Bala Cynwyd (/ˌbælə ˈkɪnwʊd/ BAL-ə KIN-wuud)[a] is a community and census-designated place in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, United States.

This large residential district contains some of Lower Merion's oldest and finest stone mansions, built mainly from 1880 through the 1920s and located in the sycamore-lined district between Montgomery Avenue and Levering Mill Road, as well as split level tract houses built east of Manayunk Road just after World War II.

This district, long on the National Register of Historic Places, was settled shortly after William Penn's landing in Pennsylvania in 1682 and contains the village's oldest commercial buildings, some dating to the earliest years of the 19th century.

Saint Matthias Catholic Church is also found one block south of Montgomery on Bryn Mawr Avenue.

It sponsors an annual Independence Day celebration on July 4 which begins in front of the Union Fire Association on Montgomery Avenue and ends at the Bala Cynwyd Playground.

The parade features neighborhood children riding decorated bicycles, marchers in costumes, clowns, floats, fire trucks, police, and public officials.

In 1952, CBS television station WCAU-TV built its headquarters at the corner of City Avenue and Monument Road.

Its major outlets are Acme Markets, Olive Garden and LA Fitness; Saks Fifth Avenue is located a block to the east.

[5][6] The Lower Merion Academy-Cynwyd Elementary School-Bala Cynwyd Junior High School Complex and West Laurel Hill Cemetery are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.