More Delaware County Place Names

The Old Spread Eagle Hotel in Haverford

 

 

"Grasslands" I remember the name from a few years ago. A lady had sent me a copy of her grandmothers birth record by email. She was trying to locate the town, where her grandmother had been born, luckily she knew the township, Haverford. After a little bit of research I found the town was located at Eagle Rd. and Darby Rd. in what we now call, "Oakmont" another name that is fading. Grasslands was a large estate nearby and had it's own trolley stop. Just north of Oakmont on Darby Rd. was the town of  "Adele" which even had it's own post office from 1900 to 1925. The name Adele comes from then State representative, William M. Robinson. Adele was his daughter's name. Speaking of post offices, what about  "Darling"? It was around from 1879 to 1964. Does Darlington, just west of Media ring a bell? The Darlington Arts center etc. Postmaster Darlington wanted to name the town and post office after himself. The town was no problem but the post office was. There already was a post office named Darlington in Penna., so the post office name was shortened to just "Darling". Another long forgotten town and post office is "Llanwellyn" which only lasted some 21 years from 1890 to 1911. Llanwellyn is the original name for the town of Glenolden. Realtor and lawyer, Henry J. Scott started the town in 1886, naming one of the new towns streets after himself, Scott Ave. Scott pulled the name "Llanwellyn" out of his hat, it is Welsh and means "Spring has Come" It was popular in the late 19th century to give names of new towns, Welsh names. One last post office, "Markham" which literally means "Marks Town" and the post office ran from 1892 till late 1943. Never heard of it? It is where Cheyney Rd. crosses Baltimore Pike in Concord Twp. There is a park there today and the Markham Station is still there too. The Mark of Mark's town? Mark Wilcox of course! Next week will be the last on old Delaware County place names.