History of Building Site
A Site of Historical Significance
Ten years after opening its doors in Pottstown, the West Campus of Montgomery County Community College expanded to a historical site commonly referred to as the former Vaughan Knitting Mill at 16 High Street. The facility, which was renovated to historically-correct standards under the National Parks Service, opened its doors to students on January 18, 2006.
The site of the building, like the town, is rich in history, with multiple plot lines happening through the years. Its story began in 1886 when Joseph M. Selinger moved his brewery to a three-story brick structure at High and Manatawny streets near the “barn houses” that were built on the foundation of the stables for the Red Lion Inn—one of Pottstown’s earliest inns. The brewery changed hands frequently in its early years and underwent a sheriff’s sale in 1897 because of financial problems brought on by competition with other breweries. Eventually, the new owners razed the brewery and barn houses in the early 1900s to erect a new building—and the Pottstown Brewing Company was born.
The brewery, incorporated in 1910, produced more than 40,000 barrels of beer per year during its peak until prohibition caused its owners to sell all machinery and equipment to investors from Cuba in late 1920. In 1921, some of the buildings and property were purchased by the Pottstown Wholesale Grocery Company, which remained in business at High and Mantawny streets until 1935.
In 1933, the Vaughan Knitting Company acquired property on the current site of Montgomery County Community College’s West Campus. The mill originally came to Pottstown when Andrew Eisen Vaughan bought the Reading Hosiery Company in 1907 and renamed it the Vaughan Knitting Company. After a fire destroyed the original plant on Penn Street in Pottstown, Vaughan moved the plant to a structure located at the point where High Street crosses the Manatawny River at 2 High Street in Pottstown, a site formerly occupied by Searles Knitting Company. The company expanded to several other sites, including the old Pottstown Pumping Station at the corner of Washington and Laurel streets. In 1933, the Vaughan Knitting Company acquired property just east of the mill at 2 High Street—the current site of Montgomery County Community College’s new facility, which is still referred to by many as the former Vaughan Knitting Mill.
The Kleen Mattress Company occupied the site from 1946-1950, followed by the Kiwi Shoe Polish Company, which operated on the site from 1953-1979 before moving to Douglassville, Pa. In the 1980s, all of the eastern buildings on the site were torn down, leaving only the current building.
The expansion of Montgomery County Community College, coupled with the redesign of the former Fidelity Bank building, anchors the revitalization of High Street and begins to create a community college campus within the Borough of Pottstown. The expansion adds 50,000 square feet of space to the West Campus’ existing 90,000 square feet at 101 College Drive over the next five years, enabling the College to expand its workforce development programs, fine arts offerings and opportunities for transfer via the newly-established University Center.
