Lower Merion Township near Bala Cynwyd in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
West Laurel Hill Train Station
Cynwyd Heritage Trail
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), March 7, 2020
1. West Laurel Hill Train Station Marker
Inscription.
West Laurel Hill Train Station. Cynwyd Heritage Trail. Before the advent of parks, the only great swaths of green open space where the general public could visit and picnic were cemeteries. For this reason, the West Laurel Hill Station (1884-1899) was one of the most popular of the early stops along the line and generated much weekend traffic. For city-dwellers seeking a rural setting, the railroad reinforced this effect by ornately landscaping the grounds around the station platforms., After passengers disembarked at the station platform, the trains would move another hundred feet down the rails to the freight platform, where caskets would be unloaded onto horse-drawn carriages. The brick-paved ramp carved into the hill that leads up to a side entrance of the cemetery still visible., The West Laurel Hill Station was decommissioned and disassembled in 1899 to make way for the new station at Barmouth, which was better located to service both West Laurel Hill Cemetery and the newly-incorporated Westminster Cemetery.
Before the advent of parks, the only great swaths of green open space where the general public could visit and picnic were cemeteries. For this reason, the West Laurel Hill Station (1884-1899) was one of the most popular of the early stops along the line and generated much weekend traffic. For city-dwellers seeking a rural setting, the railroad reinforced this effect by ornately landscaping the grounds around the station platforms.
After passengers disembarked at the station platform, the trains would move another hundred feet down the rails to the freight platform, where caskets would be unloaded onto horse-drawn carriages. The brick-paved ramp carved into the hill that leads up to a side entrance of the cemetery still visible.
The West Laurel Hill Station was decommissioned and disassembled in 1899 to make way for the new station at Barmouth, which was better located to service both West Laurel Hill Cemetery and the newly-incorporated Westminster Cemetery.
Erected by Lower Merion Township; Preserve America grant administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Location. 40° 1.135′ N, 75° 13.41′ W. Marker is near Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, in Montgomery County. It is in Lower Merion Township. It is on Cynwyd Heritage Trail 0.8 miles east of East Levering Mill Road, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Bala Cynwyd PA 19004, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Pennsylvania and in Greater Philadelphia. It is also in the American Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 8, 2020, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 524 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on March 8, 2020, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
