Millbourne is a borough in Delaware 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. As of the 2020 Census, the population is 1,212. Millbourne borders

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

along

Cobbs Creek Cobbs Creek is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of Darby Creek in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It forms an approximat ...

. The borough was the former site of the Sellers Family's Millbourne Mills. The name of Millbourne Mills comes from the word Mill and "bourne" meaning creek. Millbourne students attend

Upper Darby School District Upper Darby School District (UDSD) is a large public school district of approximately 12,000 students in Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It consists of an area including Upper Darby Township, Clifton Heights borough, an ...

schools. Magisterial courts with presiding jurisdiction for Millbourne are also located in

Upper Darby Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a Home Rule Municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule Township (Pennsylvania), township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the List of United States cities b ...

. Millbourne, at over 17,000 people per square mile, is the most densely populated incorporated place in

, and 24th in the entire

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

History

Millbourne Mills

Millbourne Borough was first occupied by Samuel Sellers. The land was used for living and farming for over half a century. His grandson, John Sellers, purchased plots of land in the borough. Before Sellers' death in 1804, he devised his estates to his sons, Nathan, David, John, and George. Sellers devised a plan of grist and saw-mills to his son John, Jr. These mills were built before 1749. The mills were owned by the elder Sellers and were operated by James Steel. James continued to operate the mill until 1805 when his son, Thomas Steel, took over. Millbourne-Flour-Mill-Millbourne

Thomas Steel purchased the Darby Mill in 1814. In that year, Sellers erected an old part of the now Millbourne Mill. John Jr., after learning the trade of a miller with Thomas Steel, took charge of the new mill. A stream which empties into the Millbourne dam supplying the water to Millbourne Mills, in 1800, was an oil-mill, which continued until 1848. The old gristmill stood above the present mill. In 1820, it was used for grinding

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...

. As late as 1830, Augustus C. Jones was operating the old mill in grinding logwood,

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...

s, etc. It was later discontinued. The new mill, built in 1814, was placed under the charge of John Sellers, Jr., and was fitted with all the improved machinery of that time. Millbourne & Burd Ave

Early 1900s

Between 1906 and 1908 Samuel Shoemaker and John L. Fry saw the possibility of a community in Millbourne. Around 100 residential homes were later built. In 1907 the Market Street “L” was completed for transportation and on July 1, 1908, the Millbourne Station was officially opened. On September 21, 1909, Millbourne Fire House was completed. The Millbourne Police Department was also established within the same time period. On October 12, 1909, Millbourne was separated from Upper Darby Township and was incorporated into a Borough. The first council members included John T. Brosnan, Henry A. Shourds, W. H. Lightner, S. F. Wise, L. E. Upham, and E. J. Hawkins.

Sears Roebuck & Co.

Later, a Sears Roebuck & Co. department store was built in 1925 and was located on a plot of land at the northeastern end of Millbourne on what is commonly thought to be a flood plain for

. The Sears department store, through mercantile tax, provided approximately half of the Borough's revenues. It was relocated to the corner of Walnut Street and 69th Street in

in 1988. The vacant building was demolished in 2000. The relocation caused significant financial difficulties for the borough.

Geography

Typography

Millbourne Borough is located at (39.963735, -75.252615). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the borough has a total area of 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²), all land, making it the smallest municipality in

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the fifth-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the third=smallest in area. Del ...

by area. The Borough is approximately bounded on the north and east by

, and on the south by

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

. Across

to the north lies an extension of Fairmount Park and the Cobbs Creek Golf Course. Darby Creek is located within

southeastern Pennsylvania The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

and flows into the Delaware River. The entire area of the watershed is 78 mi² (202.019 km²) which Milbourne is inside of. The watershed drains through the

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum is a 1000-acre (4.05 km2) National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia and Tinicum Township, Pennsylvania. Adjacent to Philadelphia International Airport, the refuge is designed to the largest ...

and the Delaware River.

Climate

On the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Millbourne has a Humid subtropical climate (Cfa). Millbourne has warm-wet summers and very cold-snowy winters. The temperature usually varies from 26 °F to 86 °F and is rarely above 13 °F or above 94 °F. The hottest month of the year is July with an average high of above 77 °F. The coldest month of the year is January with an average high of below 49 °F.

