The town of Bryn Mawr was born in 1704 when Rowland Ellis, a welsh tobacco plantation owner, built a large manor house on the current geographic location of the town, calling it Bryn Mawr, meaning high hill. Later named Humphreyville after the Thomas and Humphrey families it belonged to, this small rural community began to grow. In about 1869, the Pennsylvania Railroad established a new community, building a railway track, improving existing streets, opening new roads, planting trees, subdividing properties, and offering land for sale. Gradually, this new community, which once again adopted the name of Bryn Mawr, was transformed from a hamlet to an active, thriving town.

By 1881, three hundred new dwellings joined the original twenty-one houses of old Humphreyville. The local population continued to grow, increasing by approximately two thousand residents every summer. As services grew in the area, summer residences became permanent homes. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the Bryn Mawr Citizens’ Association was created to provide police protection. The Home News and the News were responsible for keeping Bryn Mawr residents informed. While the Bryn Mawr Trust Company and the Bryn Mawr National Bank addressed the financial needs of the growing town, the Bryn Mawr Water Company, the Bryn Mawr Hospital, the Bryn Mawr Ice Company and the Bryn Mawr Fire Company took care of basic services.