Media | |
|---|---|
 State Street in Media, September 2024 | |
 Seal | |
| Nickname: Everybody's Hometown | |
 Location of Media inDelaware County (top) and of Delaware County the U.S. state ofPennsylvania (below) | |
  Media Location of Media in Pennsylvania Show map of Pennsylvania Media Media (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:39°55′08″N75°23′21″W / 39.91889°N 75.38917°W /39.91889; -75.38917 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Delaware |
| Settled | 1681 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Joi Washington (D)[1][2] |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.76 sq mi (1.98 km2) |
| • Land | 0.76 sq mi (1.98 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0039 sq mi (0.01 km2) |
| Population | |
• Total | 5,901 |
| • Density | 7,736.6/sq mi (2,987.11/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 19063, 19065, 19091 |
| Area codes | 610 and 484 |
| FIPS code | 42-48480 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1180858 |
| Website | www |
Media is aborough in and thecounty seat ofDelaware County, Pennsylvania, United States.[5] It is located about 13 miles (21 km) west ofPhiladelphia. It is part of theDelaware Valley, also known as thePhiladelphia metropolitan area.
Media was incorporated in 1850 at the same time that it was named the county seat.[6] As of the2020 census, the population was 5,991.[7]
The history of the area goes back toWilliam Penn, but the area remained predominantly rural until the 20th century.[8]
Land in the area was sold and settled soon afterWilliam Penn was named proprietor of the colonial-eraProvince of Pennsylvania in 1681 byKing Charles II of England. Peter and William Taylor bought the land where Media is now located, directly from Penn.[9] At the time, the land was located inChester County. Providence Township was organized in 1684, and later divided intoUpper Providence andNether Providence townships by 1690, even though they only had 40 taxable properties at the time.[10][11] The current borough, formed in 1850, sits between the two townships.
In 1683, the Court of Chester County approved the construction of "Providence Great Road", nowPennsylvania Route 252. The road, which runs north fromChester to within a few blocks of today's downtown, is shown on a 1687 map along with the names of local landowners.[12] It forms the eastern border of the borough.
Thomas Minshall, aQuaker, was an early Media resident, settling just outside the small village then known as "Providence", along Providence Great Road. The village then included a tailor shop, blacksmith shop, wheelwright shop, barn and other buildings.[13]
Minshall bought 625 acres (253 ha) from William Penn and arrived in 1682. TheProvidence Friends Meetinghouse was established at his house in February 1688.
The original Friends Meetinghouse was built out of logs in 1699 or 1700, and the current building was completed in 1814. A house on Minshall's property, built around 1750, still stands and was given to the citizens of the borough in 1975.[14]
In 1789,Chester County, Pennsylvania was divided, with the eastern portion becomingDelaware County, Pennsylvania.
The area in the center of the new county remained rural through 1850. On March 11, 1850, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by Special Act of Assembly incorporated the Borough of Media, and made the sale of malt and spirituous liquors unlawful within its borders. At the same time, the county seat ofDelaware County was moved to Media from Chester. The borough was formed from four farms purchased by the county, totaling only 480 acres (190 ha). The borders of the borough have not changed since that time.[15]
Streets were plotted in a rectangular grid around the location of the new courthouse, lots were sold at public auctions, and the construction of houses began. Sources agree that Minshall Painter, a descendant of Thomas Minshall, suggested the name "Media", but do not agree on the reason. The name most likely comes from the borough'smedian location in the direct center of Delaware County.[16]
In 1940, thePennsylvania guide described Media by noting that "[t]he majority of its houses, almost all built since theAmerican Civil War, sit far back on shaded lawns and seem somewhat gloomy. The borough has a large and prosperous business section and a few small industrial plants; many townspeople work inPhiladelphia orChester."[17]
TheJohn J. Tyler Arboretum occupies part of Thomas Minshall's original 625 acres (253 ha). This farm and a nearbyVillage of Lima was used by theUnderground Railroad.[18] The land was donated to a public trust in 1944 by an eighth-generation descendant. The arboretum was started as a private collection by brothers Jacob and Minshall Painter. In 1825, they began systematically planting over 1,000 varieties of trees and shrubs. Over twenty of their original trees survive, including agiant sequoia.[19]
