place

Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania

AC with 0 elementsFormer populated places in PennsylvaniaGeography of Montgomery County, PennsylvaniaMontgomery County, Pennsylvania geography stubsUpper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Port Kennedy Station and Hotel 1907
Port Kennedy Station and Hotel 1907

Port Kennedy was an industrial village located where U.S. Route 422 (Pottstown Expressway) now crosses the Schuylkill River in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Built along the Schuylkill Canal and, after 1838, the Reading Railroad, the village was a center for the lime industry in the 19th century. It was named for Alexander Kennedy, the owner of the quarries and kilns. Beginning in 1871, a number of important fossils were unearthed at Port Kennedy. The location of the find was forgotten until 2006, when the Port Kennedy Bone Cave was rediscovered. Planning for U.S. Route 422 between the Schuylkill Expressway (Interstate 76) and Trooper Road began in 1964. Most of the village was demolished for construction of the superhighway and Betzwood Bridge, which opened to traffic in 1967. In 1978, the National Park Service seized the land west of the superhighway through eminent domain to expand Valley Forge National Historical Park. Today, U.S. Route 422 separates the First Presbyterian Church of Port Kennedy (1845) from the Kennedy Mansion (1852). They, along with the Reading Railroad station and one house, are the only surviving buildings from the village.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania
Penn Circle, Upper Merion Township

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Port Kennedy, PennsylvaniaContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 40.103942 ° E -75.41875 °
placeShow on map

Address

First Presbyterian of Port Kennedy Churchyard

Penn Circle
19406 Upper Merion Township
Pennsylvania, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Port Kennedy Station and Hotel 1907
Port Kennedy Station and Hotel 1907
Share experience

Nearby Places

Kennedy Mansion (Valley Forge)
Kennedy Mansion (Valley Forge)

Kennedy Mansion (Valley Forge), also known as Kennedy-Supplee Mansion, is an Italian-villa-style residence within Valley Forge National Historical Park. Now squeezed between PA Route 23 and U.S. Route 422 (Pottstown Expressway), it once overlooked the 19th-century industrial village of Port Kennedy. Port Kennedy was named for Alexander Kennedy, a major figure in the American lime industry. Limestone was quarried from the Valley Forge hills and processed into lime, which was shipped on the Schuylkill Canal and, after 1849, on the Reading Railroad. The 1852 mansion and 1845 Port Kennedy Presbyterian Church, now on opposite sides of a highway, a former hotel and train station are all that is left of the village. Summary from the Historic American Buildings Survey: When John Kennedy built this mansion in 1852, it was the focal point of Port Kennedy Village. A fine example of the Italian Villa Style, it retains many of its exterior and interior features. The first floor rooms, large and well-proportioned, still possess their elegant details and the door and window enframements, which narrow, reflect the Egyptian Revival Style. The elaborate plaster ceiling decorations in the principal rooms are superb. They represent the ultimate in craftsmanship in a now almost lost art. Surrounding the main block of the house is a graceful porch with a concave roof supported by cast-iron trellises in a grapevine-and-morning-glory design. A balcony ornaments the second-floor facade of the tower.The mansion sits on a knoll, which originally overlooked the community and is one of the few structures to survive the decline of the lime and blast furnaces in the area. John Kennedy was born in 1815, the youngest of Alexander Kennedy's eight children. In 1842 he purchased the lime works at Port Kennedy, and built one of the extensive lime productions in the area. The lime industry and Kennedy flourished during Kennedy's lifetime. The village also included a three-story hotel, a blast furnace with stone house and workshops, a Reading Railroad station, and the Presbyterian Church, a handsome stone structure built in 1845. John Kennedy died in 1877. His widow remained in the house until her death. Six owners followed. Additions were made to the house ca. 1920, and about 1950. The structure was remodeled into apartments. The National Park Service acquired the property in 1978. The Kennedy Mansion is located in Valley Forge National Historical Park. From 1911 to 1936, the mansion was owned by J. Henderson Supplee, at the time of his death, one of the last Civil War veterans in Montgomery County. It later served as the Port Kennedy Inn, and a boardinghouse. U.S. Route 422 (Pottstown Expressway) was constructed through the property in the 1960s. Adjacent Valley Forge State Park became Valley Forge National Historical Park in 1976. In 1978, the National Park Service acquired the mansion through eminent domain, and used it to house Park employees. In 1986, Kennedy Supplee Associates LP signed a 55-year lease with the park service, restored the building, and operated it as the Kennedy-Supplee Mansion Restaurant. The private company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005, and auctioned off its assets in April 2006. The mansion is now vacant.