Ридли Парк: Тарихы мен даму жолы

Ridley Park is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,002 at the 2010 census. Ridley Park is the home of Boeing's CH 47 Chinook helicopter division.

The Lenape inhabited the Delaware River region several centuries before the arrival of European explorers and traders. The Okehocking Tribe of the Lenni Lenape Nation established small permanent villages along the river and its main tributaries. Land adjacent to Stoney Creek in Ridley Township has been identified as a Native American town site. Historians also believe that additional villages may have existed at other locations along Stoney Creek and Crum Creek in Ridley Park.

The borough is named after a place in Cheshire, England. John Morton, signer of the American Declaration of Independence, was born and raised in a log cabin adjacent to East Ridley Avenue. He later replaced the cabin with a brick house and began farming in the Ridley Park area. Chester Pike, originally a footpath, was realigned and widened by William Penn. Known then as the “Queens Highway,” it was one of the region's first roads stretching from Chester to Darby, and by 1715, it reached Philadelphia. General George Washington led his troops down this earthen road to Wilmington and eventually to Brandywine to confront the British in 1777. In 1799, the “Queens Highway” was improved as a plank road, and tolls were levied. The population of the area continued to increase after the American Revolutionary War. Consequently, a private elementary subscription school was founded in 1800 on a site at Chester Pike and Myrtle Avenue. This was one of the first schools in Delaware County.

Ridley Park was founded by Isaac Hinckley in 1871. He was the President of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. He wanted to expand the company's rail line to gain more business in the same way the Pennsylvania Railroad had earlier created a Main Line from 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to Paoli. The Pennsylvania Railroad bought up farmland and developed towns all along its rail line. City dwellers, seeking relief from the urban crowds with their potential to spread malaria, a disease that was a major health concern at the time, quickly purchased the new homes being built. Hinckley's plans met with initial resistance from farmers, and at the end of the first year, he had managed to buy only one farm. Undaunted, he traveled further south on Chester Pike to the area now known as Ridley Park. In an effort to avoid his previous bad experience, in May 1871, Hinckley formed an association to acquire the land. Hinckley hired Robert Morris Copeland, a noted Boston landscape architect, to develop a master plan for a suburban park community which became known as the Borough of Ridley Park. Copeland's design is Delaware County's first planned community. Between January and May 1870, many farms were purchased. The streets in the new development were named after the families who sold their farmland. Names such as Burk, Dutton, Free, Henderson, Stewart and Ward, are still used today. The first train of passengers cars stopped at Ridley Park on October 19, 1872. By that time, the town had a hotel, and a dam had been built across Crum Creek, creating a lake. By 1880, the U. S. census return recorded the population of Ridley Park as 439. The railroad was, and continues today to be an integral part of the town.

Ridley Park is located at (39.879631, 75.325482). According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.1 square miles (3 km2), of which 1.1 square miles (3 km2) is land and 0.93% is water. It has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and average monthly temperatures range from 33.4 °F in January to 78.2 °F in July. The hardiness zone is 7b.

The borough is served by the Ridley School District. It consists of Ridley Township, and the boroughs of Ridley Park and Eddystone. The district has one high school, one middle school, and seven elementary schools. At all levels, the schools use the Green Raiders as their mascot. While originally the Raiders referred to Native Americans from the Lenni Lenape Nation, the district has ceased use of most material relating to the tribe. Ridley High School is home to the WRSD radio station.

The St. James Regional, formerly St. Madeline St. Rose School, serves grades 1st through 8. Originally, these were two separate parishes but in 1993, with declining enrollments, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia consolidated the St. Madeline Parish in Ridley Park, and the St. Rose of Lima Parish in nearby Eddystone. The Archdiocese had an area wide consolidation of schools due to declining enrollment. The school is now called St. James Regional School after combining with St. Gabriel's in Norwood in 2012. The name originated from the former St. James High School for Boys in Chester. The St. James High alumni association suggested the name, and the new school asked to use not only the name but also the mascot and colors. When it opened it had 402 students, with around 201 being from St. Gabriel. Cardinal O'Hara High School, serving grades 9 through 12, is a coeducational school located in Springfield, and serves the Ridley Park, Chester, Swarthmore, and Springfield area.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia operates Catholic churches. St. Madeline Church, established in 1908, is in Ridley Park. The number of parishioners decreased by 20% from 2008 to 2012, with 4,720 congregants in the latter year.

The 2012 movie Silver Linings Playbook takes place in and around Ridley Park, which is credited at the end of the film. While the community is not specifically mentioned in the script, a police officer can be seen wearing the initials "RPPD" on his collar.