Congo, Pennsylvania

Congo, Pennsylvania
Unincorporated community

Union Jack's Olde Congo Hotel.
Congo
Coordinates: 40°21′03″N 75°35′02″W / 40.35083°N 75.58389°W / 40.35083; -75.58389Coordinates: 40°21′03″N 75°35′02″W / 40.35083°N 75.58389°W / 40.35083; -75.58389
Country United States
State Pennsylvania
County Montgomery
Township Douglass
Elevation 427 ft (130 m)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
  Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP Code 19504
Area code(s) 610 and 484
GNIS feature ID 1172326[1]

Congo is a village in Douglass Township, Montgomery County. Congo is located at the intersection of Hoffmansville Road and Congo Road northeast of Boyertown. It is drained by the Swamp Creek into the Perkiomen Creek and uses the Barto ZIP Code of 19504.

Name origin

The village was named Cedarville until the 1880s, when the US Post Office decided to rename it due to the existence of at least three other Pennsylvania post offices with "cedar" in their names. The Congo Basin was in the news at the time due to conflicting European claims and measures to settle them. While the Congo post office closed around 1925, the name has remained with the community ever since.[2]

References

  1. "Congo". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. Douglass Township Bicentennial Historical Committee. "A History of Douglass Township: 1700 to 1976." 1976, p. 32.
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