Landmarks

Cobbs Creek

A common place of interest,

is located near Millbourne. The creek is commonly used for swimming and fishing. The creek is also connected to the Cobbs Creek trail which is used for hiking and biking. The Cobbs Creek Bikeway runs from a corner at the eastern end of Millbourne, 63rd and Market Streets, to approximately 86th and Cobbs Creek Parkway. It is used by walkers and bicyclists as well as occasional all-terrain vehicles. Plans existed to eventually connect this bikeway to the

Philadelphia Sikhi Society

gurdwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

is located on Garden Court. Since the 1990s, it has Millbourne's only place of worship. The

offers prayer services every Sunday and Friday. In 2011, the

raised relief funds for the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...

. Around 1,500 Sikhis from the region visit the

Economy and development

Development

In 2012, a development plan was created for the vacant 18-acre plot of land that originally hosted

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

. It included multiple retail stores and anchors, housing units and apartments, and new townhall. The plan was scrapped in later years. As of 2022, a Service and Logistics Center for the

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is a children's hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with its primary campus located in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia in the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The ...

is being constructed. The new center will create new jobs and will be state of the art. There were plans for a rail-with-trail bike path along SEPTA's Route 100 line from Radnor to 69th Street.

Grants

Throughout the years, Millbourne has received grants to improve the borough. This included grants to improve the heart of the borough, local recycling and leaf collection programs, develop the Service and Logistics Center for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and for planning around Millbourne Station to attract new businesses.

Financially distressed municipality

Millbourne was designated a financially distressed municipality on January 7, 1993, by the state of Pennsylvania. The Borough had a status as a "blighted" community in 2006. Later, the borough was removed from the financially distressed municipality list on October 21, 2014. This was after a successful campaign by former mayor Thomas Kramer. Millbourne hadn't overspent its budget in 5 years and the borough even went as far as to use goats to remove weeds.

Culture

Diversity

In 2010, 30% of Millbourne residents identified themselves as being of

Asian Indian Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred t ...

heritage. The borough is often considered a "

Little India Little India or India Town (less commonly known as Indian Street or India Bazaar) is an Indian or Desi (South Asian) sociocultural environment outside India or the subcontinent. It especially refers to an area with Indian residences and a dive ...

" due to this large Indian presence. Most residents stay for a few years before moving to other places, after they become financially stable. Annually, a festival is held in Millbourne on Wister Drive. The Bangladeshi

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...

of Millbourne is a daylong celebration of Bangladeshi culture filled with music and food. Barbecue, pop-up shops and music are typical at these events.

Art

Millbourne Station is decorated with iridescent peacock feathers. The project, designed by Erland + Kaman in 2009, is called "Paradise." It is an homage to the diverse culture of Millbourne and its people from the Indian sub-continent. There is also a mural located next to the station via a narrow passageway. The mural project was sponsored by

City Year City Year is an American education nonprofit organization founded in 1988. The organization partners with public schools in 29 high-need communities across the US and through international affiliates in the UK and Johannesburg, South Africa. Ci ...

in the 2000s.

Food

A myriad of ethnic grocery stores is also within easy walking distance, allowing residents to buy a wide range of Punjabi foods, Indian foods,

Halal ''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with '' haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification k ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

and

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

, a wide range of Asian greens,

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and Korean-made foods, Central American foods, and mainstream American foods within minutes of their homes. Most of these businesses are located in 69th Street, which is 0.5 miles (0.804672 km) from Millbourne.

Government

Politics

For decades, Millbourne was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

majority. But due to a large arrival of

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

, in recent years Millbourne became Democratic.

Republican majority

Artmont Sr., his son Joseph Artmont Jr., and his Republican allies were replaced with a more diverse array of council members. In the 2000s, Thomas Kramer became the last remaining

in the Milbourne Council. In the 2009 general elections, Thomas Kramer won 126 to 58 from then mayor William Donovan Jr.

Current day

In 2021, Mahabubul Tayub Alam was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Millbourne. A total of 165 votes were cast to his name. The Borough is currently Democratic in terms of registration. As of February 2022, The Millbourne Council members consist of Mayor Mahabubul Tayub Alam, Council President Alauddin Patwary, Vice President MD Nurul Hasan, Councilman Rafikul Islam Jibon, Councilman MD Munsur Ali, and Councilman Mosharraf Hossain.

