Radnor is a community which straddles
Montgomery and
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
Counties,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, United States. It is located approximately 13 miles west 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 ...
, in the
Main Line suburbs. The community was named after Radnor, in
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
.
Radnor is home to
Cabrini University and a large office complex by the
train station
A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...
. The southern portion, by Lancaster Avenue, was rapidly commercialized in the 1980s, and it is currently one of suburban Philadelphia's premier office destinations.
History
The community of Radnor was founded in 1686 at the
Radnor Friends Meetinghouse, which was located on Conestoga Road, a bypass of Lancaster Avenue connecting
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
and
Bryn Mawr. During the Revolutionary War, the meetinghouse was used as an outpost for General George Washington's Continental Army. In 1872, the
Pennsylvania Railroad's Main Line was constructed, which briefly passed through the southern section of Radnor. A
station serving the town was established at King of Prussia Road, approximately one mile south of the Meetinghouse.
For much of its history, Radnor was primarily a farming community, and relatively undeveloped, even past
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 ...
. Its town center, around the Meetinghouse, remained quaint and secluded from denser development seen in the nearby communities of Wayne and Bryn Mawr. However, starting in the 1980s, Radnor started to see great residential and commercial development, mostly stemming from suburban development for
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 ...
. Additionally, office parks began to spring up in the southern portion of the community, by the train station, primarily due to safety concerns in Center City. Some big name firms, such as
Lincoln National Corporation, moved their headquarters from Center City to Radnor, and currently the community is best known for its financial hub around the train station.
In the 1970s, highway planners envisioned the
Blue Route expressway passing through Radnor, approximately .3 mile east of the Meetinghouse. The project faced severe backlash from the Radnor community, as what was initially known as a quiet, rural feeling town would have a lot more noise. Despite attempts to quell the project, the community eventually lost, and the Blue Route opened in the 1990s on the initial alignment.
Radnor is where the SEPTA
Paoli/Thorndale Line and
Norristown High Speed Line intersect. However, the stations are not located at the intersection requiring a small bus ride to transfer. There are plans to build a transfer station where the two lines intersect. A shopping district is also planned here. Work is expected to commence in 2022.
Geography
Like many Main Line communities, Radnor straddles
Montgomery and
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
Counties. The Delaware County portion is very affluent, and was developed prior to World War II. However, both the Montgomery County portion and the extreme southern portion (south of the train line), were developed much later.
Radnor does not have a traditional developed town center, though there are a couple shops and restaurants immediately north of the train station on King of Prussia road. The nearby communities of
Wayne,
Bryn Mawr, and
King of Prussia offer shopping and entertainment.
Radnor is bounded to the west by
Wayne, to the south by
Villanova, to the east by
Gladwyne, and to the northeast by
Gulph Mills.
The community is served by the
Paoli/Thorndale Line of
SEPTA Regional Rail, as well as
Lancaster Avenue and
Interstate 476. It is also not too far from
Interstate 76, providing access to
King of Prussia and
Center City Philadelphia.
Radnor has a
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 ...
with hot summers, bordering a
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 ...
. It is considerably cooler than Center City Philadelphia due to a relatively higher elevation and the
urban heat island
Urban areas usually experience the urban heat island (UHI) effect; that is, they are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent when winds ar ...
effect.
Demographics
Radnor Township Demographics include White 76%, Asian. 9%, Hispanic. 6% , African American. 5% , Two or more races. 4% , Other race. 0%.
The population of the township is 31875
Economy
Radnor contains the largest commercial business district on the Main Line. Located immediately around the town's
train station
A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...
are several suburban office complexes. Among the companies based in Radnor are real estate company
Brandywine Realty Trust, energy company
Penn Virginia, insurer
Lincoln National, wholesaler
VWR, technology company
Qlik, and financial company Mondrian Investment Partners.
Radnor's town center around the Meetinghouse isn't well developed, but the nearby communities of
Wayne and
Bryn Mawr offer several shops and restaurants. Radnor is also easily accessible to
King of Prussia.
Education
Public education in Radnor is administered by
Radnor Township School District.
Closest universities include
Cabrini University,
Eastern University, and
Villanova University
Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...
.
In popular culture
Radnor is identified in the script as the setting for
Philip Barry's play ''
The Philadelphia Story''.
Radnor is also the setting of
Judy Blume's young adult novel, ''
Blubber
Blubber is a thick layer of Blood vessel, vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians. It was present in many marine reptiles, such as Ichthyosauria, ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs.
Description ...
''.
Radnor High School was the model for Rydell High School in ''
Grease''; the director,
Randal Kleiser
John Randal Kleiser (born July 20, 1946) is an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing the films ''Grease (film), Grease'' (1978), ''The Blue Lagoon (1980 film), The Blue Lagoon'' (1 ...
, is a member of the Class of 1964.
Notable people
*
Ian Checcio (born 1975) – soccer player
*
Fritz Coleman (born 1948) –
weather forecaster, podcaster, radio host, and disc jockey
*
Ted Dean (born 1938) –
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) player
*
Truxtun Hare (1878–1956) –
hammer thrower, runner,
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
player, and two-time
Olympian
*
Gerard Phelan (born 1963) – NFL player
*
Herman P. Schwan (1915–2005) – German-born
biomedical engineer and
biophysicist
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...
*
Sean Scott (born 1978) – NFL player
*
Joshua Wurman (born 1960) –
atmospheric scientist and inventor of the
Doppler on Wheels
Doppler on Wheels (DOW) is a fleet of quickly deployable truck-mounted weather radars managed by FARM (Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets), an American research company affiliated with the University of Alabama Huntsville. The group, which ...
and
bistatic radar systems
References
{{authority control
Radnor Township, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Main Line
Unincorporated communities in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania