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About Montco

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Montgomery County, locally also referred to as Montco, is a county located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 799,874,[1] making it the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties. The county seat is Norristown.[2] Montgomery County is very diverse, ranging from farms and open land in Upper Hanover to densely populated rowhouse streets in Cheltenham.

Montgomery County is included in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is a suburban county northwest of Philadelphia, and marks the region's northern border, with the Lehigh Valley region of the state to the north. In 2010, it was the 51st wealthiest county in the country (measured by median household income). In 2008, it was named the 9th Best Place to Raise a Family by Forbes.[3] 


The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part of Philadelphia County. The first courthouse was housed in the Barley Sheaf Inn. It is believed to have been named either for Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 1775 while attempting to capture Quebec City, Canada, or for the Welsh county of Montgomeryshire (which was named after one of William the Conqueror's main counselors, Roger de Montgomerie), as it was part of the Welsh Tract, an area of Pennsylvania settled by Quakers from Wales.[4] Early histories of the county indicate the origin of the county's name as uncertain.

 

 

 

 

 

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