Spring-Ford Springs From Country Living To Exurbs

SPRING-FORD, PA —Standing outside an 1827 farmhouse, Martin Witte, remembers the days when Limerick Township was a farming community with a population of 5,000 and lots of open space.

The 79-year-old historian remembers going to the drive-in movie theater and Lakeview Amusement Park, featuring roller coasters and a carousel.

“We had an amusement park in Limerick,” said Witte, president of the Limerick Township Historical Society located in the farmhouse. “ We had a Limerick School.”

The 22-square-mile township in Mongomery County, 21 miles northwest of Philadelphia, was founded in 1726 as part of Philadelphia County by European settlers.

“William Penn named Limerick for Ireland,” Witte said.

Nearly three decades later, Limerick and the surrounding municipalities, Royersford, Spring City, and Upper Providence, have transformed into an exurb of the Philadelphia region.

The population has soared to 20,651.

Witte provides these two reasons:

• In 1985, a new section of the Route 422 highway from King of Prussia to Reading opened.
• In 1986, the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant’s first unit opened on a 600-acre site along the Schuylkill River. In 1990, a second unit opened.

The power plant, owned by Constellation Energy Corp, has 840 employees.
“We are getting more and more townhouse developments,” Witte said. “More than half the people living here, are here less than 40 years.

The Spring-Ford School District

By 1955, Limerick became part of the Spring-Ford Area School District, which includes Royersford and Upper Providence Township; Montgomery County, and Spring City, Chester County.
The district has a population of 51,371, straddles the Route 422 bypass, and covers 44.4 square miles.
The Spring-Ford communities in the school district, which has 7,888 students, has a graduation rate of 95.3 percent, according to U.S. News.

Royersford and Spring City

Once called the “Pulse of Schuylkill Valley,” the boroughs of Royersford in Montgomery County and Spring City in Chester County were manufacturing towns with foundries, knitting mills, and other businesses, according to Ryan Conroy, president of the Spring-Ford Area Historical Society.

“You can’t mention Spring City and Royersford without the foundries,” Dave Willauer, treasurer of the historical society, said this week when providing a tour of the Spring-Ford museum, 526 Main St., Royersford.

The museum features a 19th-century plantation house, a cobbler shop, and a barn renovated with exhibits telling the history of the area.

Standing by a cash register from Latshaw’s Bakery in Spring City, Willauer proudly shares some of his family histories.

His great-grandfather Horsea started the bakery. His dad, who decorated cakes, bought the business in the 1960s. He and his brothers baked. The bakery has since closed.

During a program on the history of the bakery, in 2019, Willauer said shared how the family worked together, passing using recipes that had been passed down from one generation to another to make amazingly delicious baked goods.

Royersford is a .8-square-mile borough along the Schuylkill River with a population of 4,940.
The borough has been the backdrop of some famous movies. The borough was formed in the southeast corner of Limerick Township in 1879.

Parts of 1958, The Blob, starring Steve McQueen, were filmed in the borough. Lovely Bones, starring Mark Wahlberg, was filmed in the borough in 2007.

The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, which opened in 1938 stopped in Royersford. On a recent afternoon, a Norfolk Southern train sped by the station, located along the Schuylkill River, on Main Street.

The passenger service, which stopped in 1981, is in the process of being restored.

Spring City is a .82-mile square borough in Chester County, also on the Schuylkill River, across from Royersford, with a population of 3,482.

The area was originally referred to as “Pump Town” because it has a public water pump from natural springs. In 1872, the name changed to Spring City.

The Spring-Ford Museum features a display of uniforms from the former Pennhurst State Hospital and School.

It was initially known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Institute for the Feeble-minded and Epileptic.

Pennhurst opened in 1908 on a 633-acre tract in the Spring City section of East Vincent Township. It was home to 10,600 clients and hundreds of employees.

“When Pennhurst closed, the residents rented apartments in the area,” Willauer said.

Pennhurst played a significant role for many people living in the Spring City area.

By 1982, 640 patients had lived there for more than 35 years. In 1977, a federal judge ordered that the facility make arrangements to release patients to the community. The facility closed in 1986.

In 2010, the state school was transformed into the Pennhurt Asylum haunted house, a popular tourist attraction. A Chester County judge declined to issue an order preventing the haunted house from opening.

Upper Providence Township

Upper Providence is an 18.17-square-mile township on the western side of Montgomery County. It has a population of 24,438. It was originally owned by William Penn. A five-mile Schuylkill Canal was built in 1846. The canal was used in the 19th century to transport coal between Pottstown and Philadelphia.

The river traffic grew, and two settlements, at the locks in Upper Providence Township, developed. They are now Mont Clare and Lumberville.

In 1923, the River Crest Preventorium opened in Mont Clare to provide a retreat for children who were exposed to tuberculosis but did not have the disease.

Lock 60 at the Schuylkill Canal Park has five miles of trails and is adjacent to Phoenixville. The canal reopened in 2005 after a 10-year restoration project.

The canal can be paddled. There is a trail featuring wildflowers, walks, and a board launch.

Traditions In the Spring-Ford area

• Waltz Golf Farm Fireworks: 7 p.m. July 4, 2203, W. Ridge Pike, Limerick.
• Limerick Fire Department’s Annual Carnival: May 16 to 23, behind the Firehouse, 390 Ridge Pike. Rides, food, and carnival games.
• Siren tests: Twice a year, the nuclear power plant activates sirens within a 10-mile radius to alert residents to tune in to television on radio stations. The alerts are typically on the first Monday in June and December.
• Royersford Halloween Parade and Festivities: Royersford has an annual Halloween parade. There are also ghost parties and events at the restaurants in the borough.
• Spring City Halloween Parade: The borough has a long tradition of featuring a Halloween parade featuring children in costumes, floats, fire trucks, classic cars, and marching bands. Spectators line Main Street from Walnut to Yost streets.
• Spring City: The borough hosts a community day in June at the Brown Street Neighborhood Park featuring vendors and music.