Copy of facts published on Facebook and previously in the Upper Merion Township e-Newsletter.
The Roberts Family Cemetery is located on Red Hill, an area of Upper Merion owned by Jonathan Roberts. Red Hill includes and surrounds the Valley Forge Shopping Center. The Cemetery is visible from Rt 202, on the hill above 260 W DeKalb Pike. Two acres of Red Hill was appropriated for the poor of the neighborhood to bury their dead
Early schools in the township were located in private homes. Gulph School, founded in 1696 was one of the first. A little log school located on Mount Joy Manor, the Camp School, was founded in 1705 by Letitia Penn. In 1725, the Union School, first erected as a log house in Matthew Roberts’ woods, was replaced by a stone structure
William Penn laid out the “Manor of Mount Joy” for his daughter in 1683. The Manor comprised 7,800 acres and included nearly all of present-day Upper Merion Township, whose boundaries it overlapped. The rent for the 7,800 acres was to be one beaver skin a year. (Courtesy of the King of Prussia Historical Society.) E-History Fact published 5/29/2015 Upper Merion
On May 30, 1931, President Herbert Hoover visited Valley Forge Park. An estimated 35-40,000 people gathered to hear President Hoover’s Memorial Day speech delivered in front of the Memorial Chapel. The President traveled to Betzwood via the PA Railroad, entering the park through Port Kennedy. (Courtesy of the King of Prussia Historical Society & Pennsylvania State University.) E-History Fact published