High Society on the Main Line

"Old Maids Never Wed And Have Babies Period." With this mnemonic, Philadelphians were taught to remember the westward-bound stops along the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad: Overbrook, Merion, Narberth, Wynnewood, Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and after unnamed others, Paoli.

In March 1823, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a charter for the construction of this, the state's first railroad, linking Philadelphia to Columbia via Lancaster, a distance of 82 mi. After the Civil War, genteel suburbs sprang up around the stations. The gracious estates with endless lawns, the debutante balls and cricket clubs, were the province of wealthy families. Philadelphia's social elite were attracted by the benefits of cultivated country living.

The 1939 film Philadelphia Story, a depiction of Main Line society life, starred Katharine Hepburn, a graduate of Bryn Mawr College (101 N. Merion Ave., Bryn Mawr. 610/526-5000. www.brynmawr.edu), the first college for women that offered B.A. degrees. Founded in 1885 and modeled after Cambridge and Oxford colleges, Bryn Mawr introduced the "collegiate Gothic" style of architecture to the United States. Nearby is the Baldwin School (701 W. Montgomery Ave., Bryn Mawr. 610/525-2700. www.baldwinschool.org), which Miss Florence Baldwin began in 1888 as a prep school for the college. The Baldwin campus includes a five-story 1892 château-style structure designed by Philadelphia architect Frank Furness. Furness also built the Victorian clubhouse at the Merion Cricket Club (325 Montgomery Ave., Haverford. 610/642-5800. www.merioncricket.com). In the early 1900s the club drew crowds of 25,000 spectators; today its Great Lawn hosts tennis events.

The main attraction of the Main Line is the Barnes Foundation, home to Albert C. Barnes's staggering collection of impressionist and postimpressionist art, one of the world's finest. The opulent Chanticleer (786 Church Rd., Wayne. 610/687-4163. www.chanticleergarden.org) is a 35-acre pleasure garden circling a country estate; even the old tennis court has been transformed into a garden. It's open April through October, Wednesday through Sunday 10 to 5. Admission is $5.

Centuries before the socialites arrived, the Welsh Quakers settled on the Main Line on land granted by William Penn. Penn is said to have worshipped at the Merion Friends Meeting (615 Montgomery Ave., Merion. 610/664-4210), among the oldest Friends meetinghouses in America. It was built between 1695 and 1704. (Meetings for worship are Sunday at 11.) If you're lucky, Mother Divine herself will lead you on a tour of the well-preserved Woodmont (1622 Spring Mill Rd., Gladwyne. 610/525-5598), headquarters of Father Divine's Peace Mission Movement, a progressive religious and social movement that was in its heyday in the 1930s. Father Divine is buried in a mausoleum on the grounds of this striking 1892 Gothic manor house, a National Historic Landmark that was built by a steel baron for $1 million. Woodmont is free and open April through October, Sunday 1-5, with weekday tours by appointment. Modest dress is required.