Wayne is an unincorporated community and a U.S. Post Office located on the Main Line,
centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. While the center of Wayne is in
Radnor Township, Wayne extends into both Tredyffrin Township in Chester
County and Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County.
The center of the Wayne business district is the intersection of Lancaster
Avenue and Wayne Avenue, its main street. The historic Wayne station is located one block north of this intersection. The Wayne business district also
includes a post office, a cinema, a library, the new Radnor Middle School, and
several banks, stores, restaurants, and other commercial establishments. Other institutions and attractions in Wayne include the
Valley Forge Military Academy (with a monument from the
Battle of the Bulge located by the parade ground) and the headquarters
of the Traffic Pulse traffic information service.
History
Wayne was originally named Louella, after founder J. Henry Askin's daughters Louisa and Ella.
Wayne's development began when a railroad stop called Cleaver's Landing was established. It was renamed Wayne Station after
General Anthony Wayne. Parcels in the area totalling 293 acres (1.2 km²) were bought by
banker J.H. Askin, where he built Louella House and developed some of the first homes in the area. The area became a favorite
getaway for wealthy people wanting to enjoy the countryside.
His and surrounding land were bought in 1880 by banker A.J. Drexel and newspaper editor G.W.
Childs, to form a larger development they called Wayne Estate. More homes and a hotel were then built. In a brochure from 1887
about their development they noted they had provided Wayne with "water, light and drainage — the three great conveniences of a
large city — by the most approved modern methods." They described Wayne Estate as follows:
- The suburban village known as Wayne, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, fourteen
miles from Philadelphia, differs so much from the ordinary town allowed to grow up hap-hazard and to develop conveniences as
population increases, that it is necessary, in describing it as it appears, to keep in mind some facts about its history.
- Wayne is not an accidental aggregation of cottages; it is a town built by design, and provided at the start with all the
conveniences to which residents of cities are accustomed and which they are so apt to miss and long for when they go into the
country or even into the suburbs of a great city. The scheme of the town was well thought out and planned before any of the new
cottages were built, and, as it was undertaken by liberal gentlemen of abundant means, no expense was spared in the preliminary
municipal work.
Geography
Wayne is located on the Main Line. The central business district of Wayne is
located at the intersection of Lancaster and Wayne Avenues in
Radnor Township, Delaware
County, Pennsylvania. The area served by the Wayne zip
code (19087) is large and encompasses areas both in Radnor Township and in the neighboring adjacent municipalities of
Upper Merion in Montgomery County and Tredyffrin in Chester County,
including the communities of Radnor, Strafford, St. Davids, and Chesterbrook.
Education
Pupils in the Radnor Township portion of Wayne attend schools in Radnor
Township School District, while pupils in the Tredyffrin portion attend schools in Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. Those in the northeastern portion of the
community in Upper Merion Township attend the Upper Merion Area School
District.
Students in Radnor Township attend Radnor High School. Students in Tredyffrin
Township attend Conestoga High School. Students in Upper Merion Township attend
Upper Merion Area High School.
The Valley Forge Military Academy is also located in
Wayne.
The Wayne Art Center was established in 1930 as the first art center on the Main Line.
Notable Residents, past and present
Points of interest
External links
History
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