

Atkinson, Jr., the first black man to serve in this capacity. Ward four (South Ardmore) has been represented since 1974 by Nolan E.

As the township grew, the number increased to fourteen in 1972, still the same in 1981. Six months later the number of wards, and consequently commissioners, increased to nine. They held the first organization meeting at the General Wayne Hotel in March 1900.

In the following November election seven men, each representing a ward, were elected as the first township commissioners. Lower Merion was the first to avail itself of this status. Townships having a census count of more than three hundred residents to the square mile were authorized to become first class townships by an act of the state legislature in 1899. In 1888 the societies merged as the Main Line Citizens Association. About 1877 citizens formed societies to suppress lawlessness. A single elected constable was responsible for law and order. Montgomery County: The Second Hundred Years - 1983īefore becoming a first class township, Lower Merion was governed by a Board of Supervisors chiefly concerned with the care of roads.
