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Home > King of Prussia, Pennsylvania


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King of Prussia is located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2000 census, this locale had a total population of 18,511. The community got its name in the 18th century from a local tavern which was named "King of Prussia" in honor of Frederick the Great. While the United States Postal Service office there still carries that name, there is no incorporated City of King of Prussia. The official name of the municipality is Upper Merion Township. The local fire department carries the King of Prussia name, while the police department and the school district carry the Upper Merion name. Therefore the geographical boundaries of King of Prussia are technically bound by the limits of Upper Merion Township — these borders include the Schuylkill River to the north, Valley Forge National Historical Park to the west, and Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, to the east.

1 History

The Inn was important in colonial times as it was approximately a day’s travel (by horse) from Philadelphia. A number of settlers heading from there for Ohio would sleep at the King of Prussia Inn for their first night on the road.

The King of Prussia Inn was originally constructed in the 1720s. George WashingtonGeorge Washington ( February 22, 1732— December 14, 1799), also called Father of his Country 1 was an American general and Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War ( 1775 1783) and later the first President of the Unite is rumored to have stayed at the Inn. Modern-day highwayA highway is a major road within a city, or linking several cities together. It includes roads known as interstate highway, freeway, motorway and autobahn, where a full description varies by country. Generally, a highway is a road which has multiple lanes expansion contributed to the need to have the inn relocated as it was located in the median of US Highway 202 .

King of Prussia has retained its role as an important crossroads; today four major highwayA highway is a major road within a city, or linking several cities together. It includes roads known as interstate highway, freeway, motorway and autobahn, where a full description varies by country. Generally, a highway is a road which has multiple laness meet in or near downtown King of Prussia. The Schuylkill Expressway ( I-76) from Center City, Philadelphia, ends in King of Prussia. The Pennsylvania TurnpikeThe Pennsylvania Turnpike is considered by some to be America's first superhighway. The original 160-mile (257 km) section between Irwin, Pennsylvania and Middlesex, Pennsylvania was built as a toll road on the right-of-way of the South Penn Railroad, a p, an east-west toll road has a major interchange there. US 422 begins just on the outskirts of town and heads west to Reading, PennsylvaniaReading is the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 81,207. The city was famous for the Reading Railroad (for example, see Monopoly game). Overlooking Reading on Mount Penn is a distinctive p; thanks to its construction in 2000, motorists can now travel directly from Reading to Philadelphia without passing onto US 202 . 202, finally, is a census-designated placeA census-designated place CDP is an area identified by the United States Census Bureau for separate statistical reporting. There are a number of reasons for such a designation. The area may be more urban than its surroundings, having a concentration of po and major north-south highway that passes through the town from southwest to northeast. Its construction as a modern expressway would have caused the destruction of the King of Prussia Inn; however, historic preservationists managed to prevail upon the state of Pennsylvania to avoid this important structure by building north and southbound lanes on either side of it. For more than a quarter century the Inn was marooned on an artificial island, with cars and trucks roaring past it on all sides. It was sealed up for years, surrounded by a high fence. The Inn was successfully relocated in 2000 and opened to the public in October 2002.

The King of Prussia shopping mall complex was located immediately adjacent to the original site of the Inn. The two-mall agglomeration is among the largest shopping complexes in the world consisting of the Plaza at King of Prussia and the adjacent Court at King of Prussia. Among other stores, the complex featured the only F.A.O. Schwarz store in Pennsylvania, now closed.

The area is steeped in history. Two-hundred-year-old-plus homes and farmsteads dot the rolling countryside. The Valley Forge National Historical Park, where General George Washington and his Continental Army spent the winter of 1777- 1778, is about a mile away.

A movie, In the King of Prussia , was released in 1982 and involved a group of anti-war activists who broke into the General Electric weapons plant located there.

Residents often refer to King of Prussia in print as "KoP", and in conversation as "K.O.P.".

Local recreation includes an eighteen-screen movie theater.



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