Narberth is located on a parcel of land originally deeded to Edward Rees (which later became ?Prees? and eventually ?Price?), who arrived from Wales in 1682. A portion of this original tract became the 100-acre farm of Edward R. Price, who founded Elm as a ?Quaker-friendly? town in 1881. The town named changed to Narberth in 1893, and Narberth was incorporated in 1895. [1] In 1995, the borough celebrated its 100th birthday with a year-long celebration.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km?), all of it land.

Narberth is an enclave surrounded by Lower Merion Township, close to the western edge of the city of Philadelphia. It is part of the "Main Line", a string of leafy, picturesque suburbs with quaint Welsh names extending west from Philadelphia along the old Pennsylvania Railroad's "main line" from Merion through Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, Villanova, Devon and Wayne among other towns and municipalities. Narberth is unique among those locations in that it is fairly enclosed; no major thoroughfares run through the town, but Montgomery Avenue runs northwest/southeast along the borough's northern border.

Because of its small size, Narberth is a walking town, with virtually all of its shopping and recreational facilities within walking distance of residents' houses. SEPTA's "Main Line" railroad tracks separate North Side from South Side. Narberth is mostly a residential community, with a central business district along Haverford, Narberth, Forest, and Essex Avenues.


Narberth is divided up into sections, each with a different personality. "Downtown" Narberth is where the main cluster of stores and public facilities are located. This area borders Haverford Avenue and is delimited by Wynnewood Road, north of the train tracks. Among the commercial downtown landmarks are the town's original movie house, the Narberth Theater, now a spruced-up double-screen; Ricklin's Hardware Store, purveyor of paint, plaster, and plants to five generations of Main Liners; Mapes' Five and Ten, now with three locations and the last of area's independent variety stores. and Jimmy "the Greek's" Tavern and Restaurant. An assortment of coffee shops, dress shops, and antique establishments line the district. The Narberth Playground, bordered by Haverford, Wynnewood, and Windsor Avenues, is known for its popular summer basketball leagues, featuring summer night games with some of the best local high schools and collegiate players. The playground has unique and traditional July 4 festival, mostly unchanged for more than a century, which begins at 9 AM with children's races and culminates twelve hours later in the region's best-known fireworks display. Narberth's public library, renovated in 2009, is adjacent to the entrance to the children's playground on Windsor Avenue.

South Narberth lies south of the train tracks and over the Narberth Avenue bridge. It is sometimes confused with Merion because of its resemblance to that municipality. This entirely residential area extends west into Wynnewood and south into Merion, delimited by South Bowman Avenue and East Wynnewood Road.

The northeast section is so-called "working-class" Narberth, populated by turn-on-the-century row houses, which today are often inhabited descendants of Italian and Irish immigrants. The area has many long-time family businesses, such as Joseph Gaudini's Tailor Shop and Al DiBonaventura's Barber Shop. Its center is the narrow intersection of Iona and Woodbine Avenues. Caviston's Restaurant, the latest in a succession of eateries that have tried to replace Giuliani's?the landmark family restaurant that sat at the intersection for many decades?is also here. Northeast Narberth extends to Montgomery Avenue on the north, North Narberth to the west, and Windsor to the south. Saint Margaret's Catholic church, its school, and a Lutheran church reside on this area's western border.

The Borough of Narberth maintains two recreational facilities: The Narberth Playground and the Sabine Avenue Playground. The Narberth Playground has two basketball courts, three tennis courts, a field area, a junior basketball court (once volleyball), and a playground for younger children. The Sabine Avenue Tot Lot, on the grounds of the former Narberth Elementary School, is the smaller of the two and was recently renovated with new playground equipment. In addition, the borough sponsors a Fall soccer program, a Spring baseball program, a Summer basketball program, and many other sports and recreation activities.

Residents of Narberth are served by the Lower Merion School District. Borough children attend either Merion Elementary or Penn Valley Elementary schools, Bala Cynwyd Middle or Welsh Valley Middle schools, and Lower Merion High School. Religious schools in the immediate vicinity include the private Waldron Mercy Academy and Merion Mercy Academy Catholic schools, the parish Saint Margaret's Elementary Catholic School, and Torah Academy in nearby Wynnewood. Nearby private schools include Friends Central School on City Avenue, Gladwyne's Montessori School, and the girls schools Agnes Irwin and Baldwin, the boys schools the Haverford School and Episcopal Academy, and coeducational Shipley School, all in or near Bryn Mawr.

Narberth is virtually home to Saint Joseph's University, which occupies an increasingly large area adjacent to the Lankenau Hospital campus in nearby Merion on City Avenue. Villanova University, straddling Lancaster Pike, and Rosemont College, on Montgomery, are also nearby, as are Haverford College, Bryn Mawr College, Cabrini College, and Eastern University, the latter two in nearby Saint David's.