Remembering Conshohocken and West Conshohocken

Book excerpt: The banks of the Schuylkill once echoed with the hum of the steel mills, and immigrants came across the sea to transform Conshohocken and West Conshohocken into thriving industrial towns. When the storm clouds gathered in Europe, the neighboring communities proudly sent more sons and daughters per capita to serve in World War I than any other town in America. Author Jack Coll chronicles the history of these Pennsylvania mill towns with a series of compelling vignettes. From stories of Ned Hector, an African American soldier who fought valiantly during the Revolutionary War, to the heroics of the Conshohocken fire companies, Coll pays tribute to his home and evokes times gone by.