The 'E' Issue of Edgmont

Is it Edgmont or Edgemont?

Having grown up in the area, I've always been conscious of not including that second "e." The township has always been Edgmont to me.

But recently, I noticed a few businesses using that second "e" and thought either they made a mistake or maybe there was more to this spelling game than I had first thought.

Apparently, the history of the spelling of Edgmont goes back a few centuries.

The township got its name after the Royal Manor of Edgmond on Shropshire in England where Joseph Baker, the first constable of the area was from, according to the township's website.

The township was incorporated in 1687 and officially was spelled Edgmont but not before it went through a few other spelling variations of Edgemont and Edgmond. The official township charter spells it Edgmont.

But it seems it was the intersection of Providence Road and West Chester Pike and the post office there that might have caused the identity crisis.

The zip code, 19028, is spelled Edgemont. And the post office located at 5044 West Chester Pike, near that intersection, is in Edgemont.

The historical Edgmont Inn also at that intersection, now La Locanda Restaurant, has an address of 4989 West Chester Pike in Edgemont, which really boggles the mind. (Or they have an address of Newtown Square which is an entirely different story and issue.)

But just down the road a bit, is the Regal Cinema in Edgmont Square Shopping Center and Edgmont Country Club.

With a popluation of about 4,000 and an area of 9.8 square miles, one could think, does this really matter? But what if your name was being spelled wrong for hundreds of years?

According to Edgmont Township Manager Samantha Reiner, the township charter came before the post office charter and spelling with the second "e."

So hey, if you're first to the town, you get the naming rights in my book. No one got it wrong with William Penn. We don't spell it Pensylvania.

Unfortunately, changing the name of either the township or post office isn't as simple as getting out an eraser.

"(It) would take an act of legislation to reverse, to rename a municipality or municipal post office. So we struggle through this idiosyncrasy," Reiner said.

So where do you stand on the "e" issue of Edgmont?