Montgomery County, the wealthiest county in Pennsylvania, was 300 years ago the home of the Lenni Lenape Indians. The first settlements were chiefly Welsh and English. William Penn created two manors for members of his family in this territory, one in Springfield and one which became Norristown Township. During the Revolutionary War the county was the site of numerous skirmishes and encampments. Chief among these was Washington’s encampment at what is now Valley Forge National Park, where he and his troops remained from December 1777 to June 1778. It was here that Washington’s men prepared for the critical campaigns that followed. Carved out of Philadelphia County, Montgomery County was created by an act of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1784, and Norristown became the county seat. As early as the 1690’s lime kilns were built, marble was quarried, and copper and lead were mined. What began as a lead mine is now the Audobon Wildlife Sanctuary.