Towns and Boros named for mills and industries

The Glenolden Mill dam can still be seen at South Ave. and Delmar Dr. in Folcroft. This picture on the Muckinipattus Creek is from 100 years ago.

 

 

COMMUNITIES NAMED FOR MILLS THEY GREW AROUND

Industrial growth spurred the settlement and naming of many Delaware County locations.  Millbourne was named for the Millbourne Mills, Glenolden for the Glenolden Mills, Trainer for the Trainer Mills and Eddystone for the Eddystone Mills.                    

  Among the county towns and village s in this classification are Linwood, Glen Mills, Darlington and Lester.  The former two were named for mills, Darlington for a dairy and Lester for a piano factory.

  The Linwood Mills were built near the Trainer station along Marcus Hook creek in what is now Trainer borough.  It is believed that they were name for the Wood family.

  Originally, Linwood Mills were grist mills but in 1837 they were changed into a cotton factory.  David Trainer was the eventual owner.  Goods manufactured at the mills received special notice at the National Fair in Washington, D.C., in May 1846.

  No definite instance of Linwood’s naming was found.  However, it is probably correctly presumed that it took its name from the mill with the mill getting its name from the founding family, the Woods.

  Glen Mills, in eastern Thornbury, retains the identical name of its namesake. The community, railroad station post office and school have all adopted the name of the first industry in that area, Glen Mills.

  When Glen Mills were established is not recorded but if one report is true, it may have been in the mid-eighteenth century.  One story is that Glen Mills manufactured paper money for use during the Revolutionary War.

  The dairy that gave its name to a county community was the Darlington Dairy operated by Jesse and Jared Darlington.  The post office and railroad station established there both took the names of the dairy men.

  Housewives, who are at present staged by post-OPA butter prices, may be comforted to know that butter from the Darlington dairy sold readily at one dollar per pound, the year round, in both the Philadelphia and New York markets.

  The Lester Piano Company was responsible for the name of Lester, in central Tinicum Township.  The community which grew up around the factory took its name.

  Another community which was named for an industry was the section now adjacent to the Gladstone railroad station on the Philadelphia to West Chester rail line through Lansdowne. This section was formerly known as Kellyville.  The name was derived from D. and C. Kelly.  The Kelly’s operated extensive cotton mills at this location about 1850.