindergarten through 5th grade) *Abington Middle School (6th grade through 8th grade) *Abington High School (9th grade through 12th grade) Private:
Perelman Jewish Day School
*Mesivta Yesodei Yisroel of Elkins Park
Wyncote AcademyRobert Saligman Middle School
(closed in 2012) *St. James Catholic School (closed) Tertiary: * Alvernia University's Philadelphia campus * Gratz College *

Salus University Salus University is a private university in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, specializing in degree programs for the health care professions. History The university's founding college, the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO), which was founded as ...

*The former campus of the Tyler School of Art, the art school of Temple University. The site is currently being developed as "a center for artists and architects" for Creatio International. * Settlement Music School

Transportation

Public transportation

Elkins Park is served by SEPTA Regional Rail trains on the Glenside Line, Warminster Line, West Trenton Line and Lansdale/Doylestown Line at the Elkins Park station. The Jenkintown and Melrose Park stations are also found near the neighborhood of Elkins Park, and are served by the same regional rail lines. SEPTA bus routes 28, 55, 70 and 77 also provide service to Elkins Park.

Road

Toward the western end of Elkins Park is Pennsylvania Route 611 (Old York Road). In Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Route 73 runs along Township Line Road, mostly marking the border between Cheltenham and Abington townships.

Locale

Notable people

* Wilt Chamberlain, American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who played center and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport's history, lived in Elkins Park * Laurie Halse Anderson, American writer, lived in Elkins Park * Jay Ansill, composer and folk musician *

Jenna Arnold Jenna Arnold (born Jennifer S Arnold on July 1, 1981) is an American activist, entrepreneur and author of Raising Our Hands (2020). She is known as the co-founder of ORGANIZE, for her work at the United Nations and MTV, and was a National Organize ...

, American businessperson, author, and a national organizer for the

Women's March on Washington Women's March may refer to: * Women's March on Versailles, a 1789 march in Paris * Women's Sunday, a 1908 suffragette march in London * Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 march and rally in Washington, D.C. * Women's March (South Africa), a 1956 ma ...

Melissa Bank Melissa Susan Bank (October 11, 1960 – August 2, 2022) was an American author. She published two books—''The Wonder Spot'', a volume of short stories, and ''The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing''—and won the 1993 Nelson Algren Award f ...

, American author, grew up in Elkins Park * Jan Berenstain and Stan Berenstain, writers and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

s best known for creating the children's book series '' The Berenstain Bears'' *

Michael S. 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 choleste ...

, Nobel prize winner in medicine or physiology * Ilene Chaiken, American television producer, director, writer, and founder of Little Chicken Productions * Bill Cosby, Stand-up comedian, actor, and author. * Douglas Feith, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, grew up in Elkins Park * Marvin Harrison, NFL wide-receiver for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

Lil Dicky David Andrew Burd (born March 15, 1988), better known by his stage name Lil Dicky, is an American rapper, comedian, and actor. He came to prominence with the release of the music video for his song "Ex-Boyfriend" in 2013, which became popular w ...

, rapper and comedian * William Lukens Elkins, oil and transport magnate *

William McIntire Elkins William McIntyre Elkins (1882–1947) was an American collector of rare books and Dickensiana. Early life He was born September 3, 1882, in Philadelphia into the wealthy Elkins family. He was the son of George W. Elkins and grandson of William Luke ...

, rare book collector * Mark Levin, radio talk show host * Edgar Lee Masters, poet; spent his final years in Elkins Park * Mary Ellen Mark, photojournalist * Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel * Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli soldier and brother of Benjamin Netanyahu * Raymond Perelman, American businessman and philanthropist *

, co-founder of

; father of current Comcast chief executive officer, Brian L. Roberts * Jeffrey Solow, classical cellist and academic * Richard Suckle, American film producer. Suckle was one of several producers nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

for the 2013 film ''

American Hustle ''American Hustle'' is a 2013 American historical black comedy crime film directed by David O. Russell. It was written by Eric Warren Singer and Russell, inspired by the FBI Abscam operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s. It stars Christia ...

'' * Eleanor Elkins Widener, founder of Widener Library to honor her son *Harry Elkins Widener, grandson of Peter A. B. Widener and namesake of Widener Library at Harvard University; born in Elkins Park and died on the ''RMS Titanic, Titanic'' *Peter A. B. Widener, head of a wealthy and historically prominent family *Bernard Wolfman, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School *Ike Richman, personal attorney for National Basketball Association player Wilt Chamberlain and a co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers

In popular culture

In the AMC (TV channel), AMC historical drama, period drama television series ''Mad Men'', the character Betty Draper was raised in the "tiny Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania". During the Mad Men (season 2), show's second season, Betty's father has a series of strokes, and is taken to "Elkins Park Hospital". This would have actually been the former Rolling Hill Hospital, which opened in 1953, and is now known as MossRehab and Einstein at Elkins Park, part of the Einstein Healthcare Network. Ann Patchett's 2019 novel ''The Dutch House (novel), The Dutch House'' is primarily set in Elkins Park.

References

* George, John (November 10, 2003)
"Einstein Rehabs Hospital"
''Philadelphia Business Journal''. Retrieved December 31, 2015.

External links

Abington Township WebsiteCheltenham Township WebsiteSchool District of Abington Township WebsiteSchool District of Cheltenham Township WebsiteSoutheastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Official Website
{{authority control Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, Unincorporated communities in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania