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History · Glenside

Glenside’s post office opened in 1888, and 58% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1923 on and old-book passages.

1888first post office
3on the National Register
58%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
12famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Glenside’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Glenside began

When was Glenside founded?

1888

The Glenside post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 7,737138 years
Founding year: the first Glenside post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Glenside’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Glenside’s homes were built before 1938.Famous sons and daughtersMadeleine Dean, Richard Ward and 10 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Glenside’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Glenside’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEdge Hill PA Presby PHS191: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Glenside came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Glenside.

Read it all →

A railroad station called Tacony Station was erected in 1855, named for Tacony Creek, which flows through the settlement. It was later called Abington Station. Glenside Post Office opened in 1888, and the railroad station was renamed Glenside station.

The Glenside Fire Company was established in 1900, and firefighting equipment was stored in a building until a firehouse was erected in 1907.

Glenside had two public schools: Glenside students living in Abington Township attended The Weldon School, and students in Cheltenham Township attended Glenside School, built in 1908. Glenside School was demolished in the 1960s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Famous people

12 famous people were born in Glenside

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

See all →
Madeleine DeanAmerican politician · b. 1959
R
Richard WardAfrican-American actor · b. 1915
Tony DonatelliAmerican soccer player · b. 1984
Mike SianiAmerican baseball player · b. 1999
G
George CastleLacrosse player · b. 1984
Harris GordonAmerican stage and film actor · b. 1884
From the old history books

What they wrote about Glenside in 1923

Passages that mention Glenside, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The Glenside National Bank was established in the borough of Glenside, February 18, 1910, by numerous stockholders of the vicinity, who subscribed a capital of $35,000, which has been increased to $125,000, with also a surplus of $75,000. The deposits of this bank according to a recent statement am…
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania1923 · page 183Read the page →
Read the text

The Glenside National Bank was established in the borough of Glenside, February 18, 1910, by numerous stockholders of the vicinity, who subscribed a capital of $35,000, which has been increased to $125,000, with also a surplus of $75,000. The deposits of this bank according to a recent statement amounted to $1,500,000. Associated with this bank is the Glenside Title and Trust Company, of which see later. The present bank building, erected at a cost of $29,800, is of stone, and is located on Easton road and Glenside avenue. The first officers were Julius E.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Glenside, 1915 to 1999

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1915Born hereRichard Ward is born here
  3. 1923In the archiveEdge Hill PA Presby PHS191
  4. 1930In the archiveKeswick Diner, located on Easton Road, Glenside, Penna (83323)
  5. 1959Born hereMadeleine Dean is born here
  6. 1984Born hereTony Donatelli is born here
  7. 1999Born hereMike Siani is born here
By decade

Glenside, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1930s3 items
Edge Hill PA Presby PHS1911923Edge Hill PA Presby PHS191Glenside PA Carmel Presby PHS2371923Glenside PA Carmel Presby PHS237Keswick Diner, located on Easton Road, Glenside, Penna (83323)c. 1930Keswick Diner, located on Easton Road, Glenside, Penn…
1940s–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
Today3 recent
Glenside Free Library2011Glenside Free Library131HewettSnow2011131HewettSnow131HewettRoad22010131HewettRoad2
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.

Edge Hill PA Presby PHS191
Retake this viewEdge Hill PA Presby PHS191, 1923

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Glenside

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wyncote1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAbington Township4 historic placesA−Jenkintown2 historic placesACheltenham Township14 historic placesA−

Questions about Glenside’s history

What year was Glenside founded?

The Glenside post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.