First settled in 1682 by William Penn's coterie of Welsh Quakers, the Lower Merion area has since undergone several transformations: from farmland, to the home of Philadelphia's industrial elite, to built-out suburb. Besides the development of the unique and impressive Main Line mansions for which the area is famous, Lower Merion and Narberth have been the scene of dramatic railroad rivalries and advances for the middle class. Lower Merion and Narberth focuses on the era of the most intense development, between 1900 and 1950, when the character of each individual neighborhood was coming into its own.