County:

Montgomery. Norristown is the county seat.

Population:

21,348 (US Census Bureau 2007 estimate)

Elevation:

151 feet

Year Incorporated:

1815

Public Transportation:

Pottstown Area Rapid Transit (PART)
Phone: 610-326-5413

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)
Phone: 215-580-7800

SEPTA offers bus service via Route 93 to Norristown where one can transfer to Philadelphia and the rest of the SEPTA transportation system.

Greyhound Lines
Citgo Smart Mart
63 W High St
Pottstown, PA 19464
Local Phone: 610-323-7401
Toll Free Customer Service: 800-231-2222

Capitol Trailways
Citgo Smart Mart
63 W High St
Pottstown, PA 19464
Toll Free: 800-444-2877

Capitol Trailways offers service between Pottsville and Philadelphia via Pottstown. One can transfer to other regional points and the rest of the country via Capitol Trailways and Greyhound Lines.

Newspaper:

The Mercury
24 N Hanover St
Pottstown, PA 19464
Phone: 610-323-3000

Public Library:

Pottstown Public Library
500 E High St
Pottstown, PA 19464
Phone: 610-970-6551
E-mail: pottstownlibrary@mclinc.org

Museum:

Pottstown Historical Society
568 E High St
Pottstown, PA 19464
Phone: 610-970-7355

Also see:
Pottsgrove Manor
100 W King St
Pottstown, PA 19464-6318
Phone: 610-326-4014
E-mail: PottsgroveManor@montcopa.org

Pottsgrove Manor is the house built in 1752 by John Potts, founder of Pottstown. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Welkinweir
Green Valleys Association
1368 Prizer Road
Pottstown, PA 19465
Phone: 610-469-4900
E-mail: gva@greenvalleys.org

Welkinweir is a non-profit arboretum, garden, mansion, and conservation area.

Town Hall:

Pottstown Borough Hall
100 E High Street
Pottstown, PA 19464-9525
Phone: 610-970-6500

Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information:

TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce
152 High St, Suite 360
Pottstown, PA 19464
Phone: 610-326-2900

Other Websites:

Select TV and Radio Stations:

Also see:

List of Pottstown area radio stations at radio-locator.com

List of Philadelphia area TV stations at stationindex.com

Public Radio: WHYY 90.9 FM

Pottstown news and information: WPAZ 1370 AM

Talk and News Radio: KYW 1060 AM, WPHT 1210 AM

Music: WOGL 98.1 FM, greatest hits of the 60's, 70's and 80's

Music: WFKB 107.5 FM, classic hits

TV Stations:

3	KYW	CBS
6	WPVI	ABC
10	WCAU	NBC
12	WHYY	PBS

Annual Events:

Colonial May Fair, Pottsgrove Manor, early May

Passion Fest, July

Notable for:

Pennsylvania's first iron forge was built in nearby Colebrookdale in 1717. Iron ore, water and charcoal were to be found in abundance in the area of Pottstown. All of these were needed to make iron. The iron industry would expand greatly from there, becoming an important industry to the Pottstown area until about the time of World War II when increased competition started to slow demand. Steel from Pottstown was used in the Panama Canal and Golden Gate Bridge.

History:

Germans, Swedes and English were among the first European settlers in the area. By the 1720’s, the first iron forge in Pennsylvania, built by Thomas Rutter, was operating in Colebrookdale, about 3 miles upstream from what is now Pottstown. In the 1720’s, Thomas Pott came to town to join Rutter’s business. In the 1730’s, the first steel furnace was established in Pottstown. By 1742, Thomas’s son, John Potts, had taken over for his father and he had built two new forges along Manatawny Creek. In 1752, John Potts purchased 995 acres where Manatawny Creek joins the Schuykill River, for the purpose of setting up a plantation. He built his home to the west of the creek and he built a new forge to the east of the creek. In 1761, a town was laid around the forge. The main road through town, High Street, was part of the main route between Reading and Philadelphia. The town was known by the name of Pottsgrove. Pottsgrove grew and was incorporated with the name of Pottstown in 1815, making it the second borough in Pennsylvania after Norristown.

In the 1840’s, the Reading Railroad completed lines between Philadelphia and Mount Carbon, facilitating the movement of raw and finished goods to and from Pottstown, thereby causing a regrowth of Pottstown’s metal production. By 1880, Pottstown had become a boomtown. The mid 1900’s saw a gradual decline of Pottstown’s metal production and importance in the metal industry. Since the mid 1900’s, Pottstown has diversified to an economy based on smaller, competitive industries.