Public safety

The borough maintains its own police department, which provides frequent coverage of each street. The borough had a fire department until it was shut down in 2019. Millbourne has a Town Watch, a volunteer organization run in cooperation with the police department.

Demographics

As of the 2020 Census, the racial makeup of the borough was 7.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 20%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.1% Native American, 63.2% Asian, 0.2% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 6.2% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 3.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race is 6.5% of the population. 63.8% of the borough's population were foreign-born. In Census 2010, the racial makeup of the borough was 13.7%

, 20.1%

, 0.6% Native American, 56.3% Asian, 0.9% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 4.1% from

, and 4.2% from two or more races.

of any race were 8.5% of the population. 56.5% of the borough's population was foreign-born. In

Census 2000 The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

, there were 943 people, 366 households, and 214 families residing in the borough. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 16,557 people per square mile (5,201.3/km²). There were 420 housing units at an average density of 6,123.7 per square mile (2,316.6/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 21.31%

, 17.18%

, 0.21% Native American, 54.29% Asian, 2.55% from

, and 4.45% from two or more races.

of any race were 6.04% of the population. As of Census 2020, There are 346 households, out of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.6% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 24% had a male householder with no spouse present. The average family size is 3.64. In the borough, the population is spread out. 24.3% under the age of 18, 75.7% 18 years of age or older and 9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. The median income for a household in the borough was $45,800, and the median income for a family was $44,732. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the borough was $15,752. About 7.8% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 9.0% of those under age 18 and 16.9% of those age 65 or over.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads

Roads within the borough are maintained by the Millbourne council. Residents within the borough pay for parking permits. There are also parking meters located alongside Wister Drive and Chatham Road. In Delaware County, motorists are able to pay for parking though

mobile applications A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on des ...

Public transportation

Millbourne station is located at the end of Sellers Ave. The station goes westbound to

69th Street Transportation Center The 69th Street Transportation Center is a SEPTA terminal in the Terminal Square section of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, just west of the city limits of Philadelphia. The terminal serves the Market–Frankford Line, Norristown High Speed Line, an ...

and eastbound to

Frankford Transportation Center Frankford Transportation Center (also known as Frankford Terminal and Bridge-Pratt station) is a transportation terminal in Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was once known as the Bridge Street terminal before a complete re ...

. The station, located on the Market-Frankford Line, was rebuilt and rededicated in mid-2007. There was a

PhillyCarShare PhillyCarShare was a non-profit car-sharing organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania established in 2002. The service was acquired by Enterprise in 2011, and was renamed Enterprise CarShare in 2014. PhillyCarShare has cars available for use 24 h ...

shared car "node" in Millbourne before the company's acquisition by

Enterprise Holdings Enterprise Holdings is an American private holding company headquartered in Clayton, Missouri in Greater St. Louis. It is the parent company of car rental agencies Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent a Car and also operate ...

Utilities

Recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

is available every Wednesday in the borough using specially designed yellow-bins. Regular trash-pick-up is available every Thursday and Friday.

Electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

to the borough is provided by the

PECO Energy Company PECO, formerly the Philadelphia Electric Company, is an energy company founded in 1881 and incorporated in 1929. It became part of Exelon Corporation in 2000 when it merged with Commonwealth Edison's holding company Unicom Corp. The company has ...

. Water Serivices is provided by

Aqua America Essential Utilities (formerly Aqua America and Peoples Natural Gas) is an American utility company that has stakes in Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia The company provides drinking water and wa ...

ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...

Cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

Fiber Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorpora ...

Fixed Wireless Fixed wireless is the operation of wireless communication devices or systems used to connect two fixed locations (e.g., building to building or tower to building) with a radio or other wireless link, such as laser bridge. Usually, fixed wireles ...

and

Satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

internet technology is available in Millbourne. Comcast Cable Communications, LLC provides the majority of cable internet to residents in the area. 5G in the area is commercially available from

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...

, AT&T Mobility, and

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic ( T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland ( T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobil ...

References

External links

Millbourne Borough

Millbourne Borough Police Department
- Archive from December 28, 2013
Niche

- Historical maps of Millbourne
Temple University Libraries
- Historical resources of Millbourne {{authority control __FORCETOC__ Asian-American culture in Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1722 Boroughs in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Little Indias