cheltenham, along with the other earliest communities in the philadelphia area such as upper darby township, haverford, lower merion, and jenkintown have retained their distinct identities while being surrounded by suburbia over the middle to late part of the twentieth century. cheltenham and lower merion are of the few townships in montgomery county who had a large population prior to the postwar population boom and thus whose majority of houses, communities, and streets have remained virtually unchanged since the early 20th century. cheltenham has 13 listings on the national register of historic places, the most of any municipality in montgomery county.