Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Elkins Park

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
ElkinsParkcollagePhoto: Peetlesnumber1 · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Elkins Park

35% of Elkins Park’s homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 5 old photos and papers and maps from 1893 on.

6on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
8famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Elkins Park’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Elkins Park’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18936 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1997. Watch Elkins Park change.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Elkins Park’s homes were built before 1953.Famous sons and daughtersStephen W. Burns, Jenna Arnold and 6 more were born here.
★ What stands out · On the map

Elkins Park on the map, 1893 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elkins Park. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Elkins Park on the 1893 USGS mapElkins Park on the 1952 USGS mapElkins Park on the 1967 USGS mapElkins Park on the 1973 USGS mapElkins Park on the 1983 USGS mapElkins Park on the 1997 USGS map1893Germantown sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elkins Park.

On the National Register

6 historic places in Elkins Park

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmark
1
none yet
historic buildings protected
14
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story so far

Elkins Park, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elkins Park yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the northern suburbs outside of Philadelphia, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue roughly 7 miles (11 km) from Center City. The community is four station stops from Center City on Septa Regional Rail. It was listed as a census-designated place 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, 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, co-fou…

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Elkins Park, 1892 to 1989

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892In the archiveHOTCHKIN(1892) p106 Philadelphia, Oak Lane, 'Roadside' residence of late Lucretia Mott
  3. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1913Born hereJohn Bertram Oakes is born here
  6. 1954Born hereStephen W. Burns is born here
  7. 1981Born hereJenna Arnold is born here
  8. 1989Born hereSteven Miller is born here
By decade

Elkins Park, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s5 items
HOTCHKIN(1892) p106 Philadelphia, Oak Lane, 'Roadside' residence of late Lucretia Mott1892HOTCHKIN(1892) p106 Philadelphia, Oak Lane, 'Roadside…HOTCHKIN(1892) p132 ASHBOURNE, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH1892HOTCHKIN(1892) p132 ASHBOURNE, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHHOTCHKIN(1892) p152 IDRO MANSION, interior of the great hall1892HOTCHKIN(1892) p152 IDRO MANSION, interior of the gre…HOTCHKIN(1892) p154 IDRO MANSION, the residence of John B. Stetson, Esq1892HOTCHKIN(1892) p154 IDRO MANSION, the residence of Jo…HOTCHKIN(1892) p156 IDRO, the residence of John B. Stetson, West view1892HOTCHKIN(1892) p156 IDRO, the residence of John B. St…
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

HOTCHKIN(1892) p106 Philadelphia, Oak Lane, 'Roadside' residence of late Lucretia Mott
Retake this viewHOTCHKIN(1892) p106 Philadelphia, Oak Lane, 'Roadside' residence of late Lucretia Mott, 1892

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Elkins Park’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

8 famous people were born in Elkins Park

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
S
Stephen W. BurnsAmerican actor · b. 1954
Jenna ArnoldAmerican activist, entrepreneur, and author of … · b. 1981
J
John Bertram OakesAmerican journalist · b. 1913
S
Steven MillerSoccer player · b. 1989
J
James F. MastersonAmerican psychologist · b. 1926
Marc Anthony RichardsonAmerican novelist · b. 1972
Help out

Finish Elkins Park’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHOTCHKIN(1892) p106 Philadelphia, Oak L…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Melrose ParkIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMcKinleyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWyncote1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAbington Township4 historic placesA−Cheltenham Township14 historic placesA−

Questions about Elkins Park’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.