Port Kennedy was an industrial village located where U.S. Route 422 (Pottstown Expressway) now crosses the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

in Upper Merion Township,

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 73rd-most populous county in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,55 ...

, United States. Built along the Schuylkill Canal and, after 1838, the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly calle ...

, the village was a center for the lime industry in the 19th century. It was named for Alexander Kennedy, the owner of the quarries and kilns. Beginning in 1871, a number of important fossils were unearthed at Port Kennedy. The location of the find was forgotten until 2006, when the

Port Kennedy Bone Cave The Port Kennedy Bone Cave is a limestone cave in the Port Kennedy section of Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pennsylvania, USA. The Bone Cave "contained one of the most important middle Pleistocene (Irvingtonian, approximately 750,000 y ...

was rediscovered. Planning for U.S. Route 422 between the

Schuylkill Expressway The Schuylkill Expressway , locally known as "the Schuylkill", is a Controlled-access highway, freeway through southern Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County and the city of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Philade ...

(

Interstate 76 Interstate 76 may refer to: Interstate Highways in the United States * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania Video gaming * ''Interstate '76 ''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular ...

) and Trooper Road began in 1964. Most of the village was demolished for construction of the superhighway and Betzwood Bridge, which opened to traffic in 1967. In 1978, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

seized the land west of the superhighway through eminent domain to expand

Valley Forge National Historical Park Valley Forge National Historical Park is the site of the third winter encampment of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, taking place from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778. The National Park Service preserves the site a ...

. Today, U.S. Route 422 separates the First Presbyterian Church of Port Kennedy (1845) from the Kennedy Mansion (1852). They, along with the Reading Railroad station and one house, are the only surviving buildings from the village.

References

*Edward Drinker Cope, ''The Fossil Vertebrata From The Fissure At Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania'' (1895
from Google BooksPottstown Expressway Historic Overview
Former populated places in Pennsylvania Geography of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania {{MontgomeryCountyPA-geo-stub