Editing Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (section)

===Railroad suburb===
Ridley Park was founded by [[Isaac Hinckley]] in 1871. He was the President of the [[Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad]].<ref name="ReferenceA">The history of Ridley Park by Keith Lockhart Published in 1987, K. Lockhart (Ridley Park, Pa.)</ref>  He wanted to expand the company's rail line to gain more business in the same way the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] had earlier created a [[Philadelphia Main Line|Main Line]] from [[30th Street Station]] in Philadelphia to [[Paoli, Pennsylvania|Paoli]].  The Pennsylvania Railroad bought up farmland and developed towns all along its rail line. City dwellers, seeking relief from the urban crowds with their potential to spread [[malaria]], a disease that was a major health concern at the time, quickly purchased the new homes being built.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> 
 
Seeing the success of this, Hinckley came up with the idea of putting in a rail line that would pass through [[Darby, Pennsylvania|Darby]] and continue all the way to the semi-rural city of [[Chester, Pennsylvania|Chester]] in what became known as the [[Darby Improvement]]<ref>History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Henry Graham Ashmead, Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co. 1884</ref> Hinckley's plans met with initial resistance from farmers, and at the end of the first year, he had managed to buy only one farm.  Undaunted, he traveled further south on [[Chester Pike]] to the area now known as Ridley Park.<ref>History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. By Henry Graham Ashmead Philadelphia:L. H. Everts & Co.1884</ref>
  
In an effort to avoid his previous bad experience, in May 1871, Hinckley formed an association to acquire the land.  Hinckley hired [[Robert Morris Copeland]], a noted Boston landscape architect, to develop a master plan for a suburban park community which became known as the  Borough of Ridley Park.  Copeland's design is Delaware County's first [[planned community]].<ref name="ReferenceB"/>  Because of its beautifully landscaped streets and parks, and its {{convert|20|acre|m2|adj=on}} man-made lake, Ridley Park became popular in the late 19th century and early part of the 20th century as a summer resort for wealthy Philadelphians who built most of the [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] style homes still lived in today.<ref>The history of Ridley Park by Keith Lockhart Published in 1987, K. Lockhart (Ridley Park; Pa.)</ref>

Between January and May 1870, many farms were purchased.  The streets in the new development were named after the families who sold their farmland.  Names such as Burk, Dutton, Free, Henderson, Stewart and Ward, are still used today. The first train of passengers-cars stopped at Ridley Park on October 19, 1872.  By that time, the town had a hotel, and a dam had been built across [[Crum Creek]], creating a {{convert|20|acre|m2|adj=on}} lake.  By 1880, the U.S. census return recorded the population of Ridley Park as 439. The railroad was, and continues today to be an integral part of the town.<ref>History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. By Henry Graham Ashmead Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co.1884</ref>