Main content

Conshohocken Historical Society subject vertical files

Notifications

Held at: Conshohocken Historical Society [Contact Us]120 E. 5th Avenue, Conshohocken, PA, 19428

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Conshohocken Historical Society. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

"The borough of Conshohocken, incorporated in 1850, is located on the east bank of the Schuylkill River, thirteen miles northwest of Philadelphia, on one square mile of land in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Its proximity to major transportation links, natural resources, and markets created a favorable environment for the rise of a virtually self-contained industrial, commercial, residential, civic and religious community. Perhaps best known for its great industrial firms, such as the Alan Wood Iron and Steel Company, whose roots date back to the early 1800s, and "Lee of Conshohocken," the automobile tire company founded in the early 1900s, Conshohocken played a major role in the industrial development of southeastern Pennsylvania. The growth of the town's industries brought together wealthy Quaker mill and landowners with immigrant laborers from Ireland, Poland, Italy, and other European countries to give the borough its distinctive character. As the town's industries expanded and moved outside the borough limits in the early twentieth century, Conshohocken evolved from an industrial leader into a primarily residential community."

Bibliography:

Quoted text from: Conshohocken Historical Society. "Conshohocken Historical Survey." Accessed May 18, 2012. http://www.conshohockenpa.org/visitor/history.

This collection consists primarily of newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and ephemera, with some historical essays and other documents relating to Conshohocken, the surrounding region, and general history topics. Materials are organized into file folders on subjects including churches and cemeteries, banks, wars, business and industry, fire companies, nearby municipalities, local clubs and societies, and transportation. Topics of note include the Alan Wood Steel Company, Woodmont/Father Divine, and the Lee family/Lee Tires. A list of subjects covered is available on-site.

Materials collected at various times by the Conshohocken Historical Society.

Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2011-2012 as part of a pilot project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.

In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Conshohocken Historical Society directly for more information.

Publisher
Conshohocken Historical Society
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Michael Gubicza through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
Sponsor
This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Access Restrictions

Contact Conshohocken Historical Society for information about accessing this collection.

Collection Inventory

Print, Suggest