Five Schools and Libraries
Lower Merion Academy, Cynwyd
The Academy has been one of the landmark buildings of the region since its erection in 1812. Quaker Jacob Jones bequeathed funds and nine acres of land to create the first schoolhouse in Lower Merion dedicated in perpetuity to public education without regard to religion, race, or gender. In 1914, the Lower Merion School District built the Cynwyd Elementary School, followed by the construction of the Bala Cynwyd Middle School in 1938, on the land, thus continuing the legacy of public education first institutionalized by the Academy Trustees. In 2002, the Academy was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It now serves as the well-loved headquarters of the Lower Merion Historical Society. This white-border postcard is a good example of this popular style for postcards from 1915-1930. The style was also developed as a method to save ink.
Bala Elementary Public School
“Does this not recall some pleasant days? – George” reads the personal inscription on the front. Built in 1888, the school was a stone structure on the southeastern corner of Union and Bala Avenues at 49 Bala Avenue in Bala Cynwyd. An addition was built in 1909, and a power plant added in 1916. The school was adjacent to a township playground, until it was closed in 1974 and demolished a few years later. The site now contains a township-owned gym and meeting center.
First Grade Class at the Bala Elementary School, 1911
Even back in 1911, this was a “School of Excellence.” Pictured are Miss Nellie Brown, the teacher, and her class, with Mr. Edwards, the janitor. In 1911-1912, eight staff members taught grades 1 through 8 with Sara A. Fite as Principal.
Cynwyd Elementary School
Cynwyd School is located at 101 West Levering Mill Road in Bala Cynwyd. It was built in 1914 at a cost of $57,010, on land owned by the Trustees of the Lower Merion Academy. The architects were Savery, Scheetz, and Savery. In September 1916, 153 students were enrolled – in 2009, enrollment reached 450. An additional classroom wing, designed by Demchick, Berger, and Dash Associates in 1967, was replaced in 1999 by a two-story brick addition designed by architects Einhorn, Yaffee, and Prescott. An atrium allows a two-story view of the exterior of the 1914 wall.
St. Matthais School, Bala
The St. Matthias Roman Catholic parish school and convent were built in 1915 in the same picturesque architectural style as the church. When the parochial school opened, it consisted of six grades with the total enrollment of just 19 pupils, who were taught by two Sisters of Mercy. It was demolished in 1971 for a “new” parish school and gymnasium, cafeteria, and social hall.
Miss Roney’s School for Girls, Bala
Private schooling was an attractive option for some Main Line families. This niche was filled by a number of small private finishing schools for young ladies such as Miss Roney’s. Some of these schools had small enrollments and therefore were easily accommodated in private residences. However, in Miss Roney’s case, in order to create her school she acquired two houses along Edgehill Road in Bala and connected them with a hallway. After closing, this hallway was removed and the two houses were returned to their previous situation as separate residences.
Narberth Public School
Narberth Public School was a two-story native-stone building on the northeastern corner of North Essex and Sabine Avenues. It was built circa 1892 by Lower Merion School District as an elementary school, but was sold to Narberth School District three years later, when Narberth was established as a separate borough. From 1909-1923, the school’s curriculum also included courses for high school. An adjacent two-story, stone building was built on the brow of the hill on Sabine Avenue in 1917. Both buildings were demolished in 1961.
Narberth Library
The Narberth Community Library was built of brick about 1928. In the same structure, on the left, is the American Legion Hall, while on the right of the library is the Girl Scout room, which is also used by the Women’s Clubs and as a polling station. Since the 1950s, when this image was taken, handicapped accessible ramps and longer concrete stairs have been added to the front.
Mater Misericordiae Convent and Academy, Merion
In 1884, a contingent of Catholic Sisters from the Sisters of Mercy arrived in the area and created a Merion Chapter. By 1892 they had established a convent and Mater Misericordiae Academy (Latin for Mother of Mercy), which was the forerunner of Merion Mercy Academy for Girls and Waldron-Mercy Academy for Boys. In 1987 these two Academies merged to become the Waldron Mercy Academy in a newly renovated facility. This suburban campus remains as a landmark and the headquarters for the Sisters of Mercy, who have been fulfilling their ministry of education for young girls and boys.
Mater Misericordiae Convent and Academy, Merion
(see previous caption)
Montgomery County Day School, Wynnewood
The Montgomery County Day School was originally located in this resplendent old Main Line mansion, located on Montgomery Avenue and North Wynnewood Road. However, in 1949, when it came time for the school to expand, the property was sold to Temple Adath Israel and then to Main Line Reform Temple Beth Elohim four years later. In 1960, the old mansion was demolished to make room for a new structure that houses the Temple and its religious school.
