Bethayres is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States. It is named for Elizabeth Ayres, who lived at 2410 Huntingdon Pike, in a house now owned by

Huntingdon Valley Presbyterian Church Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

. As an unincorporated place, it is served by the

Huntingdon Valley Huntingdon Valley is a village, as well as a suburban mailing address located in Lower Moreland Township, Upper Moreland Township and Abington Township all in Montgomery County, and in small sections of Upper Southampton Township and Lower S ...

post office; for this reason, it is often said to be a section of Huntingdon Valley. Bethayres has a station on the

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

West Trenton Regional Rail line, providing access 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 ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

History

The community got its name when the railroad came to the area in the 1870s. Elizabeth Ayres, a local woman, had a son who worked for

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

. He named the station after his mother, and the community around the station and around the intersection of

Welsh Rd Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

and Huntingdon Pike became known as Bethayres. Bethayres and its northern neighbor,

had separate post offices until they became one post office. Until the name was changed to solely Huntingdon Valley Post Office, Huntingdon Valley-Bethayres was the longest postal name in the United States. On January 3, 1989, the community made headlines when Bucks County resident Glen Alton Barhight stole a SEPTA bus, and began a series of events which resulted in the injury of 15 people, the damage or destruction of 15 cars, and a police chase through five municipalities which ended when the bus crashed into a tree in Bethayres.McGovern, Bob. "30 years ago, man stole a SEPTA bus and took it on a wild ride." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philly Voice
January 3, 2019.

Gallery

File:Elizabeth Ayres House, Bethayres PA 01.JPG, Elizabeth Ayres House. File:Huntingdon Valley Presbyterian Church, Bethayres PA 01.JPG, Huntingdon Valley Presbyterian Church. File:Huntingdon Valley Library, Huntingdon Valley PA 01.JPG, Huntingdon Valley Library. File:Huntingdon Valley Library, Huntingdon Valley PA 03.JPG, Honor Roll (near Huntingdon Valley Library). File:Bethayres PA SEPTA station from outbound platform November 2017.jpg, Bethayres Station.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania