Jenkintown, Pennsylvania

Overview

Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, located approximately 10 miles north of Center City Philadelphia along the Route 611 corridor. With fewer than 5,000 residents packed into just over half a square mile, it is one of the more densely settled small boroughs in the state — and one of the most well-known.

The borough is surrounded on three sides by Abington Township and borders Cheltenham Township to the south. Despite its small footprint, Jenkintown has a distinct identity: a walkable downtown, a commuter rail station on SEPTA's Lansdale/Doylestown line, a long-established school district, and a cultural profile that punches well above its size. National Geographic once described it as Pennsylvania's "Mayberry" — a term locals tend to accept as accurate.

History

Origins (1697–1874)

The land that became Jenkintown was settled around 1697 by Welsh Quaker pioneer William Jenkins, after whom the community was named. It was originally part of Abington Township, one of the oldest townships in Pennsylvania.

The settlement's early commercial identity was built around Sarah Jenkins' Tavern, a well-traveled stagecoach stop along the post road between Philadelphia and New York. Travelers moving through the colonial countryside would rest horses and take meals here, making the tavern one of the first institutions to give the area a recognizable name on regional maps.

The arrival of the North Pennsylvania Railroad in 1857 transformed Jenkintown from a rural crossroads into a commuter suburb. Direct rail access to Philadelphia made it attractive to merchants and professionals who wanted distance from the city without losing connection to it — a pattern that would define the borough's growth for the next century.

On December 8, 1874, approximately 248 acres were taken from Abington Township to form the independent Borough of Jenkintown. A school district followed shortly after.

Revolutionary War

In early December 1777, elements of the British Army passed through Jenkintown on their march toward the Battle of White Marsh — one of the final engagements of the Philadelphia Campaign. The battle ended inconclusively, with General Washington's forces holding their position at White Marsh before withdrawing to Valley Forge. The roads through what is now Jenkintown were part of the contested corridor between the two armies during this period.

Growth and the Retail Era (1880s–1980s)

Jenkintown's population grew steadily through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, nearly doubling between 1880 and 1900 as rail-accessible suburbs expanded. By 1930, the borough had nearly 4,800 residents — a peak it wouldn't match again until 2020.

From the mid-1950s through the early 1980s, Jenkintown's main commercial corridor was one of the primary retail destinations for the northern Philadelphia suburbs. Department stores, specialty shops, and restaurants lined Old York Road, drawing shoppers from surrounding townships. The rise of regional malls in the 1970s and 1980s gradually shifted that traffic, a pattern common across inner-ring Philadelphia suburbs.

Fire Companies

One of Jenkintown's more unusual local institutions is its pair of volunteer fire companies — both still active and both founded within five years of each other. The Pioneer Fire Company No. 1 was organized in 1884; the Independent Fire Company No. 2 followed in 1889. Their separate founding reflects a historical split in the borough that locals still reference, though both companies have operated cooperatively for generations. Together they represent one of the longer-running volunteer fire operations in Montgomery County.

Quick Facts

Notable People

For a borough of fewer than 5,000 residents, Jenkintown has produced a disproportionate number of recognizable names — particularly in entertainment.

• Bradley Cooper — Actor Cooper grew up in Jenkintown and attended Germantown Academy. He went on to become one of the most recognized actors of his generation, with roles in Silver Linings Playbook, American Sniper, A Star Is Born, and the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. He has won multiple Academy Awards. He is not listed in Jenkintown's Wikipedia article — his hometown is Germantown Academy's address — but he is consistently identified with the borough in local and national press.
• Adam F. Goldberg — Television Writer and Producer Goldberg grew up in Jenkintown in the 1980s and based the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs directly on his childhood here. The show ran for 11 seasons beginning in 2013. Goldberg has described the borough, its houses, its schools, and his family in specific enough detail that longtime Jenkintown residents recognize their neighbors in the characters.
• Nick Kroll — Comedian and Actor Kroll grew up in Jenkintown and attended Rydal Elementary School before heading to the Collegiate School in New York. He is known for The Kroll Show, the animated series Big Mouth (which he co-created and voices), and his Broadway collaboration with John Mulaney, Oh, Hello. Kroll and Mulaney have both made reference to their shared Jenkintown upbringing in interviews and on stage.
• John Mulaney — Comedian Mulaney spent formative years in Jenkintown before his family relocated to Chicago. Like Kroll, he attended school in the area and the two have remained friends and collaborators. Mulaney has referenced Pennsylvania specifically in his stand-up, though he identifies primarily with Chicago in his material.
• Friederike Baer — Historian Baer is a German-born, award-winning American historian and professor at Penn State Abington. She is the author of The Trial of Frederick Eberle and has written on the German-American experience and Pennsylvania history.
• Wilmot E. Fleming — Politician Fleming served as a Pennsylvania state politician and is listed among notable Jenkintown-born residents in historical records of the borough.

The Goldbergs

The Goldbergs is an ABC sitcom that premiered in September 2013 and ran for 11 seasons through 2024. Created by Adam F. Goldberg, the show is a semi-autobiographical account of growing up in a loud, loving, chaotic family in 1980s Jenkintown. Goldberg plays a fictionalized version of himself — a kid obsessed with movies, armed with a camcorder, surrounded by a mother (Beverly) who hovers to the point of suffocation and a father (Murray) who communicates largely through grunts and recliner-based inertia.

The show is set explicitly in Jenkintown. The house, the school, the neighborhood, the local landmarks — all drawn from Goldberg's real memories of the borough. A real Jenkintown family, the Kremps of Newbold Road, was featured in a CBS Philadelphia news segment when the show premiered, noting that the Goldbergs' fictional house was modeled after real homes on their street.

The show gave Jenkintown a degree of national recognition unusual for a 0.6-square-mile borough in Montgomery County. When National Geographic profiled the borough in 2015, the piece led with The Goldbergs and Bradley Cooper and used the word "Mayberry." Residents interviewed for the piece seemed to agree with the characterization — and to find it only slightly embarrassing.