Jenkintown, Pennsylvania Explained

Jenkintown, Pennsylvania should not be confused with Jenkins Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

Borough of Jenkintown
Settlement Type:Borough
Image Blank Emblem:Jenkintown, PA Keystone Marker.jpg
Blank Emblem Type:Keystone Marker
Blank Emblem Size:250px
Blank Emblem Link:Keystone Markers
Image Map1:File:Jenkintown Montgomery County.png
Map Caption1:Location of Jenkintown in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Pushpin Map:Pennsylvania#USA
Pushpin Label:Jenkintown
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Jenkintown in Pennsylvania
Coordinates:40.0961°N -75.1294°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Pennsylvania
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Montgomery
Established Title:Incorporated
Established Date:December 8, 1874
Government Type:Council-manager
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Gabriel Lerman
Unit Pref:Imperial
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Total Sq Mi:0.59
Area Land Sq Mi:0.59
Area Water Sq Mi:0.00
Elevation Ft:322
Population As Of:2020
Population Total:4719
Population Density Sq Mi:8052.90
Population Density Km2:3106.87
Timezone1:EST
Utc Offset1:-5
Timezone1 Dst:EDT
Utc Offset1 Dst:-4
Postal Code Type:ZIP Code
Postal Code:19046
Area Codes:215, 267 and 445
Blank Name:FIPS code
Blank Info:42-38000
Blank2 Name Sec2:Wikimedia Commons
Area Total Km2:1.52
Area Land Km2:1.52
Area Water Km2:0.00

Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Center City Philadelphia.

History

The community was named for William Jenkins, a Welsh pioneer settler.[2]

Jenkintown is located just outside Philadelphia along the Route 611 corridor between Abington and Cheltenham Townships. The borough was settled in about 1697 and incorporated on December 8, 1874 when approximately 248acres was taken from Abington Township. Today, the Borough is approximately 0.58 square miles and is home to 4,500 residents.

The borough is a mostly residential community that is separated into East and West by the Business District that runs along and surrounds Old York Road (Route 611) corridor. On the east side of Old York Road, residential development is predominantly characterized by larger detached single-family homes on lots larger than the Borough average. On the southeast side of York Road, there is a small mixed concentration of row homes, duplexes, and single-family residences. The majority of the residential development, however, is located to the west of York Road. This area consists of a traditional small town mix of detached single-family homes, duplexes, and row homes. Located throughout this area are several multi-family apartment buildings that are residential condominium or rental properties. At the center of this residential area are the Jenkintown Elementary School and the Jenkintown High School.

The Jenkintown Fire Department consists of two fire companies founded more than 125 years ago. The Jenkintown Fire Department is a totally volunteer department consisting of the Pioneer Fire Company #1 and the Independent Fire Company #2. The Pioneer Company was organized in 1884 and the Independent Company was organized in 1889, an artifact of the historical split between Catholics and Protestants in the population of the borough. The two fire companies have a total membership of approximately 150 with 50 members composing the active firefighting crew.

Elements of the British army passed through Jenkintown en route to the Battle of White Marsh in early December 1777.

The Jenkins' Town Lyceum Building, Jenkintown-Wyncote station, and Strawbridge and Clothier Store are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Retail hub

From the mid-1950s until the early 1980s, Jenkintown was a major retail hub for the northern suburbs of Philadelphia.[3]

The stretch of Old York Road from Lord & Taylor just south of Jenkintown up to the Sears in Abington Township was sometimes called the Golden 2½ Miles.[4] Five major department stores lined Old York Road:

Geography

Jenkintown borough is located at (40.096060, -75.129415).[6] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.6sqmi, all land. Jenkintown is surrounded by Abington Township to the north, west, and east, and borders Cheltenham Township to the south.

Education

The Jenkintown School District includes Jenkintown Elementary School and Jenkintown Middle/High School. The district has an enrollment of over 700 students.[7]

St. Joseph the Protector Regional Catholic School in Glenside and Abington Township is the area Catholic school. It was formed in 2012 by the merger of Immaculate Conception School in Jenkintown and St. Luke the Evangelist School in Glenside.[8]

Abington Friends School is an independent Quaker school in nearby Abington Township,[9] serving students from age 3 to grade 12. Abington Friends School has stood on its original campus in Abington Township since 1697.

Manor College is in Abington Township,[10] with a Jenkintown mailing address.[11] The college founded in 1947, is a private Catholic college founded by the Byzantine Ukrainian Sisters of Saint Basil the Great. It is affiliated with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, the borough was 87.5% White, 5.7% Black or African American, 2.0% Asian, and 1.8% were two or more races. 3.0% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry.[12]

As of the census[13] of 2000, there were 4,478 people, 2,035 households, and 1,088 families residing in the borough. The population density was 7844sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 2,085 housing units at an average density of 3652.2sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the borough was 93.61% White, 4.00% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.94% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.49% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.30% of the population.

There were 2,035 households, out of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.2% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.5% were non-families. 40.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 3.08.

