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West Point was
known as
Lukens Station from 1873 to 1876 and owes
its existence almost exclusively to the construction of
the Stony Creek Railroad.
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In a corner of Upper Gwynedd Township in southeastern
Pennsylvania, about 15 miles from Philadelphia, the village of
West Point has existed since 1877. Very small by today's
standards, it was (and still is) the only village in Gwynedd
Township. The population of the entire township (now split into
Upper and Lower Gwynedd) was about 2000 at that time.
Isolated by farmland and
forest from other towns such as North Wales and Lansdale, it was
accessible by rail, trolley car and horseback. West Point was
"west" of a mill in North Wales, and its name is derived from
that fact. (The location of the mill building, still standing,
is explored in more detail on this website.)
West Point once had a grist mill, a planing mill, a saw mill, a
brick yard and a lumber yard. There were two feed houses which
supplied feed, coal, hay, cement, lumber and fertilizer.
Portable steam engines were manufactured here. There was a fine
hotel, a general store, tavern and a post office. There were
stables behind the hotel and a blacksmith on Garfield Avenue.
Many of the inhabitants belonged to the local chapter of the
Patriotic Order Sons of America.
Passengers and freight
arrived at the train station, and the trolley went through the
village, passing the firehouse and stopping at Zieber's Park.
Wagonloads of hay came here to be processed, then shipped out by
train. There was an elementary school on Main Street, and later
the Upper Gwynedd high school was built next to it. Shoes
and hosiery were made here, cows were sold, and almost every
house had a chicken coop and a "truck patch" (vegetable garden).
There was a wheelwright shop which added a gasoline pump when
the automobile appeared on the scene. The telegraph office could
be found at the train station. The station agent delivered the
mail, which arrived at the post office in the general store.
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This aerial photo of a
section of Upper Gwynedd shows that as late as
1942 the village was still isolated by farmland.
After WWII the farms in Upper Gwynedd began to
be bought up and converted to housing. The very
last bit of farmland adjoining West Point
disappeared in 1999 when Merck built an office
building on Broad Street near Garfield Avenue on
what had been a corn field.
The dark rectangle surrounded by the bright area
is the beginning of Merck, Sharpe and Dohme,
formerly the Kellet Aircraft Company.
Click here for a full size version.
An example of the population
growth can be found in "A History of the Church
of the Messiah, Gwynedd, PA." This is a small
Episcopalian church which was built in the
center of Gwynedd.
In 1878 (a year after the creation of the West
Point village) the church had forty members and
the Sunday School had 63 pupils.
In 1921 the church had 204 members and the
Sunday School had 112 pupils.
In 1947 the church had 239 members and 80 pupils
in the Sunday School.
In 1957 the church had 1,855 members and 350
enrolled in Sunday School.
It had taken 69 years for the congregation to
grow by 400 percent, and just 10 years later the
number was seven times that amount!
From 1947 to 1957 there were 39 million births
in the United States. Unsurprisingly, the
membership in the church doubled after 1965. |
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As rural farmland was
replaced by urban sprawl, West Point was surrounded by and
encroached upon by late 20th century America. The "village"
practically disappeared, swallowed by the new growth. In 2005
signs were placed at the four corners of the village so people
could tell where it once started and ended.
Every weekday morning an unending stream of automobile
traffic flows through West Point, many of the cars going to the
enormous pharmaceutical complex of Merck and Co which employs
11,000 workers at the site. Indeed, the location of the Amos
Jones farm which was so significant to the formation of the
village is now part of Merck’s property. Still, in spite of many
of the parts being forever lost, the village survives somewhat
intact.
Today no lumber, bricks or engines are produced in West
Point. There are no chickens, horses or cows. Almost all
manufacturing in the village itself has disappeared, leaving the
repurposed buildings behind. Feed for livestock is no longer
available, hay is not baled and the talk of fun at Zieber's Park
is no longer heard at the tavern. You can't get a hotel room,
there is no general store, you can't buy any coal, and the
schools have vanished. There is no trolley service and if you
need a ride on the train you'll have to drive to a train
station.
Although
the train station and trolley tracks are gone, the Stony Creek
rail line still operates on rare occasion. Residents find
comfort late at night hearing the train coming through, the
sound softened almost into melody as it fades into the distance.
Few know where it has come from or what its destination will be,
but that train was an important part of West Point history.
Freight train crossing West Point Pike on
the Stony Creek Line.
West Point still has the Post Office which
made the village name official. It is also is the home of
the Upper Gwynedd Fire House. It is home to Gwyndale auto repair
shop, Grace Church and a park with a playground. West Point
Radio is heard on 91.3 FM.
Also in West Point is a business center,
the Village Tea House, a machine shop, a tree surgeon, a garden
center, contractors, landscapers, lawyers and other professional
and home based businesses, not to mention the headquarters and
manufacturing plants for Colorcon and Merck & Co.
There is also the (in)famous Pizza Time
Saloon, housed in what had once been the West Point Grove
Hotel. If you need directions to West point, just ask how to
get to Pizza Time.
West Point is also home to some of the nicest people you'll
find anywhere.
This website will showcase some of the sights and
history of West Point Pennsylvania.
Enjoy your visit.
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