Huntingdon Valley is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

, as well as a suburban mailing address located in Lower Moreland Township,

Upper Moreland Township Upper Moreland Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Its population was 24,015 at the 2010 census. Upper Moreland Township is a primarily residential community located about 13 miles outside Center City Philadelphia. It is ...

and Abington Township all in Montgomery County, and in small sections of Upper Southampton Township and Lower Southampton Township in

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, four ...

, United States, bordering the Fox Chase, Bustleton, and Somerton sections of

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 ...

History

Huntingdon Valley was originally formed from the land given by John Boutcher to his son upon his death.The village of Huntingdon Valley is located along Huntingdon Pike (

Pennsylvania Route 232 Pennsylvania Route 232 (PA 232) is a state highway located in southeastern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 1 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 1 (US 1)/U.S. Route 13 in Pennsylvania, US 13 at ...

). The

Lady Washington Inn Lady Washington Inn is a historic inn and tavern building located at Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was built in three sections in 1761, about 1788–1785, and about 1850–1875. It is a 2 ...

was added to 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 ...

in 1982. The inn is believed to have held first lady,

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 Old Style, O.S. – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, who was the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the ...

while

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

was at

Valley Forge Valley Forge was the winter encampment of the Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. The Valley Forge encampment lasted six months, from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778. It was the t ...

. The region saw early settlements and mills along the

Pennypack Creek Pennypack Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 creek in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It runs southeast through lower Bucks Coun ...

. The Fetter's Mill Village Historic District is located in the valley through which the

flows. The area surrounding the original village was very rural up until the latter half of the 20th century.

Living standards

Originally referred to as Goosetown, Huntingdon Valley boasts some of the highest standards of living in the

Greater Philadelphia 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 ...

area with 90% of the Township being single-dwelling homes and having one of the highest per capita incomes in

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 ...

. Huntingdon Valley (ZIP 19006), Pennsylvania, sales tax rate is 6.00%. Income tax is 3.07%. The income per capita is $45,125, which includes all adults and children. The median household income is $94,961.

Lorimer Park

Located within Huntingdon Valley is Lorimer Park, of woods and meadows connected to Pennypack Park of the Fox Chase section 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 ...

. The park borders Fox Chase Farm, one of the two remaining active farms in

School districts

Students in Huntingdon Valley attend one of several school districts, including Lower Moreland Township School District, comprising Pine Road Elementary School, Murray Avenue School (formerly Lower Moreland Middle School), and Lower Moreland High School; Upper Moreland School District; and

Abington School District Abington School District is a medium-sized, suburban, public school district that serves the borough of Rockledge and Abington Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The district operates one high school, one middle school, and seven e ...

, comprising seven elementary schools, Abington Junior High School, and Abington Senior High School. Also, residents who live in Bucks County attend Centennial School District. The movie

Can't Hardly Wait ''Can't Hardly Wait'' is a 1998 American teen romantic comedy film written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. It stars an ensemble cast including Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green, an ...

was written and directed by Lower Moreland Alumnus

Harry Elfont Harry Elfont (born April 5, 1968) is an American screenwriter and film director. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in nearby Lower Moreland Township, he met his creative partner Deborah Kaplan while they were both enrolled at the ...

and is based on his experience at Lower Moreland High School.

Passenger trains

Huntingdon Valley had regularly scheduled passenger train service until January 14, 1983, via

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 ...

's Fox Chase-Newtown Rapid Transit Line; service ended due to failing diesel train equipment resulting in low ridership. Although rail service was initially replaced with a Fox Chase-Newtown

shuttle bus A shuttle bus is a bus that travels a shorter route in comparison to most bus routes. Typically, shuttle buses travel in both directions between two points. Shuttle buses are designed to transport large groups of people who are all travelling ...

, patronage remained light. The traveling public never saw a bus service as a suitable replacement for a rail service, and the Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus service ended in 1999. With no rail or bus service, residents had to use either the Fox Chase train station or the Bethayres train station when traveling to

Center City Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the ci ...

. In the ensuing years, there was interest in resuming the long-dormant passenger service. In September 2009, the Southampton-based Pennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition (PA-TEC) began discussions with township officials along the railway, as well as SEPTA officials, about the realistic possibility of resuming even minimal passenger service to relieve traffic congestion in the region. All plans for resuming the train service were dropped in 2014 when Montgomery County officials decided to extend the Pennypack Trail over the derelict rail bed.

Valley Swim Club

In July 2009, a nationally publicized incident occurred at the Valley Swim Club in Huntingdon Valley. A group of mostly

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

children from a day care center were removed from the club due to the children's race. On July 15, 2009, the day care center successfully filed a federal

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

lawsuit against the club. In September 2009, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission found

probable cause In United States criminal law, probable cause is the legal standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal and for a court's issuing of a search warrant. One definition of the standar ...

that racism was involved. The swim club filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on November 15, 2009, and has since gone out of business. United States Chief Bankruptcy Judge Steven Raslavich has jurisdiction over the case and the assets of the club are being administered by United States Trustee Terry P. Dershaw. Financial documents were filed on December 1, 2009. The Valley Swim Club was sold at auction for $1.46 million on Thursday, 13 May 2010.

Forest Hills Cemetery

Forest Hills Cemetery in Huntingdon Valley is the resting place of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

figure Jack Agnew, loosely the inspiration of the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, ''

The Dirty Dozen ''The Dirty Dozen'' is a 1967 war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin, with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph Meeker, ...

''.

Notable people

* I. Michael Leitman – Surgeon and Dean for Graduate Medical Education at Mount Sinai Health. * Joseph Thurman Pearson Jr. (1876-1951), painter and PAFA instructor * John Pitcairn Jr. (1841-1916), founder of

Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company PPG Industries, Inc. is an American ''Fortune'' 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By revenue it ...

and builder of Bryn Athyn Cathedral * Lawrence Saint (1885-1961), stained glass artist * Alice Kent Stoddard (1883-1976), portrait and landscape painter * Nancy Spungen (1958-1978), girlfriend of musician

Sid Vicious Simon John Ritchie (10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the second bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. After his death in 1979 at the age of 21, he remai ...

who famously died under mysterious circumstances in the

Hotel Chelsea The Hotel Chelsea (also known as the Chelsea Hotel and the Chelsea) is a hotel at 222 West 23rd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Built between 1883 and 1884, the hotel was designed by Philip Hubert in a styl ...

in 1978

Notes

External links

Lower Moreland Township

Lower Moreland Township School District
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania