The Merion Friends Meetinghouse they constructed in 1695 is the oldest place of worship in continuous use in Pennsylvania. Following the Welsh settlers came others of English, German, Irish, and Italian origin. The site of the Lower Merion Baptist Church was donated to the congregation by Charles Thomson, secretary to the Continental Congress, in 1801. Lower Merion now has around 50 religious institutions of various faiths actively saving the community. Soil in most of the township consists of a dark surface layer about eight inches deep with a yellowish brown subsoil ranging from two to eight feet in depth above bedrock.
Soils are mainly acid with variable permeability.
Most early farms contained one or more springs, many of which are now piped underground. Mill Creek is the largest stream and lies wholly within the township. In its six miles from the source in Villanova to its mouth at the Schuylkill it drops 250 feet and once powered sixteen mills and factories. A county inventory lists seventy-eight historic and cultural sites in the township. Many others are unlisted.