Lawndale, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Lawndale
Neighborhood of Philadelphia
Lawndale School, October 2010
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Philadelphia County
City	Philadelphia
Area code(s)	Area code 215

Lawndale is a neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia. It is located near Rising Sun and Oxford avenues and is south of Cottman Avenue.

Despite the city's notation on the link below, Lawndale originally was named back in the 1880s - The name can be found on City Maps and Reading Railroad Maps dating back to the late 19th Century. Prior to that, the community was referred to as Marburg, with its central "business area" around the Kensington & Oxford Turnpike/Second Street Pike (Rising Sun Ave) and Benner, Colgate, and Comly streets. Included in this "industrial" area were the Marburg Bottling Company and a slaughter house, among other businesses. Its more residential end was near the current intersection of Rising Sun Avenue and Levick Street. Levick Street is home to many of the oldest nonfarming homes in the community, many of which were built out of wood. The oldest building still standing in the original community is what is now the Campbell's Funeral Home, which was at one time Paul Mahle's General store in addition to being a farm house. Several older stone homes surround this property and were all part of the Hellerman farm complex. The Hellerman Farms (multiple) owned the most property in this area when it was part of Oxford Township prior to the turn of the 20th century. Much of it was bought up by the Wentz Family of Olney after the 1854 consolidation act. Other land owners included the Fords, the Drakes, the Wolfs, the Brous, the Passmores, the Fesmiers, the Gillhams, the Atwoods, the Unruhs, the Woodfalls, and the Pierce Families.

The name Lawndale can be traced on paper back to when the Philadelphia, Newtown & New York Railroad built its line through the area. One of the first stations listed north of Olney was Lawndale. It was opened in the 1890s and later closed, only to be reopened in the early teens of the new century to accommodate the growing community. The railroad was taken over by the Philadelphia & Reading by then and a small room was leased from a gentleman who lived at the bottom of Robbins Street, whose home faced the railroad. This temporary arrangement lasted for well over 30 years, until the owner died and the railroad was forced to build a small shelter. The Lawndale Station has seen many reincarnations over the years and is still in daily use by SEPTA with the stopping of 45 scheduled passenger trains a day and over 350 round trip fares a day. The physical location of the Lawndale Station property is actually in Montgomery County/Cheltenham Township, while nearby Cheltenham Station (which primarily serves the North end of Lawndale in addition to some residents from Cheltenham, PA. and seeing an additional 400 round trip fares a day) is actually located in Philadelphia County.