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Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County , 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Philadelphia , on the Schuylkill River . Pottstown was laid out in 1752 - 53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815 . In 1888 , the limits of the borough were considerably extended. Pottstown is the center of a productive farming and dairying region. In the past, its iron and steel interests were very extensive. There were large rolling mills, furnaces, nail works, textile mills, bridge works, agricultural-implement works, boiler and machine shops, foundries, and manufactories of bricks, silks, shirts, hosiery, etc. In 1900 , 13,696 people lived here; in 1910 , 15,599; in 1920 , 17,431; and in 1940 , 20,194 people lived here. The population was 21,859 at the 2000 census. Pottstown is not to be confused with Pottsville , a city in Schuylkill County well-known for being the home of the Yuengling brewery.