Minshall Painter was also a leader of theDelaware County Institute of Science, which was formed on September 21, 1833, with just four other members: George Miller, John Miller, George Smith, M.D., andJohn Cassin. The institute was incorporated in 1836. About 1850, Painter gave the institute the land where its building currently stands at 11 Veterans Square, and the building was constructed in 1867.[20]
In the second half of the 19th century, Media was a summer resort for well-to-do Philadelphians. The borough's large vacation hotels included the Idlewild Hotel (1871) on Lincoln Street at Gayley Terrace, Chestnut Grove House or "The Colonial" (1860) on Orange Street, and Brooke Hall on Orange Street and Washington Avenue (now Baltimore Avenue). The Chestnut Grove was used for a year by nearbySwarthmore College due to a fire on its campus.[21]
TheWest Chester and Philadelphia Railroad was built through Media on October 19, 1854. Electrified service was opened on December 2, 1928. Up to 50 trains passed through each day. The railroad became part of thePhiladelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad and eventually thePenn Central.SEPTA took over operations in 1983.Woodrow Wilson spoke at the Media Station in 1912 during his firstelection campaign. Trolley transportation lines spread to and through Media in the 1890s and early 1900s.[22][23]
| External videos | |
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 Media, PA - Walking Tour, by Wanda Kaluza | |
| Media, PA CoyopaFilms |
The Media Theatre opened as avaudeville house in 1927.[24] The first talkie film,The Jazz Singer, was shown there. It remained a popular cinema through the 1970s and 1980s. In 1994, the theater underwent a $1 million (~$1.91 million in 2024) restoration by Walter Strine Sr. and re-opened as the Media Theatre for the Performing Arts.[25] Shows produced there have includedThe Full Monty,Carousel andMiss Saigon.
On March 8, 1971, theCitizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI raided anFBI "resident agency" in Media. They later released thousands of documents to major newspapers around the country. These documents revealed FBI tactics such as the illegal wiretapping of civil rights leaders likeMartin Luther King Jr. and the recruitment ofBoy Scouts as informants, and confirmed for the first time the existence ofCOINTELPRO, an FBI program to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" dissident groups in the United States.[26][27]
In June 2006, Media became the first town in the United States to follow over 300 towns in Europe in attainingfair trade certification. To meet the criteria for certification, Media passed a council resolution in support offair trade, served fair-trade coffee and tea in local government meetings and offices, ensured that a range of fair-trade products were available in local restaurants and businesses, raised popular support and provided media coverage for the fair-trade campaign, and convened a fair-trade steering committee to ensure continued commitment.[28]
Three locally recognized historic districts were designated by the borough in 1975.[29] These districts are:
There are several parks located within the borough of Media and shared with surrounding communities.[41]
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Media is located in central Delaware County at39°55′8″N75°23′17″W / 39.91889°N 75.38806°W /39.91889; -75.38806 (39.918761, -75.388127).[44]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.77 square miles (2.0 km2), of which 0.004 square miles (0.01 km2), or 0.42%, is water.[7] Media is situated on high ground (250 to 350 feet (76 to 107 m) above sea level) draining west toRidley Creek, a south-flowing tributary of theDelaware River.
Media has ahumid subtropical climate (Cfa) and thehardiness zone is 7a.[45]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 285 | — | |
| 1860 | 2,397 | 741.1% | |
| 1870 | 1,045 | −56.4% | |
| 1880 | 1,919 | 83.6% | |
| 1890 | 2,736 | 42.6% | |
| 1900 | 3,075 | 12.4% | |
| 1910 | 3,562 | 15.8% | |
| 1920 | 4,109 | 15.4% | |
| 1930 | 5,372 | 30.7% | |
| 1940 | 5,351 | −0.4% | |
| 1950 | 5,726 | 7.0% | |
| 1960 | 5,803 | 1.3% | |
| 1970 | 6,444 | 11.0% | |
| 1980 | 6,119 | −5.0% | |
| 1990 | 5,957 | −2.6% | |
| 2000 | 5,533 | −7.1% | |
| 2010 | 5,327 | −3.7% | |
| 2020 | 5,901 | 10.8% | |
| Sources:[46][47][48][49][4] | |||
As of the 2020 census, the racial makeup of the borough was 82.9%White, 3.5%African American, 0.4%Native American, 5.7%Asian, 2.6% from Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.9% from two or more races, and 2.5% fromHispanic orLatino of any race.[50]
At the time of the 2010 Census, the racial makeup of the borough was 83.4%White, 10.6%African American, 0.1%Native American, 3.5%Asian, 0.5% fromother races, and 1.9% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 2.5% of the population.[51]
The term "Media" is often used to include not only the borough of Media, but other municipalities but that share theZIP Code. The borough of Media covers only 0.8 square miles (2.1 square kilometres) and less than 6,000 residents, but the Media ZIP Code 19063 covers 23.08 sq mi (59.8 km2) and a population of 35,704.[52]
