North Wales Borough municipal offices are located at 300 School Street, North Wales PA 19454.
Phone: 215‑699‑4424.
Neighborhoods
North Wales Borough [†] was first settled in the 18th Century as a rural farming village by Welsh immigrants. The Borough experienced slow initial growth and remained a mostly agricultural community through the early to mid-19th Century. In the 1850s, North Penn Railroad extended rail tracks to many settlements outside of Philadelphia including North Wales. These tracks are still in use today, both for shipping lines and SEPTA regional rail. After the rail line was built, the town experienced a development boom which contributed to its formal incorporation as a borough in 1869 from land belonging to Upper Gwynedd Township.
Two major housing development periods cemented the land use as predominantly residential. The population experienced significant growth at the end of the 19th Century and into the early part of the 20th Century, and had a second growth spurt in the 1950s and 1960s with peak population occurring in the 1970s. Part of the distinct community character comes from the mix of historic and architecturally significant structures built during these time periods and the gridded street pattern surrounding the community's downtown core. Recent development proposals have resulted in some infill development, and many property owners support maintaining or creating an architectural look that speaks to the historic nature of the surrounding building styles. Today, the Borough remains predominantly residential and boasts numerous open space and park amenities, easy multi-modal access to local destinations, an updated regional rail station, and a growing business community.
In 1870, the first year census data was recorded for the Borough, North Wales was a small, mostly rural community of only 407 individuals. The population grew steadily through the first half of the century, and experienced a spike in growth mid-century as new housing tracts were built. Population peaked in 1970 at 3,911 residents, but has been in decline every decade since then except 1990 when the last major housing development was completed that added 32 new residential homes.
† North Wales Borough 2040 Comprehensive Plan, www.northwalesborough.org, accessed August, 2019.
Nearby Towns: Ambler Boro • Chalfont Boro • East Norriton Twp • Franconia Twp • Hatfield Boro • Hatfield Twp • Lansdale Boro • Lower Gwynedd Twp • Lower Salford Twp • Montgomery Twp • New Britain Boro • Norristown Boro • Plymouth Twp • Towamencin Twp • Upper Gwynedd Twp • Whitpain Twp • Worcester Twp •