Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania

Port Kennedy was an industrial village located where U.S. Route 422 (Pottstown Expressway) now crosses the Schuylkill River in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States of America. Named for Alexander Kennedy, and located on the Schuylkill Canal -- and, after 1849, on the Reading Railroad -- the village became an important center for the lime industry in the 19th century.

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 was rediscovered.

Planning for U.S. Route 422 between the Schuylkill Expressway (Interstate 76) 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 seized the land west of the superhighway through eminent domain to expand Valley Forge National Historical Park.

Today, U.S. Route 422 separates the First Presbyterian Church of Port Kennedy (1845) from the Kennedy Mansion (1852). They, along with two houses and the Reading Railroad station, are the only surviving landmarks of the town.

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