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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