The first recorded inhabitants of Nether Providence Township were Native Americans of the Lenape tribe, who lived in the area for about five hundred years, but by 1740 few remained.

On August 14, 1682, two months before William Penn's landing in Chester, John Sharpless came to the area.

[6] Nether Providence went through four distinct phases from farming, to manufacturing, to resort, and finally, to residential community.

After the Civil War, wealthy Philadelphians built summer residences and vacation resorts in the area.

The first railway was the Leiper Railroad, a horse-drawn quarry rail line, constructed in 1809–1810 and used to haul cut stone until about 1828.

The Nether Providence Police Department was established in 1935, and automobile parking was regulated in 1947 and speed in 1949.

Three sites within the township, Wolley Stille, the Thomas Leiper Estate, and Westlawn are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It formed in 2012 from a merger of St. John Chrysostom in Wallingford and Nativity BVM School in Media.

[11] Originally Nativity BVM was to be the location of the merged school, but St. John Chrystosom appealed and the archdiocese changed its decision.

[14] Interstate 476 runs up the east side of the township near Crum Creek, with access from Exit 3 (Baltimore Pike).

Train stations in the township along SEPTA Regional Rail's Media/Wawa Line include:[15] Moylan–Rose Valley,[16] and Wallingford.

[17] SEPTA's light rail Media–Sharon Hill Line passes through the township along its route between Media and the 69th Street Transportation Center.

Holy Trinity is a Lutheran church located approximately at the intersection of Harvey Road and route 252.

St. John Chrysostom is a Roman Catholic church on route 252, across from Springhaven Country Club.

Major communities in Nether Providence are Garden City, South Media and Wallingford.

The Moylan community near Rose Valley is also within Nether Providence Township, as are the Bowling Green, Park Ridge, Pine Ridge, and Wesley Manor communities located north of Baltimore Pike.

Within Garden City area are the Waterville, Lapidea, Putnum Village, and Crum Creek Manor sections.

The small community of Garden City is located in the southernmost part of Nether Providence.

West Brookhaven Road (or in some cases Putnam Village) is often used as the western border of Garden City.

It is home to the Moylan – Rose Valley commuter train station on the Media/Wawa Line, which is located on Manchester Avenue.

To the north Moylan borders the township of Upper Providence and the unincorporated community of South Media.

Bowling Green is a neighborhood of detached houses north of Baltimore Pike bordering Media Borough.

Pine Ridge is zoned to go to Swarthmore-Rutledge School even though it is in Nether Providence Township.