Pottstown School District, PA

The Pottstown School District is a public school district located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. 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.

Pottstown is located on the Schuylkill River. It is 29.1 miles (46.8 km) south of Allentown and 40.4 miles (65.0 km) northwest of Philadelphia. It is generally considered part of the Delaware Valley or Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Modern-day Pottstown is on land originally deeded to William Penn. Germans, Swedish and English were among the area’s first European settlers. After establishment of the first iron forge in 1714, Pottstown’s fortunes became tied to the iron industry, and blast furnaces for production of iron and later steel eventually opened in the area.

Iron and steel production attracted the Potts family, iron masters by trade. They established a forge and built a large home just west of the Manatawny Creek. John Potts founded a town in 1761 on part of the 995 acres (4.03 km2) that he owned. It is the home of the nation’s oldest mill, Pottstown Roller Mill. Pottsgrove grew, and in 1815 it was incorporated under the name Pottstown, becoming the second borough in Pennsylvania, after Norristown.

The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad mainline reached Pottstown in 1838. The extension of the railroad to Mount Carbon in 1842 facilitated the movement of raw materials and finished goods that helped Pottstown’s economy grow. In a few years after the extension of the railroad, the population grew from 600 to 1,850. Pottstown’s metal production grew; steel from the borough was used in the Panama Canal and Golden Gate Bridge.

In 1944, the borough adopted a city manager form of government. By 1964, the borough saw the need to reorganize 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.
The High Street Historic District, Old Pottstown Historic District, Pottsgrove Mansion, Grubb Mansion, Jefferson Elementary School, Pottstown Roller Mill, Reading Railroad Pottstown Station, and Henry Antes House are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Public school districts

The Pottstown School District serves the borough.
The Pottsgrove School District serves the surrounding townships in Montgomery County.

The Owen J. Roberts School District serves the suburban/rural area to the south of the borough in Chester County, such as Warwick Township, East Nantmeal Township, South Coventry Township, North Coventry Township, East Vincent Township, East Coventry Township and West Vincent Township. It consists of five elementary schools, a middle school, and the Owen J. Roberts High School.