Perkiomen Trail

Graterford is an unincorporated community in Perkiomen Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1756 by Jacob Kreator, a textile weaver, Graterford was originally named Grater's Ford until abbreviated to Graterford by the postal service in the mid-1950s. A state penitentiary is located there, which was originally a prison farm. Located along the Perkiomen Creek, Graterford was a vital summer resort community during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Baptisms were held on a small island in the middle of the Perkiomen. A non-denominational church is located there. Railroad service to Philadelphia was provided until 1955. A post office operated there until the early 1960s. At various times, principal enterprises have included a general store, hardware store, delicatessen, bakery, auto service stations, hair salons, an antique furniture dealer, three hotels and resort lodging. Primarily an agricultural area through the mid-20th century, it is located 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia. It is at the center of Perkiomen Township, of which it is a part. The Perkiomen Valley School District High School is also located here. Scenic appeal is provided by the Perkiomen Creek and two tributaries, Lodal Creek and Landis Run. The Graterford name continues to fade as newer residents adopt the nearby Collegeville name, whose postal zip code Graterford shares. Other places of interest are the Perkiomen Trail and Central Perkiomen Valley Park. Graterford is a community separate from Collegeville. There has been an increase in population in the last 10 years as farmers have sold land to companies who build houses.

Perkiomen Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 9,139, which represents a 28.8% increase from the 2000 total of 7,093 residents. Governmentally, it is a township of the second class, governed by a board of supervisors. It is part of the Perkiomen Valley School District. Perkiomen Township includes an abundance of history that goes as far back as to the first tribes who inhabited the area. This township started with the inhabitants of the Lenni-Lenape Tribe and progressed in many ways into what it is today.

The State Correctional Institution – Graterford, commonly referred to as SCI Graterford, known prior as Eastern Correctional Institution, Graterford Prison, Graterford Penitentiary, and the Graterford Prison Farm, was a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections prison located in Skippack Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, near Graterford. The prison, located on Graterford Road off of Pennsylvania Route 29, was about 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Philadelphia.The prison, described by Joseph Stefano of The Philadelphia Inquirer as the primary state prison serving the Philadelphia metropolitan area, once housed a small number of male death row inmates. Graterford closed in 2018 and was replaced by SCI Phoenix.

Pennypacker Mills is an American Colonial Revival mansion that is surrounded by 170 acres (0.69 km2) of farmland in Perkiomen Township, near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. Located on the shore of the Perkiomen Creek, it is situated approximately 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Philadelphia. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Schwenksville is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,431 at the 2020 census. It is notable for being located near the site of the Philadelphia Folk Festival. The borough was founded in 1684, when the Lenni-Lenape Indians ceded to William Penn the land along the Perkiomen Creek; it was incorporated in 1903. The borough was named for George Schwenk, whose son, Jacob Schwenk, served in George Washington's army. The town was the inspiration for the protagonist in Catherine Gilbert Murdock's 2006 novel Dairy Queen.The Hall & Oates song "Perkiomen" was written about the Perkiomen Creek, which constitutes Schwenksville's eastern border. "Perkiomen" is Lenape for "muddy waters" and "where the cranberries grow." Schwenksville is also the gateway to the Perkiomen Trail, a nineteen-mile section of the former Reading Railroad's Perkiomen Valley corridor. It now serves as a multi-use rail trail and was completed in 2003.

Rahns is an unincorporated village along the Perkiomen Creek in Perkiomen Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Rahns was founded in 1865 and named for an early settler, George Rahn.

The State Correctional Institution – Phoenix is a state prison in Skippack Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with a Collegeville postal address, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Operated by Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, it was named after the phoenix bird.It cost $400 million to build, making it the most expensive state prison to be constructed in Pennsylvania history. It has a capacity of 3,830 prisoners, and as of September 2018, its full time workforce numbered 1,200. Heery International designed the facility. It replaced SCI Graterford. Most prisoners are male, located in the East and West sub units, while it has a re-entry unit for female prisoners with a capacity of 192.The female unit is not in the main prison perimeter. SCI Phoenix is one of two prisons that share Pennsylvania's death row. The department of PA Corrections anticipated that most of the prisoners would be from the area of Philadelphia, and currently SCI Phoenix is the state prison closest to Philadelphia.

Swamp Creek is an 18.8-mile-long (30.3 km) tributary of Perkiomen Creek in Berks and Montgomery counties, Pennsylvania in the United States.Swamp Creek begins in Berks County then flows through Montgomery County to join Perkiomen Creek above Schwenksville.

Perkiomen Valley Airport (FAA LID: N10) is formerly a privately owned, public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) northeast of the central business district of Collegeville, a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The airport was built by Wells MacCormack and opened on March 1, 1938. It closed in March of 2021. It was included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.

Spring Mount is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,259 at the 2010 census.

The Knurr Log House is an historic, American home that is located in Delphi in Lower Frederick Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Creamery is an unincorporated community in Skippack Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Creamery is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 113 and Creamery Road.