King of Prussia is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 19,936. The community
took its name in the 18th century from a local tavern named the King of Prussia Inn, which
was named after Frederick II, King of Prussia. Like the rest of Montgomery County, King of
Prussia continues to experience rapid development. The largest shopping mall in the United States
in terms of space and size, the King of Prussia Mall, is located here. Also located here is
the headquarters of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region I.
History The eponymous King of Prussia Inn was originally
constructed as a cottage in 1719 by the Welsh Quakers William and Janet Rees, founders of
nearby Reeseville. The cottage was converted to an inn in 1769 and did a steady business
in colonial times as it was approximately a day's travel by horse from Philadelphia.
Settlers headed west to Ohio would sleep at the inn on their first night on the road.
In 1774 the Rees family hired James Berry to manage the inn, which henceforth became
known as "Berry's Tavern". General George Washington first visited the tavern on Thanksgiving
Day in 1777 while the Continental Army was encamped at Whitemarsh; a few weeks later
Washington and the army bivouacked at nearby Valley Forge.
Parker's spy map, created by a Tory sympathizer of the Kingdom of Great Britain, listed the
inn as "Berry's" in 1777, but a local petition in 1786 identified it as the "King of Prussia".
It was possibly renamed in honor of Benjamin Franklin's pro-American satirical essay "An
Edict by the King of Prussia". At some point a wooden signboard of the inn depicted King
Frederick II of Prussia. The inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The inn was forced to move with the expansion of U.S. Route 202. U.S. 202 is a major north-south
highway that passes through the town from southwest to northeast. Its construction as
a modern expressway would have caused the destruction of the King of Prussia Inn; however,
historic preservationists managed to prevail upon the state of Pennsylvania to avoid this
important structure by building north and southbound lanes on either side of it. For
more than a quarter century the inn was marooned on a median island, with motor traffic whizzing
past on both sides. It was sealed up for years, surrounded by a high fence. The inn was successfully
relocated in 2000 and opened to the public in October 2002.
The extensive suburban development that has taken place since the 1960s in King of Prussia
has led urban planning scholars like Joel Garreau to label the area as an epitome of
the edge city phenomenon, a situation where the most vibrant economic growth and prosperity
in a metropolitan area no longer occurs in the urban center, but rather at its periphery.
Before 1960, the Greater King of Prussia area was known for little more than being the place
of Washington's winter respite in 1777-8. Daniel Berrigan and his brother Philip Berrigan
began their Plowshares Movement at the General Electric Weapons Plant in King of Prussia
in 1980. Geography
There is no incorporated city of King of Prussia, although the United States Postal Service
office there still carries that name. The zip code is 19406. King of Prussia's boundaries,
as defined by the Census Bureau, are the Schuylkill River to the north, U.S. Route 422 to the
west, Bridgeport to the east, and I-76 to the south. However, the Greater King of Prussia
Area is often cited to include Bridgeport, parts of Wayne and Radnor Township, King Manor,
as well as most of Gulph Mills. The local fire department carries the King of Prussia
name, whereas the police department and the school district carry the Upper Merion name.
King of Prussia is located at 40°6′N 75°23′W. According to the United States Census Bureau,
the CDP has a total area of 8.5 square miles, of which 8.4 square miles is land and 0.1
square miles, or 0.83%, is water. The area is served by area codes 610 and 484.
484 is an overlay area code. Infrastructure
King of Prussia has retained its role as an important crossroads throughout United States
history. In addition to the Inn, from the earliest days, the intersection supported
two general stores. Today, four major highways meet in or near the center of King of Prussia.
The Schuylkill Expressway from Center City, Philadelphia, ends in King of Prussia at the
Pennsylvania Turnpike, an east-west toll road across the southern portion of the state.
US 422 begins near the center of town and heads west to Reading; thanks to reconstruction
in 2000, motorists can now travel directly from Reading to Philadelphia without passing
onto US 202. US 202 is the only major highway that becomes a surface road through the area.
The construction of one of the nation's largest shopping malls, thousands of homes, various
hotels and highrises, strip malls, restaurants, freeways, a convention center, and much more
has caused King of Prussia to become a highly developed community. One unfortunate side
effect of the rapid development over the last several decades is that the plumbing and water
drainage infrastructure is now barely able to handle the volume, leading to periodic
water back ups for homes. The depth of this was shown on a larger scale in October and
November 2010 when the King of Prussia Plaza flooded, causing serious damage to many of
the first floor areas. Despite this, King of Prussia is seen as an idyllic place to
live with some homes and farmsteads older than 200 years still dotting the rolling countryside.
Much is being done to protect King of Prussia's many historic sites. Valley Forge National
Historical Park, preserving the site where General George Washington and his Continental
Army spent the winter of 1777–78, borders King of Prussia to the west.
King of Prussia is well served by many transit lines including buses, the Norristown High
Speed Line operated by SEPTA, and the Rambler operated by the Greater Valley Forge Transportation
Management Association. Companies
King of Prussia is home to the King of Prussia Mall, the largest shopping complex in the
United States, based on shopping area square footage. King of Prussia comprises two malls
which are connected by a short covered crosswalk, originally developed and operated by Kravco
Company, now owned and managed by Simon Property Group.
