1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Conshohocken

CONSHOHOCKEN, a borough of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the Schuylkill river, 12 m. N.W. of Philadelphia. Pop. (1890) 5470; (1900) 5762 (932 being foreign-born); (1910) 7480. It is served by the Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia & Reading railways. The borough is built on land which rises gradually from the river-bank for about 1/4 m. and then becomes quite level, but the surrounding country is for the most part occupied by hills, several of which rise to considerable height. It has a variety of manufacturing establishments, among which are cotton and woollen mills, rolling mills, steel mills, foundries, boiler shops, tube works, and works for making surgical instruments and artificial stone. The place was first settled about 1820, and was for several years known as Matson’s Ford; in 1830 it was laid out as a town and received its present name, an Indian word meaning “pleasant valley.” It was incorporated in 1850. Immediately across the Schuylkill is West Conshohocken (pop. in 1900, 1958), where carpets and woollen goods are manufactured.