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Top Attractions in Norristown

Mill Grove

Mill Grove is a historic stone house in Audubon, Pennsylvania on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the first home in America of painter John James Audubon for which the community is named. It is maintained as a museum and wildlife sanctuary by Montgomery County. Mill Grove was owned for 17 years by Audubons father, Jean, a French sea captain. In 1803, Captain Audubon sent his youthful son John James to Mill Grove to supervise the estate that included a working lead mine. The house serves as the educational center of the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Audubon Society, and is known as John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove. The estate comprises 175 acres with more than five miles of trails. The house features a museum displaying original Audubon prints, all of his major oil paintings and memorabilia.

Elmwood Park Zoo

HISTORY The Elmwood Park Zoo is located in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The zoo first opened in 1924, when a private landowner donated a small piece of property and a handful of White Tailed Deer to the Borough of Norristown. As time progressed, upgrades became imperative to the living conditions of the animals. The first change was the design of the cages which went from wire, the norm for the early 20th century, to realistic habitats. The first animals that were exhibited came from North and South America. The zoo’s funds were mostly given to them by the Norristown Zoological Society. The NZS declared itself as a non-profit organization in 1985 as it took ownership over the Norristown Borough. Although the NZS had control over the zoo, they still have to consult with the Norristown Borough Council before being able to execute large-scale decisions. The first huge operation that went into action was the expansion of the park that was completed in 2002, and the park size doubled from its original 8-acre size. From 1999-2002, the Elmwood Park Zoo added more offices and shops to help regulate the business flow. The most popular spot at the EPZ is their interactive playground that was made in 2001. A year later, they included more common canines and rare weasels, specifically the endangered species known as the black-footed ferrets. That same year, this zoo finished their Oberkircher Discovery Center, an educational facility. Ever since the major renovations to the park over the years, this park now receives almost half a million guests per year. The EPZ continues to make entertaining tourists a top priority as well as providing them safe, sanitary, family-oriented, fun-filled activities. Despite advancing old constructions, the zoo still has historical landmarks up for display, including their oldest office built in 1924. To this day, business is booming and the community remains at the heart of EPZ’s operations. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOO KEEPERS (AAZK) The Elmwood Park Zoo American Association of Zoo Keepers is a non-profit organization made up of zoo professionals dedicated to quality animal care and conservation. The AAZK mission statement is "to advance excellence in the animal keeping profession, foster effective communication beneficial to animal care, support deserving conservation projects, and promote the preservation of our natural resources and animal life." TYPES OF ANIMALS In Elmwood Park zoo, there is a variety of animals that are living in the zoo. They have two separate groups of animals, and those are the animals on exhibit and the animals that are shown for educational purposes. The animals that are on exhibit are the amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles. The animals the zoo uses for educational purposes for the public are birds, mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates. The zoo also obtains animals for the different seasons of the year. They range from animals such as parakeets, giraffes, ponies, reindeer, and sun conures. But that is not the most interesting animal that the zoo obtains. The zoo has a North American bald eagle named Noah. Noah was born in July 2001. He is a 3 ft. bird with a wing span of 7 ft. and the weight of 7 lbs. At 8 weeks old, Noah took an 80 ft. fall and suffered head injuries. He had to recover the first year of his life in an animal hospital. After recovering from his injuries but deemed unfit to reenter into the wild, Noah was used for educational programs to help humans with outreach programs in a rehabilitation center. In 2008, Elmwood Park Zoo adopted Noah and gained all of his rights. He has been labeled as one of the zoo’s ambassadors and helps teach people of all ages about outreach programs on wildlife conservation ANIMAL MANAGEMENT The Elmwood Park Zoo promotes wildlife and resource conservation and is currently undertaking animal management programs as a part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The Species Survival Plan is the official program of the Association that the Elmwood Park Zoo has adopted to help protect threatened animals. Animals that are managed by the Species Survival Plan include the Capybara, Cougar, Black-Footed Ferret, Chilean Flamingo, Panamanian Golden Frog, Giraffe, Jaguar, Howler Monkey, White-Faced Saki Monkey, Squirrel Monkey, North American River Otter, Burrowing Owl, Chacoan Peccary, North American Porcupine, Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine, Prehensile-Tailed Skink, Golden Lion Tamarin, and the Puerto Rican Crested Toad. Aside from Elmwood Park Zoo’s active role in animal management conservation, the zoo is also highly active in conservation projects fixated on conserving essential natural environments. Some of the conservation projects the Zoo has contributed towards through donations includes the Titi Conservation Alliance, Habitat reforestation, Naranjo River Biological Corridor, Environmental Education, The Red Panda Network, American Bird Conservancy, CCCI, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium “Seafood Watch”. In the Newbery Medal-winning fiction book Maniac Magee, the titular character lives briefly in the bison pen of the Elmwood Park Zoo.

