Location(s)

Montgomery County, PA was created on September 10, 1784, out of part of Philadelphia County. Norristown became the county seat. Long before William Penn, the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) settled here. About the time William Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1682, the first settlements were made here by English and Welsh, who gave names of their native countryside to the townships and villages they helped found. It is popularly believed that the county was named for General Richard Montgomery, a hero of the battle of Canada during the French and Indian War. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington and his troops wintered at Valley Forge while the British occupied Philadelphia in 1777-78.