NORRISTOWN, a borough of the United States, capital of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, lies on the north bank of the Schuylkill river, opposite Bridgeport (with which it is connected by two bridges), and 16 miles northwest of Philadelphia by the Germantown and Norristown branch of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. It is a well-built and pleasant town, and contains blast-furnaces and rolling-mills, wool and cotton mills, glass-works, an oil refinery, and various other manufacturing establishments, considerably indebted for their success to the water-power of the Schuylkill river. The hospital for the insane of the south-eastern district of Pennsylvania is situated here. The most conspicuous buildings are the marble county courthouse (1855), the music-hall, and the jail. The population was 6024 in 1850, 8848 in 1860, 10,753 in 1870, and 13,063 in 1880. The town occupies the site of the old Swedes’ Ford, and owes its name to Isaac Norris, who purchased the ground from William Penn. It was incorporated as a borough in 1812, and enlarged in 1853.