Toll Gates
Toll houses were established along the township’s public roads in 1791. Lancaster Pike was a busy, narrow dirt road over which passengers, freight, the mail, and farmers’ produce were transported. The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Company was formed to care for the 62 miles between Philadelphia and Lancaster. By 1795, there were nine toll gates along the route. Many warehouses and shops were dotted along the way to deal with provisions and repairs. The Pike prospered as a tollroad until the canal and railroad took away its business and it became a broken-down, disreputable route.
In 1876, the Pennsylvania Railroad, to prevent the extension of street car lines from the city into the suburbs, bought Lancaster Pike from 52nd Street to Paoli for $20,000. The Lancaster Avenue Improvement Company was established with A. J. Cassatt as president. A second company, the Philadelphia, Bala and Bryn Mawr Turnpike Company, was formed to control what is now Montgomery Avenue. No toll houses remain.
