The High Street Historic District (631-1329 High St.) was entered onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. Text, below, was adapted from a copy of the original nomination document.
Significance
The District contains many of Pottstown's first and best examples of the "country" homes and mansions of upper- and mid-level industrialists, merchants, managers, and professionals. The large and stylish homes represent some of the best examples of late 19th and early 20th century styles found in Pottstown. The homes date from circa 1860, but there is a concentration of residences built between 1875 and 1928. Overall, the District is significant because it preserves and depicts a residential environment that developed during the period when Pottstown was at the apex of its industrial boom and its greatest period of expansion.
The original settlement of Pottstown was laid out in 1761 by ironmaster John Potts in a gridiron pattern along both sides of the Great Road from Philadelphia to Reading (now High Street). The settlement extended eastward, about one mile from Manatawny Creek to a small stream (near the location of Adams Street) that ran from a prominent hill, south to the Schuylkill River. For many years the slowly expanding population was contained within the boundaries of the original settlement, growing from 721 in 1840 to 1,664 in 1850.
Very little existed beyond the boundaries of the original settlement except for some outlying farms and Jacob Lauer's Drovers Inn, located at the bend in the Great Road about one-half mile east of the town beyond the hill (the present location of Keim Street).
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
High Street