The neighborhood is bisected by Lancaster Avenue (U.S. Route 30) and the original Pennsylvania Railroad "main line".

This region of Philadelphia and its suburbs were originally settled by Welsh immigrants, who purchased land from William Penn.

The Overbrook Farms Company was the developer; its officers had links to directors of the Girard and Drexel banks and the Penn Railroad.

This planned community includes some of the first residential projects by the first graduating class of the University of Pennsylvania's architectural program.

A more recent development of smaller homes with modern incursions, called Greenhill Farms, is not included within the historic district.