Norristown Farm Park

Norristown Farm Park is a 690-acre Pennsylvania state park in East Norriton and West Norriton Townships and the Borough of Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is operated in partnership with the Montgomery County Department of Parks. The park is a working farm on the site of Norristown State Hospital. Many colonial era farm buildings and homes are on the grounds. Hiking, bicycling, ball fields, fishing, picnicking, and cross-country skiing are available in the park. The park hosts musical concerts in the summer. Stony Creek flows through the park. Norristown Farm Park is just off Interstate 276 on West Germantown Pike. Norristown Farm Park was originally part of a 7,000-acre tract of land called "Williamstadt," which originally belonged to William Penn. The property was then transferred to Isaac Norris, the namesake of Norristown, by way of Penns son, William Penn, Jr. Norris heirs sold pieces of Williamstadt to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Norristown State Hospital was opened in the 1870s as a mental hospital. The park is on state-owned land that surrounds the hospital.

Selma Mansion

Selma Mansion is one of the oldest and most historic structures in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Located on the western edge of the town, Selma was built by General Andrew Porter in 1794 around an existing structure, purchasing from Alexander McCammon in 1786. Porter was a soldier during the American Revolutionary War and helped found the Continental Marines, forerunner of the U.S. Marine Corps. He was later appointed Surveyor General, helped lay out the borders of the commonwealth and attained the rank of general. Andrew's Porters sons were raised at Selma Mansion and went on to distinguished careers in law, politics, and government. His eldest son, Richard Porter, was president judge of the 3rd judicial district of Pennsylvania. His second son, David Rittenhouse Porter, named for Andrew's friend and neighbor, David Rittenhouse, served as governor of Pennsylvania from 1839 1845. His third son, George Bryan Porter, was appointed governor of Michigan Territory by President Andrew Jackson. Andrew's youngest son, James Madison Porter, was Secretary of War under President John Tyler & founder of Lafayette College in Easton. Porter's grandson, Civil War brevet brigadier general Horace Porter, was the aide-de-camp and personal secretary to Ulysses S. Grant, and was ambassador to France from 1897-1905, while his granddaughter Eliza Parker married Robert Todd and gave birth to a daughter, Mary, the wife of eventual U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. In 1821 the property was sold to Andrew Knox Jr., who later passed it on to his son Col. Thomas P. Knox, farmer and president of Pennsylvania's agricultural society. Selma later passed into the hands of the Fornance family, whose patriarch, Joseph Fornance, represented Norristown and Montgomery County in the 26th and 27th United States Congress. His son, also Joseph Fornance, lived in the house with his wife Ellen Knox Fornance and their family passing the home on to their son Joseph Knox Fornance and his wife Ruth Ryder Fornance. The mansion remained in the Fornance family until 1982. The mansion was built in the Federal style, although the interior woodwork and proportions are Colonial or Georgian. The porches are Italianate, having been added in the mid-19th century. A Pennsylvania state historical marker, authorized by the state's Historical and Museum Commission, stands on the site. Many say they have seen spirits lingering on the site, through windows and during walkthrough's.

Main Street station

Main Street station is a SEPTA Regional Rail station in Norristown, Pennsylvania, United States. It serves the Manayunk/Norristown Line. It is one of the two stations on the short electrified branch to Elm Street in Norristown. This branch leaves the main (diesel-only) line to Pottsville and Reading. Currently owned by Norfolk Southern Railway, the Reading Railroad once operated passenger service on that line. The station has 76 parking spaces. It is located at Main and Markley Streets. In FY 2013, Main Street station had a weekday average of 189 boardings and 181 alightings. The original Main Street structure was originally the last Lehigh Valley Transit Company stop on the Liberty Bell Limited (also known as the Liberty Bell High Speed Line) from Allentown to Philadelphia, turning onto Mount Airy Street going towards what is now the Norristown Transportation Center (formerly the Lafayette Street station) and formerly connected with the Norristown High Speed Line. In the 1960s, the Reading Railroad built a replacement structure to connect to the Pottsville Line as a spur. It also served the Stony Creek Branch to Lansdale. In 1981, SEPTA abandoned the main route towards Pottstown and used the route to Elm Street to be part of the Manayunk/Norristown line.

Norristown State Hospital

Norristown State Hospital, originally known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Norristown, is an active state-funded psychiatric hospital located outside the city of Philadelphia in suburban Norristown, Pennsylvania. It was originally designed between 1878–80, by the local firm of Wilson Brothers & Company; of which, the original structure was set in a red brick Victorian High Gothic motif. It remains active for its originally clinical intention, and currently serving Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, Montgomery County and Philadelphia County, providing clinical services in General Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. Additionally, there are various agencies that sublet state hospital buildings for a variety of psychiatric, residential and social services. These agencies currently make up the majority of services that are offered on the grounds of the hospital. In February of 2018, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania announced that they would be closing the civil unit at Norristown State permanently. There have been some voices of dissent among the public, as the majority of these patients would be redirected to community residential settings and outpatient psychiatry. This closure will re-route remaining civil psychiatric beds north to Danville State Hospital in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The forensic facilities at Norristown, however, will remain active well into the foreseeable future, as it is one of only two such facilities in Pennsylvania.
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