Women’s Club and Public Library, Ardmore
Women’s Clubs were largely responsible for the promotion and evolution of what is now the renowned Lower Merion library system. In 1899, the Women’s Club of Ardmore rented a room in the Merion Title and Trust building and established a library, not only for the use of the club, but for the community at large. “Dear Mrs. S. I did not know of Clara’s death until you wrote and then Dot went to Chesapeake and she told me. I am awful Sorry. As that is the [illegible] she has buried all they had. But Gods will be done – love W. Walls. (Take good care of your self.) August 2, 1923.”
Exercise Class, Ardmore Public School, Ardmore, 1925
The original Ardmore School was built in 1875 and burned down in 1900. The school was rebuilt over the following years using native stone, and functioned as an elementary and high school until 1910. A spiral, toboggan fire escape was added in 1916, much to the delight of the male students, who used it as a giant slide. The building was used solely as an elementary school until its closure in 1963.
Ardmore Public School
This sturdy stone structure was demolished, with great effort, in 1965. Currently the site is used for housing for the elderly.
Lower Merion Junior High School, Ardmore
Also called Ardmore Junior High School, this building was constructed of Holmsburg granite and Indiana limestone in 1921-23 by Italian stonemasons. It opened in February 1924. In 1939-40 Edward Holyoke Snow was the principal with a teaching staff of thirty-seven for grades seven to nine. It closed in 1978 due to declining enrollment and was demolished in 1992 after an extensive legal battle.
Lower Merion Senior High School, Ardmore
This 1910 granite and limestone building was demolished in 1963 and replaced by a structure that was designed by H.A. Kuljian and Co. The site is shared with the Lower Merion School District Administration building. In 1912-13 twenty-one staff members were employed under principal “Professor” Charles B. Pennypacker. In 1939-40 George H. Gilbert was principal with a teaching staff of sixty-one. The 1963 structure is currently being demolished for a new facility that accommodates modern safety codes and student requirements.
Vocational Shop, Printing Department, Lower Merion Senior High School
According to Lower Merion School District’s Public School Directory of 1928-1929, Seniors at the High School had a wide range of choices for electives, including cabinet making, architectural drawing, home decoration and design, dietetics, millinery, advanced printing, machine construction, and “social problems.”
Lower Merion Senior High School Football Team, 1918
The football team is shown only nine years after the Lower Merion High School at Montgomery Avenue was founded.
Haverford College, Haverford
Considered one of America’s leading liberal arts colleges, Haverford was founded in 1833 on the Quaker values of individual dignity, academic strength, and tolerance. The campus is comprised of more than 200 acres and is, in itself, a nationally recognized arboretum, with more than 400 species of trees and shrubs, a 3.5-acre duck pond, multiple gardens, and wooded areas. In 1980 it began enrolling women; the college now operates more than 50 academic, athletic, and residential buildings.
Haverford College, Class of 1888
The class of 1888, pictured during a well-loved annual celebration, in which they donned costumes and burned their most despised textbook of that year.
Bryn Mawr Elementary Public School
The Bryn Mawr School was located at 913-929 West Lancaster Avenue, between Merion and Warner Avenues, opposite Prospect Avenue, in Bryn Mawr. It was built of native stone in 1870. As of June 1915, it had a staff of 16 members who taught grades one through eight, with Sophie Kefer as Principal. It closed in the fall of 1915 when the building was rented to various local organizations until reused briefly as a school in 1923-24, until the new Lower Merion Junior High School opened. The building was sold to the Moose Home of Bryn Mawr, which used it for over a decade.
Bryn Mawr Elementary Public School
(see previous caption)
Our Mother of Good Council, Bryn Mawr
The oldest Roman Catholic Church in the township, Our Mother of Good Counsel Church was founded in 1885, although the church building wasn’t constructed until 1896. Augustinians served the parish, and the Sisters of Mercy were in charge of the school, which was built about 1904. A convent was added in 1912 and a new school in 1965. The parish just celebrated its 125th Anniversary.
Miss Wright’s School, Bryn Mawr
Eliza Mary Wright founded this independent girls school for grades 7 through 12 in 1903. Two years later, Miss Wright bought seven acres of land, designed and commissioned this fine stone building, in addition to a gym, a stable, a basketball court and an infirmary. After Miss Wright’s death in 1930, her brother, Guier and his wife Dorothy Battles, continued to operate the school for another six years. When the school closed in 1936, it was bought by Bryn Mawr College and renamed Brecon Hall. The building was repurposed in 1981. Today it is used as an undergraduate student dorm.
Miss Baldwin’s School, Bryn Mawr
“The window marked with an X is my room. Isn’t the school pretty? Please write. Katherine.” The Baldwin School was founded by Miss Florence Baldwin in 1888 under the motto, “From thinking girls, to accomplished women.” At first, Miss Baldwin ran the school out of her home. At the time, many considered the education of girls unnecessary and constituted an unwarranted expense. In 1896 she leased the Bryn Mawr Hotel to house her school and teach some two hundred girls from seven years old to college age during the winter months—