The age distribution of the borough's population is spread out, with 22.9% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 21.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 78.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.2 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $47,743, and the median income for a family was $72,902. Males had a median income of $41,970 versus $35,625 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $29,834. About 1.9% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Highways and roads

As of 2017 there were of public roads in Jenkintown, of which were maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and were maintained by the borough.[14]

PA Route 611 heads north–south through Jenkintown along Old York Road, heading south to Philadelphia and north to Willow Grove, where it has an interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Doylestown. PA Route 73 passes east–west along the southern edge of Jenkintown along Washington Lane and Township Line Road, heading west to Wyncote and east to Northeast Philadelphia. Greenwood Avenue runs east–west through the center of Jenkintown, heading west to Wyncote.[15]

Trains and buses

The Jenkintown-Wyncote station is one of SEPTA's major Regional Rail stops; the Lansdale/Doylestown Line, Warminster Line, and West Trenton Line regional rail services all stop there. Jenkintown-Wyncote station is the busiest SEPTA Regional Rail station outside the city of Philadelphia.[16] The Jenkintown-Wyncote station building with its Queen Anne-style architecture was designed by famous Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer. SEPTA provides City Bus service to Jenkintown along Route 55, which follows PA 611 south to Olney Transportation Center in North Philadelphia and north to Willow Grove and Doylestown, and Route 77, which heads west to the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia and east to Northeast Philadelphia.[17]

Politics and government

Presidential elections results[18]
YearRepublicanDemocratic
202019.7% 61979.1% 2,481
201620.6% 56374.9% 2,052
201227.1% 72471.4% 1,905
200825.1% 70873.8% 2,079
200428.6% 83271.0% 2,068
200029.9% 79165.7% 1,734

Jenkintown has a city manager form of government with a mayor and a twelve-member borough council. The current mayor is Gabriel Lerman. Jay Conners is the President of Borough Council, and Christian Soltysiak is vice president.

The borough is part of the Fourth Congressional District, represented by Madeleine Dean. At the state level, Jenkintown is part of the Pennsylvania's 154th Representative District, represented by Napoleon Nelson, and the 4th Senatorial District, represented by Arthur L. Haywood III. All are Democrats. Jenkintown, like its surroundings of Abington and Cheltenham and their included towns, votes overwhelmingly Democratic.

In popular culture

The television sitcom The Goldbergs is set in Jenkintown; it is based on the 1980s childhood of show creator Adam F. Goldberg, a Jenkintown native.

Notable people

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ArcGIS REST Services Directory. United States Census Bureau. October 12, 2022.
  2. Web site: Jenkintown. September 25, 2022. Visit Pennsylvania.
  3. Book: Old York Historical Society . Abington, Jenkintown, and Rockledge . 2000 . Arcadia Publishing . 978-0-7385-0473-5 . 38–39 . 8 November 2023 . en . The Avenue of Shops was a series of small shops, anchored at the northern end by Bonwit Teller, which was built and opened in 1955. Along with the presence of the Strawbridge & Clothier and John Wanamaker stores nearby, the Avenue of Shops helped make Jenkintown a shopping mecca for the approximately 15 years it was in existence. On June 1, 1971, Federated Department Stores leased the site and announced that the first Bloomingdale's store in Pennsylvania would open within a year. A second story was added for the entire length of the structure, and the store occupied the whole complex. In August 1982, Bloomingdale's moved to the new Willow Grove Park Mall, and the building was sold to the Nutrisystems Corporation. Later, Zany Brainy occupied the corner store, and the remainder of the building was devoted to professional offices..
  4. News: Anderson . Laurie Halse . Out of fashion: shopping district fades as Bonwit Teller quits . 8 November 2023 . The Philadelphia Inquirer . 12 April 1990 . 163.
  5. https://www.thereporteronline.com/2021/06/06/noble-town-center-sells-for-14m/amp/ June 6, 2021. “Noble Town Center sells for $14 million”. The Reporter.
  6. Web site: US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990. United States Census Bureau. 2011-04-23. 2011-02-12.
  7. Web site: About Us. May 13, 2015. The School District of Jenkintown.
  8. Web site: 2012 Catholic grade school consolidations/closings. Catholicphilly.com. 2012-07-15. 2020-04-22.
  9. Web site: Zoning. Abington Township. 2024-03-11. - Abington Friends School is at F5, indicated with "▲1".
  10. Web site: 2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Abington township, PA. U.S. Census Bureau. 2024-02-06. 2 (PDF p. 3/4). Manor Colg.
  11. Web site: Home. Manor College. 2024-02-06. Manor College 700 Fox Chase Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046. - Despite the address, it is not in Jenkintown Borough.
  12. Web site: Archived copy . . 2017-09-01 . 2012-02-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120215053518/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/profile/PA#locality-tab . dead .
  13. Web site: U.S. Census website. United States Census Bureau. 2008-01-31.
  14. Web site: Jenkintown Borough map. PennDOT. March 10, 2023.
  15. ADC Map. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania . 2006. 18th. 1"=2000'. 0-87530-775-2.
  16. Web site: SEPTA (May 2014). Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Service Plan. p. 61 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140812142611/http://www.septa.org/reports/pdf/asp15.pdf . 2014-08-12 .  
  17. SEPTA Official Transit & Street Map Suburban. SEPTA. May 2, 2016. April 7, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160407161615/http://septa.org/maps/region/pdf/suburb.pdf. dead.
  18. Web site: Montgomery County Election Results. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. January 16, 2017.
  19. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Web site: Going home with Bradley Cooper . YouTube.
  20. Neil Stook, The Life of Ezra Pound (2011), page 5