page_title: Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Phoenixville, Pennsylvania / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Phoenixville Mural
context_page_description: Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States, 28 miles northwest of Philadelphia, at the junction of French Creek with the Schuylkill River. It is located in the Philadelphia Metro Area. The population is 16,440 as of the 2010 Census. As noted by Forbes, Phoenixville is a former beaten-down mill town with a recent downtown revitalization plan that lead to 10 craft breweries and a distillery. Downtown Phoenixville has more breweries per square foot than anywhere else in America.
context_section_description: Originally called Manavon, Phoenixville was settled in 1732 and incorporated as a borough in 1849. In its industrial heyday early in the twentieth century, it was an important manufacturing center and it was the site of great iron and steel mills such as the Phoenix Iron Works, boiler works, silk mill, underwear and hosiery factories, a match factory, and the famous (and now highly collectible) Etruscan majolica pottery. Like many American towns and cities, Phoenixville owes its growth to its waterways. It is not only situated on the broad Schuylkill River, a historic thoroughfare to Native Americans and early settlers alike, but it is bisected by the fast-flowing French Creek, which was quickly harnessed for water power.
  Much of this history was recognized by the creation of the Phoenixville Historic District, the largest National Register of Historic Places site in Chester County. The Black Rock Bridge, Gay Street School, and Schuylkill Navigation Canal, Oakes Reach Section are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  The Phoenixville Historical Society has a rotating display of historical artifacts in its museum.
caption: Phoenixville Mural
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