Historic Pottstown Walking Tour

In November of 1751, John Potts, iron master and merchant, entered into an indenture to purchase two tracts of land from Samuel McCall, Jr. and his wife Anne. This land, situated at the confluence of the Manatawny Creek and the Schuylkill River, comprised one thousand acres and had been part of a tract of 14,000 acres once known as McCall's Manor. Potts took full property rights on September 8, 1752, when he finished paying ?3000 for the property. He named the place Pottsgrove and construction was soon begun on the Georgian mansion. When the house was completed in late 1753, it reflected the eminence the Potts family had attained by the mid-18th century.

During his ownership, John Potts developed the land into a large working plantation, which by 1762 included a town of the same name. This town officially became Pottstown in 1815. John and his wife Ruth (Savage) had thirteen children, several of whom made the family name even more prominent. The oldest son Thomas inherited Pottsgrove Manor following his father's death in 1768. He sold the plantation in 1783 to Col. Francis Nichols, Chief Marshall [sic] of Pennsylvania. A succession of owners held the house until the 1930's.

In 1939, a group of local citizens led by Marjorie Potts Wendell purchased the house with four surrounding acres and began to restore it to its former elegance. Ownership was later transferred to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which completed the restoration process in 1952. Since a precedent setting transfer of jurisdiction in September 1988, the Manor is now maintained and administered by the Montgomery County Commissioners and The Department of History and Cultural Arts. It has been carefully restored and furnished to recreate the lifestyles and times of John Potts, his family, servants and slaves.
—William Brobst

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Show me all markers in:  Pottstown, PA  |  Montgomery County  |  19464  |  Pennsylvania  |  United States of America

Pottsgrove Manor
Pottstown Brewing Co.
The Elks Home
First Iron Bridge
The PECO Building
The Shuler House
Reading Passenger Station
Weitzenkorn's Clothiers
The Security Trust Building
The Pottstown News

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