According to theUnited States Postal Service, the following addresses are included in the 19063 ZIP Code:Elwyn,Garden City,Glen Riddle, andRose Valley.[53] Other areas at least partially included in the 19063 zip code areUpper Providence Township;Nether Providence Township, the neighborhoods ofSouth Media, Bowling Green, Pine Ridge and Ridgewood; and most ofMiddletown Township, including, Bortondale,Riddlewood, andLima.[54]
The borough of Media is run by a mayor and an elected council. Mark Paikoff is the president of the Media Borough Council, and Elizabeth Romaine is the vice-president. As of April 2024, the other Council members are Kevin Boyer, Lisa Gelman, Jen Malkoun, Tray Herman, and Joi Washington.[55]
In 2025, Joi Washington was elected mayor, becoming the first woman to hold the office.[56] A member of the borough council since 2022, she won the mayoral race with 77 percent of the vote against Kevin Kellogg, a Republican.[57] Washington succeeds Mayor Bob McMahon, a Democrat who had served as mayor since being elected 1992. Upon taking office, Washington identified road safety and the reduction of traffic fatalities as her early priorities.[58]
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2024 | 1,029 | 26.25% | 2,846 | 72.60% | 45 | 1.15% |
| 2020 | 948 | 24.15% | 2,929 | 74.62% | 48 | 1.22% |
| 2016 | 833 | 24.77% | 2,361 | 70.21% | 169 | 5.03% |
| 2012 | 1015 | 30.63% | 2,299 | 69.37% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 2008 | 889 | 27.62% | 2,276 | 70.71% | 54 | 1.68% |
Media is a reliably Democratic-leaning borough, consistently delivering strong support for Democratic candidates in federal, state, and local elections.
Media lies within theRose Tree Media School District, created by a merger with the Rose Tree Union School District and Media Borough School District in 1966. Public school students living within borough boundaries attend Media Elementary School, located in Downtown Media, for grades K-5.[59] Springton Lake Middle School serves students in grades 6–8, andPenncrest High School serves students in grades 9–12.
The Media-Upper Providence Friends School is the only private school in the borough.
Mother of Providence Regional Catholic School inWallingford is the area Catholic school of theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It formed in 2012 from a merger of Nativity BVM School, which was Media's only pariochal school and St. John Chrysostom in Wallingford.[60] Nativity BVM school opened in 1912, with its last building occupied in 1949.[61] The Nativity BVM school administration chose not to file an appeal against the 2012 order to merge.[62] Some parents had lobbied for the continued operation of the school. The archdiocese had originally planned to make Nativity BVM the regional campus, but changed when St. John Chrystosom had appealed the decision.[63] After the closure, Media Elementary School occupied the campus while renovations of the permanent Media Elementary occurred.[64]
The following are in townships around Media, and have Media mailing addresses:
_just_north_of_Baltimore_Pike_in_Media%2c_Delaware_County%2c_Pennsylvania.jpg)
As of 2018, there were 18.29 miles (29.43 km) of public roads in Media, of which 3.40 miles (5.47 km) were maintained by thePennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and 14.89 miles (23.96 km) were maintained by the borough.[69]
Route 252, Providence Road, is the only numbered highway presently traversing the borough. It follows a north-south alignment along the eastern border of Media.
U.S. 1 formerly ran through the borough until the"Media bypass" was completed in 1960.[70] The bypass has an unusual "volleyball" orthree-level diamond interchange with Interstate 476. The former Route 1 through the center of Media is known by its older name, Baltimore Avenue, changing to "Baltimore Pike" outside the borough limits.[71]
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), the 21st-busiest airport in the nation in 2022, is 11 miles' driving distance (about a 15-minute drive) from downtown Media, following Baltimore Pike east, thenInterstate 476 south andInterstate 95 northeast.[72][73]
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Rev Samuel Maxwell Gayley
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Marple Campus Marple Township (Media mailing address)
800 Manchester Avenue Media, PA 19063-4089- Compare the address location to the map. Thecontact page states "Get directions to P.I.T.’s campus in Media, PA." but in fact the campus is not in the Media borough limits.Note that the city of Houston stated in 1996 that: "The U.S. Postal Service establishes ZIP codes and mailing addresses in order to maximize the efficiency of their system, not to recognize jurisdictional boundaries."
| Preceded by | County seat ofDelaware County 1851–present | Succeeded by Current |
Municipalities and communities ofDelaware County, Pennsylvania,United States | ||
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| Ghost town | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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