The Plaza at King of Prussia originally opened in 1960, and was under a continual expansion
until 1968. The Court at King of Prussia, comprising 900,000 square feet GLA connected
by an open-air walkway to The Plaza, opened in 1981. The Plaza was renovated and expanded
between 1991–1996, to include nearly 1,900,000 square feet GLA. The Court was renovated during
1996. When the 180,000-square-foot Strawbridge's
department store at the far end of the Court became vacant in the late 1990s, the original
Kravco partners bought the building. Kravco Company re-tenanted it with big-box stores
and restaurants such as The Cheesecake Factory, reducing GLA slightly, renaming that portion
of The Court "The Pavilion." Thus the total GLA at King of Prussia is in
the vicinity of 2,800,000 square feet GLA, depending on the source used, making it the
largest shopping complex in terms of GLA under one ownership in the United States. The Mall
of America has more GLA under one roof, but is actually smaller than King of Prussia in
terms of GLA. The King of Prussia shopping complex caters
to a very broad spectrum of consumers. Sales per square foot averages $600, among the highest
in the industry. Current department stores at The Plaza include Neiman-Marcus, Nordstrom,
Lord & Taylor, JCPenney, and Sears. Other notable Plaza tenants are Apple, Tiffany's,
Hermès, Samsonite, and Crate & Barrel. Current department stores at The Court include Macy's
and Bloomingdales. Restaurants at the mall include California
Cafe, Sullivan's Steakhouse, Ruby's, Maggiano's Little Italy, TGI Fridays, Blue Pacific Chinese
& Sushi, Rock Bottom, Legal Sea Foods, California Pizza Kitchen, The Cheesecake Factory, and
three food courts. All of Darden Restaurants concepts are prominent in King of Prussia
as well, including the flagship Red Lobster. The King of Prussia shopping complex is rare
among malls, because it is largely served by a modern energy-saving HVAC central plant
and a unique high tension dual automatic switching electrical feeds, attesting to the foresight
and sophisticated management style of the original Kravco owners and developers.
Other prominent retail space developed by others on the periphery of the mall includes
big box stores such as Best Buy, and Costco Wholesale, a Toys "R" Us/Babies "R" Us Superstore,
Nordstrom Rack, a Regal Entertainment Group theatre with IMAX, and Bahama Breeze, Champs,
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, all directly across the street from the massive shopping mall.
A large Home Depot is located within 1/4 mile, Walmart and Wegmans. These retail outlets
employ 6,000 people in the area. Visitor traffic on average shopping day is in the 25,000 range,
while on Christmas season weekends, it reaches over 125,000 daily.
Lockheed Martin has a large facility on a hill overlooking the mall as well. King of
Prussia is also home to roughly 200 or more companies who have headquarters or regional
offices in the area. AT&T Wireless, Trane, MAACO, GSI Commerce, General Electric, GlaxoSmithKline,
Pfizer, Fiserv, Cephalon, Merck & Co, Fidelity Investments, BNY Mellon, CSL Behring, Elan
Pharmaceuticals, Hospira, Abbott Laboratories, GHS Pharma, Procurian, and BNP Paribas are
a few examples. The Theodore Presser Company, the United States's oldest music publisher,
is also located in King of Prussia. American Baptist Churches USA has its administrative
headquarters in King of Prussia, in a building locally nicknamed "The Holy Doughnut" due
to its shape. Lilly Pulitzer has its corporate headquarters
in King of Prussia. An Online Trading Academy office and center
is also located in King of Prussia. In addition, major commercial property owners
in King of Prussia formed an organization in 2010 called the King of Prussia Business
Improvement District that works to improve the physical environment, market the area,
and advocate for zoning, tax and transportation policies that will keep King of Prussia competitive
in the region. Demographics
As of the 2010 census, the CDP was 69.4% White Non-Hispanic, 5.7% Black or African American,
0.3% Native American, 18.6% Asian, and 2.1% were two or more races. 4.2% of the population
were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. 22.4% of the population was foreign-born.[2]
As of the census of 2000, there were 18,511 people, 8,245 households, and 4,773 families
residing in the CDP. The population density was 2,202.4 people per square mile. There
is about 8,705 housing units at an average density of 1,035.7/sq mi. The racial makeup
of the CDP was 82.70% White, 10.62% Asian, 4.26% Black or African American, 0.16% Native
American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.84% from other races, and 1.39% from two or more races.
1.91% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 8,245 households out of which 21.1% have children under the age of 18 living with
them, 49.2% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband
present, and 42.1% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals
and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household
size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 17.6% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to
24, 35.1% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or
older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $62,012, and the median income for a family
was $75,882. Males had a median income of $50,803 versus $37,347 for females. The per
capita income for the CDP was $32,070. 3.2% of the population and 1.6% of families were
below the poverty line. 1.8% of those under the age of 18 and 2.1% of those 65 and older
were living below the poverty line. Education
Public school students in the King of Prussia area attend schools in the Upper Merion Area
School District. The schools include Caley Road, Roberts, Bridgeport, and Candlebrook
Elementary, Upper Merion Area Middle School and Upper Merion Area High School. King of
Prussia also has a Private school, Mother Teresa Regional Catholic School.
Notable people Jobriath Boone -, A native of King of Prussia,
he was an American folk and glam rock musician and actor. He was the first openly gay rock
musician to be signed to a major record label, Elektra Records.
The Bloodhound Gang - A comedic rock band originating in the early '90s from King of
Prussia. Charlie Brenneman - Professional Mixed Martial
Arts competitor with a 15–7 record. References
External links
Upper Merion Town