Narberth Sources

Primary and secondary source documents which reveal the story of Narberth, presented in several formats:

PDF: As a facsimile of the original document, but with searchable, copyable text.
WWW: A link to the complete facsimile document on another website.
HTML: As a web page. This format is easier to read online than the facsimiles, which were intended for printing. This also allows us to focus on Narberth excerpts from longer documents.

Incorporation of Village of Narberth (1895)
By Aaron S. Swartz. Read the opinion of Presiding Judge Swartz regarding the incorporation of the Borough of Narberth. In rejecting the first petition and amending the second, Swartz established what to this day constitutes the village of Narberth and where its boundaries lie. For example, here is why the east side of the Narberth Avenue bridge approach and the Avon/Anthwyn neighborhood are not part of the borough.
HTML WWW books.google.com
Rural Pennsylvania in the Vicinity of Philadelphia (1897)
By S. F. Hotchkin. "Rural" in 1897 means "suburban" today: descriptions and photographs of the towns, homes, churches and prominent citizens of the Main Line, Delaware county and the brand new borough of Narberth. Here we have excerpted as HTML the book's section on Narberth, including five photographs and one drawing. "WWW" links to a facsimile of the entire book elsewhere online.

HTML WWW books.google.com
Narberth’s Historical Prelude (1905)
By Carden F. Warner. A tour of the area's Indians, settlers and Revolutionary War activity. Notable for its details of the lead-up to borough incorporation, particularly of the Narberth Park development, it fleshes out the names we see on the 1851–1896 maps. The author's father was one of the "original purchasers of lots in Narberth Park", at 214. N. Essex.
In 2012, Lynn Warner Wood, the author's grand-niece, lent the book to the Narberth Civic Association for scanning.
HTML PDF (1.6 MB)
Annual Announcement and Handbook of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Narberth, Pennsylvania (1911)
"The glory of young men is their strength. But nearly all are abnormal in one or another particular…" A description, with photos, of the Narberth YMCA's philosophy, facilities, programs and officers, with a recap of 1910, plus local advertisements and a note on the Narberth Library's early years in the building handwritten by founder Elizabeth Wood. 48 4½ × 6-inch pages.
Source: Narberth Community Library
PDF (9.7 MB)
Narberth Day Fête and Historical Pageant (1914)
Before Our Town, before Narbrook Park, the Narberth Day Fête and Historical Pageant was the debut project of the three-month-old Narberth Civic Association. Performed at midsummer 1914, a cast and crew of hundreds celebrated the borough's 20^th anniversary with this dramatization of the town's origin story, based on Carden Warner's Narberth's Historical Prelude 1616 - 1895.
Source: collections of the Narberth Community Library and David M. Lockwood.
PDF (1.5 MB)
Our Town (1914–49)
Our Town was a weekly newspaper published in Narberth from October 15, 1914 though November 22, 1949. As a source of local life and events, it has no equal.
An incomplete collection of issues preserved at the Narberth Community Library was microfilmed c.1996; in 2012 the microfilm was digitized and uploaded to several online repositories by the Narberth Civic Association.
More about Our Town
For links to PDF issues in the Internet Archive,
Enter a date between 10/15/1914 and 11/22/1949:

Narberth’s Patriotic Fete (1918)
The Patriotic Fete of September 27–28, 1918 was produced by the Narberth Civic Association as a combination of patriotism — a World War I bond drive — and self-promotion — come build a home in Narbrook Park! (Only 6 or 7 of ultimately 35 had been built by then.) It was also on September 28 that the Liberty Loan Drive Parade held in Philadelphia triggered one of the deadliest outbreaks of Spanish Flu in the nation.
54 6" × 9" pages, cover missing. Source: Lower Merion Historical Society
PDF (5.4 MB)
An account of the origin and development of the Narberth Community Library (1926)
By Robert Fellows Wood, husband of the library founder, Elizabeth Wood. Source: handwritten legal ledger in the Narberth Community Library, pages 2–8
HTML
Narberth — A Pictorial History (1944)
By Judd L. Minick. A photographic portrait of 1940s Narberth; several of its 45 photos appeared in 1945's Our Borough. The 32-page original was assembled in a loose-leaf binder belonging to Minick's granddaughter Phyllis Minick Scharf, photocopied by Victoria Donohoe. It reads like a love letter from its author to his adopted home town.
HTML PDF (7.9 MB)
Our Borough, A 50th Anniversary Report (1945)
A combination annual report and 50th anniversary retrospective, this 64-page, 6 × 9-inch booklet is full of interesting Narberth stories and photos from pre-borough days through 1945. It includes chronological lists of borough officials, and the 1895 Charter of Narberth as a Borough.
PDF (1.9 MB)
Borough of Narberth annual reports (1950-54)
The borough printed and mailed these annual reports to its citizens for 5 consecutive years. The 1951 and 1952 reports received state-wide recognition from the Penn State Institute of Local Government.
1950 PDF (0.8 MB)
1951 PDF (0.4 MB)
1952 PDF (1.3 MB)
1953 PDF (3.3 MB)
1954 PDF (0.4 MB)
Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Borough of Narberth (1970)
A 64-page, 11 × 17-inch "souvenir supplement" to the Main Line Chronicle of October 8, 1970. Although its historical accuracy is not always reliable, it contains a lot of interesting images and of course, contemporary advertising.
PDF (8.8 MB)
Narberth (1983)
By Victoria Donohoe. Chapter 33 of Montgomery County, The Second Hundred Years, published 1983 by Montgomery County Federation of Historical Societies.
HTML PDF (6.1 MB)