POTTSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

'Pottstown' is a borough in Montgomery County, 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. Pottstown was laid out in 1752-53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815. In 1888, the limits of the borough were considerably extended. Pottstown is the center of a productive farming and dairying region.
In the past, its iron and steel interests were very extensive. There were large rolling mills, furnaces, nail works, textile mills, bridge works, agricultural-implement works, boiler and machine shops, foundries, and manufactories of bricks, silks, shirts, hosiery, etc. In 1900, 13,696 people lived here; in 1910, 15,599; in 1920, 17,431; and in 1940, 20,194 people lived here. The population was 21,859 at the 2000 census.
Pottstown is not to be confused with Pottsville, a city in Schuylkill County well-known for being the home of the Yuengling brewery.

Contents

History

Politics and government

Geography

Demographics

Businesses

Media

PCTV

Pottstown Mercury

Transportation

Education

Colleges

Public Schools

Private Schools

Notables natives and residents

See Also

References

External links

History

Modern day Pottstown is established on land originally deeded to William Penn. Germans, Swedes and English were among the first settlers in the area. After establishment of the first iron forge in 1714, Pottstown's fortunes became tied to the iron industry.
Eventually, blast furnaces for production of iron and later steel opened in the area. Iron and steel production brought the Potts family, iron masters by trade, to the area. They established a forge in the area and built a small home just west of the town. John Potts founded the city of Pottsgrove in 1752 on 995 acres that he owned.
Over time, Pottsgrove grew and became Pottstown. In 1815, Pottstown became the second borough in Pennsylvania after Norristown.
The extension of the Reading Railroad to Mount Carbon facilitated the movement of raw materials and finished goods which helped Pottstown's economy to grow. In the few years following the extension of the railroad, the population grew from 600 to 1,850 residents. Pottstown's metal production grew and notably, steel from the borough was used in the Panama Canal and Golden Gate Bridge.^[1]
In 1944, the city adopted a city manager form of government. By 1964, the city saw the need to re-organize the municipal government. At the time, it had one of the largest borough councils in the state, with 20 members. This was reduced to seven members in redrawn wards.

Politics and government

Pottstown has a city manager form of government with a mayor and a seven-member borough council. The mayor is Sharon Thomas.
The borough is part of the Sixth Congressional District (represented by Rep. Jim Gerlach), the 146th State House District (represented by Rep. Thomas Quigley) and the 44th State Senate District (represented by Sen. John Rafferty, Jr.).

Geography

Pottstown is located at (40.249690, -75.640262).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 12.7 km² (4.9 mi²). 12.5 km² (4.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (1.83%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 21,859 people, 9,146 households, and 5,533 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,747.4/km² (4,526.3/mi²). There were 9,973 housing units at an average density of 797.2/km² (2,065.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 79.34% White, 15.06% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 1.89% from other races, and 2.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.53% of the population.
There were 9,146 households out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the borough the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.6 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $35,785, and the median income for a family was $45,734. Males had a median income of $34,923 versus $26,229 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $19,078. About 8.7% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Businesses

★ Coventry Mall

Media

PCTV

PCTV (Pottstown Community TV) is owned and operated by the Borough of Pottstown and provides local origination programming over Comcast Cable TV in over 77,000 homes in western Montgomery County, Northern Chester County and Eastern Berks County. In existence since 1983, PCTV currently produces programming on 3 local Cable Channels 22, 27 and 98).[[1]]

Pottstown Mercury

The Mercury has the unique distinction of being the smallest circulation newspaper in the U.S. to win two Pulitzer Prizes. The first award came in 1979 in the Spot News Photography category by staff photographer Tom Kelly. The second Pulitzer Prize came in 1990 for Editorial Writing by Tom Hylton. The Mercury has won hundreds of other state and national awards in the past 75 years.

Transportation

Bus service in Pottstown and the surrounding communities is a publicly owned and privately operated system. The Borough of Pottstown owns, funds, and administers the system. The day-to-day operations are the responsibility of Pottstown Urban Transit, Inc.
Pottstown is home to two public general aviation airports, Pottstown Municipal Airport and Pottstown Limerick Airport.

Education

Colleges

★ Montgomery County Community College - West Campus

Public Schools

Pottstown School District serves the borough of Pottstown.

Private Schools

★ St. Pius X High School

★ The Hill School

★ Wyndcroft School

★ Saint Aloysius School

★ Saint Peters School

★ Coventry Christian School

Notables natives and residents

★ Jacob Albright, one of the founders of the United Methodist Church, was born in Pottstown in 1759^[2]

★ John Backus, computer scientist and inventor of the FORTRAN computer programming language, graduated from The Hill School in Pottstown in 1942.

★ Tim Bausher (Boyertown), a Minor League Baseball pitcher in the Kansas City Royals organization.

★ Aaron Beasley, is a former professional National Football League cornerback.

★ Lester and Jules Bihari, record company executives, were born in Pottstown in 1912 and 1913 respectively.

★ Benjamin Boyer, U.S. Congressman.

★ Daryl Hall, musician (''Hall & Oates'') - attended Owen J. Roberts High School.

★ Todd Hallowell, Film producer, August 29, 1952.

★ Bobby Shantz, former Major League Baseball pitcher and the 1952 American League Most Valuable Player.

★ Don Strock, former professional American football quarterback and coach, attended Owen J. Roberts High School

★ Earl Strom, former NBA referee. A member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

★ Donald Trump, Jr., businessman and son of Donald Trump, is a graduate of the The Hill School.

★ Buck Weaver, Major League Baseball player and 1919 Black Sox scandal.

★ Lyndie White-Wenner, aka Lyn Kline songwriter ( "Kenny G/I'll Be Alright")and vocalist ("Saint Tropez") 1981-1988 -attended Owen J. Roberts High School.

★ Barry Lee Bush, FBI agent who was murdered in the line of duty, attempting to capture a robbery suspect.^[3]

See Also

★ Welkinweir

References

1. Pottstown History from Official City Website]
2. Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896, , , , Marquis Who's Who, ,
3. Gonzales, FBI Director Mourn Slain Agent, Washington Post

External links

★ Borough of Pottstown

★ Pottstown School District Homepage

★ Chamber of Commerce