In the United States of America, you have universities and you have colleges. You have colleges and universities that have students from across the nation and around the world, and you have community colleges that mainly have students from their particular region. Montgomery County Community College in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has campuses throughout the county. One of their campuses in located in Pottstown. It is a place where students go to learn and get an education.
Some of you are saying, “This is very nice. You have a college that has education. The problem is that every college and university has education. Therefore, I see nothing special about this place, and I will not be going to school here.”
So, what is special about the Pottstown Campus of Montgomery County Community College? It gives students an education just like all of the other colleges and universities. What is special about this college? It is next to the main rail line now owned by Norfolk Southern Railway, and it is next to the old passenger train station, but many colleges and universities are next to old train stations and active rail lines. So, what is special about this college?
The Pottstown Campus of the Montgomery County Community College is housed in four structures. You have the South Hall which is the main building housing most of the classrooms. You have the North Hall that is housed in a landmark structure that was a shoe polish factory, a mattress factory, a knitting mill, and a brewery before it housed classrooms. You have an electricity generation station that houses lecture halls, labs, and the print shop. Then you have the Hanover Street Hall. What is special about Hanover Street Hall? You see something special about this building. Before it housed classrooms and offices, it was a baggage a baggage claim facility for the railroad. As you walk around, you can see where the trains pulled up and where the baggage was loaded onto the train. (Be advised that the building is not open to the public.) Today, the old trains that come here are the trains of the Norfolk Southern Railway.
So, now you have a reason to visit the Pottstown Campus of the Montgomery County Community College in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. See a school where students get an education at a place where trains once stopped.
John Cowgill: Stories of the Railroad 