The Sphere College Project

The Phoenixville Historic District is a national historic district located at Phoenixville, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The district consists of the older part of Phoenixville, especially the former Phoenix Iron Works site and its employee and owner housing. At the time of nomination (c. 1987), the district contained 908 contributing building, 52 non-contributing buildings and one contributing structure (bridge). The district is "roughly bounded by Penn St., RR tracks, Fourth Ave., and Wheatland St." This historic district is the largest in Chester County.

The Colonial Theatre is located in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, at 227 Bridge Street. Built in 1903, the "Colonial Opera House" became a preeminent venue for movies, traveling shows and live entertainment throughout the 20th century. The three-screen venue consists of the original 658-seat ‘vaudeville house’ and two newer additional theatres in the adjacent National Bank of Phoenixville building (c.1925).

French Creek, once known as Saukanac Creek, is a 22.6-mile-long (36.4 km) tributary of the Schuylkill River in Berks and Chester counties, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The water course was also known as the Vincent River, after Sir Mathias Vincent, who purchased land (now West and East Vincent Townships) along it in Chester County in 1686.French Creek travels through the Hopewell Big Woods, including French Creek State Park, and joins the Schuylkill in Phoenixville. French Creek is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River. The French Creek valley was an important early industrial region, particularly iron, in the United States. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site along French Creek interprets this history. The Phoenix Iron Works site in Phoenixville, an active iron and steel producer from colonial times until the late 20th century, sits astride the creek just before it joins the Schuylkill. In 1994, the Green Valleys Association (GVA) with its 38 co-petitioners filed a petition with the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board for the upgrade of the French Creek watershed from a designation of High Quality (HQ) to Exceptional Value (EV). In September 1998, the French Creek watershed west of PA 100 and the Birch Run watershed were granted this upgrade. In 2003, Green Valleys and its 48 co-petitioners successfully filed a petition to obtain an upgrade from HQ to EV of the lower reaches of French Creek, from the Kennedy Covered Bridge in East Vincent and East Pikeland Townships upstream to PA 100 in South Coventry Township as well as the entire Beaver Run. This petition was accepted by the Environmental Quality Board in February 2004 and is currently being reviewed.

The Phoenix Iron Works (1855: Phoenix Iron Company; 1949: Phoenix Iron & Steel Company; 1955: Phoenix Steel Corporation), located in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, was a manufacturer of iron and related products during the 19th century and early 20th century. Phoenix Iron Company was a major producer of cannon for the Union Army during the American Civil War. The company also produced the Phoenix column, an advance in construction material. Company facilities are a core component of the Phoenixville Historic District, a National Register of Historic Places site that was in 2006 recognized as a historic landmark by ASM International.

Gay Street School is a historic school building located in Phoenixville, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It has two sections. The older section, the west wing, was built in 1874, and is a two-story, brick structure. The two-story east wing and three-story central section were added in 1883. The building features a clock and bell tower.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The Mont Clare Bridge (also Phoenixville–Mont Clare Bridge) is a crossing of the Schuylkill River between Mont Clare and Phoenixville in Pennsylvania, USA. The bridge was also referred to as the Intercounty Bridge, as it connects Montgomery and Chester counties. The bridge abuts a shorter county bridge across the Schuylkill Canal and towpath on the Mont Clare side to complete the crossing. The crossing carries Bridge Street (PA 29) and the Schuylkill River Trail.

Phoenixville station was a former train station in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. It served as a station on the Schuylkill Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The station was closed and demolished by the late 1980s.

Mont Clare is a village in Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The village is located on the left bank of the Schuylkill River opposite Phoenixville and Chester County. Mont Clare is at the site of the former Jacobs' ford. Mont Clare hosts the only functional lock and one of only two remaining watered stretches of the Schuylkill Canal. Mont Clare was the birthplace of the infamous outlaw Sundance Kid. The village was originally named Quincyville and has also been spelled Quinzyville, Mont Clair, and Montclare.

Mont Clare Station was a station on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Schuylkill Branch line, in Mont Clare, Pennsylvania. The line opened in 1884 and the station closed between 1955 and 1958. The station was originally built by the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad. In 1900, the Pennsylvania Railroad combined the line with five other subsidiaries to form the Schuylkill and Juniata Railroad. Two years later, the subsidiaries were eliminated and PRR took direct ownership of the line. PRR discontinued the Mont Clare station between 1955 and 1958. All service on the line was formally discontinued by Norfolk Southern Railway in 2007.

Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located 28 miles (45 km) northwest of Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek and the Schuylkill River. It is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. According to a 2022 estimate, the population was 19,354.For much of its history, Phoenixville was known for being home to the Phoenix Iron Works, however following the company's closure in the 1980s and a resulting economic downturn, the town has been noted in recent years for its economic revitalization that has taken place.

Renaissance Academy Charter School, located in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, United States is a K-12 charter school with 1100 students and 200 staff. It serves students from multiple school districts in kindergarten through 12th grade. The average SAT score for the Class of 2013 was 528 in math, 513 in reading, and 489 in writing.

The Black Rock Dam is a low head dam in the Schuylkill River. Originally constructed as a stone filled, timber crib dam in the early 19th century by the Schuylkill Navigation Company, the dam was one of dozens built to create a slack water pools for the Schuylkill Navigation System. The dam is a contributing property of the "Schuylkill Navigation Canal, Oakes Reach Section" registered historic district. The dam is located between Phoenixville and Mont Clare in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA. The original dam structure is "L" shaped. There is the usual perpendicular crossing creating the low head spillway. However the majority of the structure is a long forebay for the canal, parallel to the left bank. The forebay has two spillways and ends with the structure of Lock 60. Lock 60 is the guard lock of the Oakes Canal portion of the Navigation. In 1828 a lock was added to the right side of the dam as part of the Chester County Canal addition to the Navigation, which provided water power and later transport to Phoenixville. In 1869 this canal was ruined by a flood. In 1902 three hydroelectric generators were added to the forebay by the Reading Traction Company to power a local trolley. The generators have been removed, but the dam is still owned by power company, Exelon. In the later 20th century, the perpendicular section was extended across the end of the forebay, creating a straight bank to bank dam and capping the forebay. In 2008, as part of a project to restore the migratory American shad to the Schuylkill, a fish ladder was added to the dam on the Chester County side. During construction, remnants of the Chester County Canal feeder lock were uncovered and documented by an archeologist.