Copy of facts published on Facebook and previously in the Upper Merion Township e-Newsletter.
Some Philadelphia buildings constructed with King of Prussia marble include: First Bank of the United States, Franklin Institute (Atwater Kent Museum), Merchants’ Exchange, and Founder’s Hall at Girard College. KOP blue marble was also used in Fort Mifflin and the Senate Reception Hall in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. The checker-board aisle of Savannah, Georgia’s Independent Presbyterian Church was built
The inhabitants of Upper Merion derived quite a bit of wealth from its mines and quarries. The marble mined in Upper Merion ran in a long, narrow, perpendicular seam, extending down a considerable depth. The deeper the marble was obtained, the better its quality. KoP Marble was used in the more opulent homes in the northeastern US. It was used
Alexander Kennedy was the founder and namesake of Port Kennedy, purchasing the property from Mordecai Moore who died in 1803. Mr. Kennedy lived there from 1805 until his death in 1824, and he was buried at the Great Valley Presbyterian Church. By 1858, Port Kennedy included 1 hotel, 2 stores, a furnace, church, schoolhouse, blacksmith and wheelwright shop and 42
On December 13, 1777, as General George Washington and his troops were making their way to a site for their winter encampment, they saw lights burning on the west side of the Schuylkill River near Matson’s Ford. Making their way across the river, they came to Christ Church in Swedesburg during the church’s festival for the feast of St. Lucia.