Upper Darby
| Upper Darby Township | |
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Home Rule Municipality First Class Township |
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| Nickname: UD | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Delaware |
| Elevation | 230 ft (70.1 m) |
| Coordinates | 39°57′30″N 75°18′29″W / 39.95833°N 75.30806°WCoordinates: 39°57′30″N 75°18′29″W / 39.95833°N 75.30806°W |
| Area | 7.9 sq mi (20.5 km2) |
| - land | 7.9 sq mi (20 km2) |
| - water | 0.0 sq mi (0 km2), 0% |
| Population | 82,795 (2010) |
| Density | 10,397.7/sq mi (4,014.6/km2) |
| Settled | 1653 |
| Mayor | Thomas N. Micozzie |
| Timezone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 19082 |
| Area code | 610 and 484 |
 Location of Upper Darby Township in Delaware County
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 Location of Upper Darby Township in Pennsylvania
Location of Upper Darby Township in Pennsylvania
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Website: www |
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Upper Darby Township (often shortened to simply Upper Darby) is a home rule township bordering West Philadelphia in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Upper Darby is also home to the Tower Theater, a historic music venue on 69th Street built in the 1920s. Upper Darby's population is diverse, representing over 100 ethnic cultures. The township hosts a range of housing types including densely populated rowhouse sections, tree-lined neighborhoods of turn-of-the-century single-family houses and mid-century developments. It is Pennsylvania's sixth most populous municipality. Located just 2.8 miles from Center City (downtown Philadelphia), and houses the western terminus of the Market-Frankford Line of the SEPTA mass transit system of Philadelphia, with the location at 69th Street in the heart of Upper Darby's principal business district. Multiple trolley and bus lines connect the 69th Street Terminal to all major SEPTA lines of Delaware and Montgomery counties as well as Philadelphia.
Upper Darby is 65% residential, 25% commercial, and 8% other. As of the 2010 census, the township had a total population of 82,795. Because of a home-rule charter adopted in 1974 and effective in 1976, Upper Darby utilizes a mayor-council form of management, unlike communities that are still under the Pennsylvania Township Code. ("First Class" townships in Pennsylvania have a board of commissioners divided into wards, and "Second Class" townships having a board of supervisors, which are usually elected "at-large".)
In 1650, the area that eventually became Upper Darby had been inhabited by the Lenape tribe of Native Americans for hundreds of years, but war with the Susquehannock to the west along with devastating smallpox and measles epidemics had significantly reduced their numbers. The first permanent Europeans settlers arrived in late 1653 with a group from New Sweden. Soon after, in 1655, New Sweden was taken over by the Dutch, and then came under English rule in October 1664 as part England's overall conquest of New Amsterdam. The region was controlled as a possession of the English king until it was included in a large land grant to William Penn in 1681.
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