Greater Philadelphia Apartments

Renting an Apartment in Pottstown

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.

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.

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.).

Demographics

As of the censusGR2 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/km� (4,526.3/mi�). There were 9,973 housing units at an average density of 797.2/km� (2,065.1/mi�). 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

* Dana Corp.
* Gudebrod Inc.
* A.L. Handles
* Idelafoil
* Walmart
* K-Mart
* Pottstown Memorial Medical Center

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).

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.

WPAZ 1370 AM

1370 WPAZ [[WPAZ (Pennsylvania)|] is Pottstown's station for news, sports, music and local programming. 1370 WPAZ serves Western Montgomery County, Eastern Berks County and Northern Chester County. 1370 WPAZ is a Great Scott Broadcasting Station and has served the Pottstown area for over 50 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 Area Rapid Transit, Inc.

Just outside of the borders of Pottstown are 2 general aviation airports: Pottstown Municipal Airport located in Stowe and Pottstown Limerick Airport located in Limerick.

Education

Colleges

* Montgomery County Community College - West Campus

Public Schools

Pottstown School District and Pottsgrove 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