Eagle Road cuts across Oakmont from West to East. The road that would become Eagle Road was initially laid around 1696 for the Old Haverford Friends Meetinghouse, built 1688.[4] Oakmont is also the site of Saint Denis Church, founded in 1825 for mill workers in Kellyville in the Karakung Creek Valley mills.[4][5] Early 19th century lotting and development maps of the neighborhood refer to Oakmont as 'South Ardmore' and 'Grassland'.[4] Oakmont was commonly used to refer to the area, as indicated in the 1961 property atlas of the Main Line, the name of the Oakmont Station, and early advertisements for the neighborhood.[6][7][8]
The Oakmont neighborhood was developed by the same firm that planned the earlier Brookline neighborhood (1907), A. E. Mueller and Co in the 1920s.[7] The developers advertised Oakmont as a commuting suburb of Philadelphia, highlighting Oakmont's location on Darby Road with the Ardmore Line, making it an early 19th century example of a streetcar suburb.[8]
The commercial development of Oakmont is oriented toward historic trolley service, particularly along Darby Road and along Eagle Road between East and West Darby Road. While Oakmont is no longer anchored by trolley stations, the development pattern persists. Today, a covered bus stop remains for riders of SEPTA bus route 103, running along the former trolley route to Ardmore. Oakmont connects to Haverford Road and Ardmore by the SEPTA private busway for the 103 bus route, originally right-of-way for the trolley rails. It is the first private busway in the United States.[9]
The Newtown Square Branch railway line once extended through Oakmont as well. It was cut in 1963 to terminate in Oakmont and abandoned in 1981.[9] The previous right-of-way of the train stood empty for decades until its conversion into the Pennsy Trail, a rails-to-trails project part of the Delaware Valley’s circuit trails system that connects Oakmont to Brookline and Llanerch.[10][11]
The Old Oakmont School
Oakmont is served by the Haverford Township School District, the Oakmont Fire Company, and the Haverford Township Police Department. The neighborhood was once served by the Oakmont School as an elementary school. It now houses the administration of the Haverford Township School District.
Demographics
Oakmont corresponds to Census Block Groups 2 and 3 in Census Tract 4086, Census Block Group 2 in Census Tract 4087, and Census Block Group 2 in Census Tract 4091.[12] As of the 2020 census, these areas had a combined population of 4,569.
^ abc"Oakmont". I LIVE IN HARFORD. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
^Graaf, Zachary (May 12, 2022). United We Fall: The History of Haverford Township’s Rival Regional Cultures.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
