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Lock 60 2010-11-13Photo: J Clear. · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Mont Clare

Mont Clare’s post office opened in 1861, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: old-book passages.

1861first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: J Clear. · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Mont Clare began

When was Mont Clare founded?

1861

The Mont Clare post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,852165 years
Founding year: the first Mont Clare post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mont Clare’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mont Clare are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Mont Clare’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mont Clare’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mont Clare’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Mont Clare came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mont Clare.

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Prior to the European colonization of the Americas, there was an aboriginal American encampment or village on the site, of the Unami speaking Lenni-Lenape tribe. All but a few individuals had vacated the area by 1773.

The site's original English colonization was as part of the Duke of York's holdings. In 1681, King Charles II granted the land to William Penn, creating the Province of Pennsylvania. The site became part of Penn's Manor of Gilberts, as well as part of Philadelphia County. In 1729, Providence Township was created out of much of the Manor, including the site.

ChaptersColonial and Revolutionary War erasCanal eraRail eraVillage namesHistorical maps

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Mont Clare, 1884–1923

Passages that mention Mont Clare, cut from the printed page as they were published.

travel in the year of 1868. The Pennsylvania & Schuylkill Valley railroad passes along the east side of the Schuylkill ; this was finished in 1884. Its four original stations were Port Kennedy, Perkiomen. Port Providence and Mont Clare. There have been numerous bridges in this township, and several…
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania1923 · page 329Read the page →
Read the text

travel in the year of 1868. The Pennsylvania & Schuylkill Valley railroad passes along the east side of the Schuylkill ; this was finished in 1884. Its four original stations were Port Kennedy, Perkiomen. Port Providence and Mont Clare. There have been numerous bridges in this township, and several were pay or toll bridges up to the eighties. This township was settled first by an Englishman named Edward Lane, who came from Jamaica in 1684, and in 1698 bought 2,500 acres of land, confirmed to him by William Penn in 1701. This land was situated

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Valley Railroad passes along the east side of the Schuylkill the entire length of both townships. It was completed in 1884, and has four statious, — Port Kennedy, Perkiomen, Port Providence and Mont Clare. There are four bridges spanning the Perkiomen, PERKIOMEN BRIDGE, BUILT 1798.
History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania1884 · page 1055Read the page →
Read the text

Valley Railroad passes along the east side of the Schuylkill the entire length of both townships. It was completed in 1884, and has four statious, — Port Kennedy, Perkiomen, Port Providence and Mont Clare. There are four bridges spanning the Perkiomen, PERKIOMEN BRIDGE, BUILT 1798.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Mont Clare, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Schuylkill Canal II2015Schuylkill Canal IIMont Clare Fire House2015Mont Clare Fire HouseLock Tenders House at Lock 602011Lock Tenders House at Lock 60Lock 60 2010-11-132010Lock 60 2010-11-13Mont Clare Bridge22008Mont Clare Bridge2Lock Tender's House 2008-06-292008Lock Tender's House 2008-06-29
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Upper Providence Township1 historic placeB−Phoenixville3 historic placesA+Schuylkill Township5 historic placesB+

Questions about Mont Clare’s history

What year was Mont Clare founded?

The Mont Clare post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.