History

The Main Line, once home to the Lenni Lenape Tribe of Indians, was settled in the 1600's, when William Penn sold land to a group of Welsh Quakers.
It is a
collection of affluent towns in western suburban Philadelphia named after the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Main Line Railroad was constructed during the nineteenth century and traveled through the area from Philadelphia to Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

The Main Line Today

Today the Main Line is another name for the western suburbs of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue (Route 30) and the Pennsylvania Railroad mail line, extending from the Philadelphia city limits to about Malvern covering an area of about 200 square miles. The principal townships comprising the Main Line are (from east to west) Lower Merion Township, Haverford Township, Radnor Township, Tredyffrin Township, Easttown Township, Malvern Borough, East Whiteland Township, and Charlestown Township. The counties covered include Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties.

The Counties

In working on early Main Line records, the challenge lies in finding out which county holds the records you are looking for. In previous times the county boundaries were very different.
See where they were at http://www.pagenweb.org/imagemap.html

Communities on the Main Line

History of the Main Line Genealogy Club