Rose Valley, Pennsylvania

Rose Valley, Pennsylvania
Water tower at Schoenhaus
Location in Delaware County and the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Rose Valley
Location of Rose Valley in Pennsylvania
Rose Valley
Rose Valley (the United States)
Coordinates: 39°53′43″N 75°23′09″W / 39.89528°N 75.38583°W / 39.89528; -75.38583
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyDelaware
Area
  Total
0.73 sq mi (1.90 km2)
  Land0.73 sq mi (1.90 km2)
  Water0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation
180 ft (50 m)
Population
 (2020)
  Total
1,017
  Density1,389.34/sq mi (536.57/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
  Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes
19063, 19086
Area code610
FIPS code42-045-66192
FIPS code42-66192
GNIS feature ID1185459
Websitewww.rosevalleyborough.org
Rose Valley Historic District
LocationRoughly bounded by Ridley Creek, Woodward Rd, Providence and Brookhaven Rds and Todmorden Ln
ArchitectWilliam Lightfoot Price, others
Architectural styleVernacular, Victorian, various
NRHP reference No.10000470
Added to NRHPJuly 19, 2010

Rose Valley is a small, historic borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its area is 0.73 square miles (1.9 km2), and the population was 913 at the 2010 census. The area was settled by Quaker farmers in 1682, and later water mills along Ridley Creek drove manufacturing in the nineteenth century.

In 1901, Rose Valley was founded as an Arts and Crafts community by architect William Lightfoot Price, who bought 80 acres (320,000 m2) of land around the former Rose Valley textile mill. Price was a follower of Henry George's economics (Georgism). Price also co-founded Arden, Delaware, a utopian single tax community based on Henry George's economic model. Nevertheless, the Georgist single-tax ideal was never implemented in Rose Valley. Crafts works soon foundered, leaving a legacy of impressive architecture, a preserved landscape, and a regional theatre, the Hedgerow Theatre (founded in 1923), as well as an artistic community that includes writers, painters, and architects. As a former mayor said, "Rose Valley is an island of non-conformity." The Rose Valley Historic District, covering essentially all of the borough, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.