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1955 Map of Media

Name: 1955 Topographic Map of Media
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1955
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1955

About this map

Tyler Arboretum and the specialized campuses of the Sleighton Farm School and Elwyn Training School define the mid-century institutional character of this Delaware County landscape. The map illustrates a period of significant suburban transition, where large estates like the Radnor Hunt Club and the Ellis School for Girls remain intact alongside emerging residential developments like Florida Park and Valley View Acres.

Transportation networks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad anchor industrial and community hubs at Wawa, Lenni, and Glen Riddle. The prominent Springton Reservoir interrupts the course of Crum Creek, while historic industrial sites like Sycamore Mills and various quarries reflect the area's earlier extractive and milling economy. This survey documents the intersection of rural heritage and the post-war suburbanization that was beginning to reshape the Philadelphia outskirts.