"Conshy," as Conshohocken is known
to the locals, was established in 1850.
But it was the Lenni-Lenape Indians who
first called "the place of the long fine land,"
home.

We are located just northwest of Philadelphia,
on the Schuylkill river.

Most families have been here for generations.
Our town's founding fathers' great-grandchildren
still live here today. Conshy has always been a
close-knit community filled with history. Most of
our streets bear the names of early settlers.
Hector Street is named for Edward Hector, an
African-American teamster in the Revolution.
Fayette Street was named for LaFayette, the
general and his two thousand men who used
the road to escape from the British in 1778.

In 1873, the Borough Council appointed our
first police officer, John A. Harrold. Today
Conshohocken has 30 officers.

Our first post office was just one room on Fayette
Street between Hector and Elm in 1836. It moved
several times before arriving at its present location
on Fifth Ave and Fayette Street in 1941.

James Harry, a druggist at 37 Fayette Street,
registered for the first telephone in town in 1880.
Three years later the American Telephone Co.
installed a switchboard in the drugstore. Clerk,
William Neville, operated the switchboard
while waiting on customers. By 1890, there were
thirty-one telephones in town.

In 1887 a group of citizens organized the
Conshohocken Electric Light and Power
Company and built the first electric light
plant. It took until 1888 for Fayette Street
to have light by the new Edison light bulb.

By 1890 we had 5,561 citizens in our one-
square mile community and Conshy was
thriving.

The original trolley on Fayette Street went from
Twelfth to Hector Street in December, 1894 and
ran until September,1933.

J. Ellwood Lee, who formed his own surgical
supply company, built a three-story factory
at Eighth Ave. and Harry Street in 1887. In 1910,
Lee built his own automobile tire factory. With
a work force of 850, his company was known
around the world as "Lee of Conshohocken."
In 1966, Lee Tires became a subsidiary of
Goodyear Tire and Rubber company and
closed in 1978. The building still stands today
on Hector Street and is used as offices for
various businesses.

The Alan Wood Company produced iron and
was incorporated in 1885. In 1903, the company
began producing steel at Ivy Rock, a mile west
of Conshohocken along the Schuylkill. Alan Wood
Steel operated for 145 years and was once the
country's largest employer (3,500).
In 1977 they filed for bankruptcy and closed their
doors.

Conshy fact:
There are 17 bars,
4 funeral homes and
9 churches in
Conshohocken.

Conshy reached its peak population in the
1950s with a population of 10,900. The iron
and steel industries were booming and had
5,000 employees locally. But by the mid 1950s
things began to change. Because it was
cheaper, America began to buy its steel
from Japan. By the 1960s, steel prices began
to drop and our local industries began to layoff
workers. In the '60s our local workforce of
iron and steel workers dropped to about 700 and
soon the companies began to close.

When Alan Wood Steel and Lee Tires (along
with many other companies) went out of business,
many families left Conshohocken in search of
better opportunities. Our town almost became
a ghost town.

Urban redevelopment began in 1974 with a
5.6 million dollar grant from the government.
The borough began buying local real estate and
building more office buildings. The borough
leaders saw Conshy's future as home to new
professional industries. The first of the Tower
Office Buildings along the Schuylkill was completed
in 1983. In 1987, there was new excitement with
plans for a new expressway, Hwy. 476 ("The Blue
Route"), that would meet the Hwy. 76 ("The Schuylkill")
right in Conshy. There was also the completion of
the new Matson Ford Bridge into town that made
Conshohocken more accessible and attractive than
ever to new businesses.

Today, our little town continues to thrive. With
the continued development of new businesses
along the Schuykill and new parking structures,
Conshy has never been more prosperous.
We have the best of both worlds here, great
economic opportunity and a small town community.