Remembering Norristown

Book excerpt: Olympians, soldiers and abolitionists have all hailed from the bustling shores of Norristown, Pennsylvania. Beginning as a modest seventeenth-century settlement along the hidden river, it became an industrial boomtown and attracted waves of immigrants to its forges, railways and mills. Local journalist Stan Huskey brings together lively vignettes and fascinating firsthand accounts to introduce such characters as Union general Winfield S. Hancock, hero of Gettysburg, and baseball greats Tommy Lasorda and Mike Piazza. From tales of calamitous train wrecks to the bygone era of streetcars, Huskey brings readers back to the glow of the hometown lights.