One of the best ways to visualize the Philadelphia suburbs known as the Main Line and understand some of its physical layout is to learn a little of its history. The moniker “Main Line” refers to the Pennsylvania Railroad train line that was built in the area beginning around the 1850s. Originally, many of the small towns were founded by prominent Philadelphia families who built summer homes “away from the city” but who used the newly built railroad to travel back and forth. So, while the Main Line now refers to areas slightly north or south, most of the towns are laid out along the railroad line, which runs parallel to Lancaster Avenue, also known as Route 30 (the oldest paved road in the country). As a result, many of Philadelphia’s Main Line towns have a kind of town center clustered around services and businesses on Lancaster Avenue.
This mnemonic device has helped generations of riders remember the order of the stations on the Main Line. The first seven depots, comprising what is commonly considered the eastern section of the Main Line (and the oldest) are:
- Old (Overbrook)
- Maids (Merion)
- Never (Narberth)
- Wed (Wynnewood)
- And (Ardmore)
- Have (Haverford)
- Babies (Bryn Mawr)
The remaining stations (western Main Line) are:
- Really (Rosemont)
- Vicious (Villanova)
- Retrievers (Radnor)
- Snap (St. Davids)
- Willingly (Wayne)
- Snarl (Strafford)
- Dangerously (Devon)
- Beagles (Berwyn)
- Don’t (Daylesford)
- Period (Paoli)
Finally, there are Malvern, Exton, Whitford, Downingtown and Thorndale, but those are a little beyond the scope of this guide!
The north side (of County Line Road or Lancaster Avenue, depending on which town you are in) was where most of these well-to-do families built their mansions and the south side was where most of their employees and service people lived. So, in general, neighborhoods to the immediate south of these roads in Wynnewood, Ardmore, Haverford and Bryn Mawr have more modest, less expensive homes on smaller lots than corresponding neighborhoods on the north side. Remember, this is a generalization and only intended to give an overall impression.
Most of the Main Line falls within Lower Merion, Haverford or Radnor Townships/School Districts. Purchase prices per square foot are usually higher in Lower Merion than in Haverford, while taxes are usually lower, but don’t make the erroneous assumption that lower taxes mirror “worse” schools. (For example, Lower Merion School District rates higher than Haverford). Radnor Township taxes are higher, than Lower Merion and Haverford. Home prices are usually very similar to those in Lower Merion and schools are rated very highly. Niche rated Tredyffrin-Easttown Township the second best school district in the state in 2022, but prices and taxes are both a little lower there.
The upshot: taxes have nothing to do with quality of school district here. Thoroughly confused yet? No? Read on!