Norristown, PA

Norristown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,827 at the 2010 census. Norristown is the county seat of Montgomery County. Norristown is located at 40°4′N 75°53′W / 40.7000°N 75.8900°W / 40.7000; -75.8900 (40.7167,-75.9667).

Norristown was founded in 1740 by George and Jacob Potts on the site of an earlier Indian village called Narrows-town or Narrows-village, after a stream that ran through it on its way to the Schuylkill River.[6] The borough's original name was Pottsville after its founders,[6] but it was renamed Norristown in 1819 for General John Armstrong (1745-1819), who had served in the American Revolution and later became a brigadier general in the United States Army.[7] Armstrong's home, "The White House", still stands and is open to visitors.[8]

Norristown grew rapidly as a center of trade and manufacturing during the 19th century due to its location along several important transportation routes: railroad lines connecting Philadelphia with Harrisburg and Pittsburgh; major roads linking Philadelphia with Baltimore and Washington, D.C.; and waterways including the Delaware River which provided access to markets in New York City and points beyond.[9] Many of Norristown's early businesses were related to these transportation networks: railroads; wagon makers; iron foundries; textile mills; coopersmiths; carriage builders; hotels; restaurants; breweries; printing shops; banks[10]; insurance companies[11]; real estate firms[12]; millinery stores[13]; cabinetmakers[14]; tailors[15]; shoe manufacturers[16].

Today, Norristown remains an important commercial center with a diverse economy based largely on services: health care services (including hospitals); professional services (lawyers, accountants, architects); retail sales (clothing stores, supermarkets); entertainment venues (theaters, nightclubs). A number of technology companies have established offices or operations here over the past few years,[17] including Google Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., Amazon Web Services LLC., LinkedIn Corporation,[18], eBay Inc., Uber Technologies Incorporated,[19], Salesforce CRM Corporation,[20], Oracle Corporation,[21], Twitter Incorporated,[22], Square Incorporated,[23].