Montgomery County – An Overview
Cheltenham Township and the community of La Mott are geographically a part of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The state of Pennsylvania has 67 counties and Montgomery County is located in the southeast portion of the state. The estimated population of the county according to the 2004 census was 774,029. This number represents an increase of 3.19% from the 2000 census.
In 2000 the median household income in the county was $60,829. This compares with $41,994 for the national average. According to the census of that year, the County ranked first in the state for population growth during the 1990s and led the state in per capita income ($42,431) in 1998. It is the 27th richest county in the country.
The county is reported to have been named for Revolutionary War General Richard Montgomery.
(Richard Montgomery (December 2, 1736 – December 31, 1775) was an Irish–American soldier who served as a Brigadier General in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
He was born in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland, the son of Thomas Montgomery (a member of Parliament) and Mary Franklin Montgomery.
He was an officer in the British Army in the Seven Years’ War. His service was in Canada and the Caribbean. He reached the rank of captain in May 1762. In 1763, when peace was concluded, he went to New York, and in 1765 returned to England.
In England he associated with liberal members of Parliament who supported the colonists in their demands for more freedom.
On April 6, 1772, he sold his Army commission and decided to move back to New York, buying a sixty-seven acre (270,000 m²) farm at King’s Bridge in what is now the Borough of The Bronx of New York City.
On July 24, 1773, he married Janet Livingston, daughter of Robert R. Livingston, a prominent New Yorker who was on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. He then moved to his wife’s farm near Rhinebeck, which was to be his home for the few remaining years of his life. In 1775, although having resided in New York only three years, he was elected to the New York provincial legislature.
He served as the second-ranking Brigadier General in the American Revolutionary War, led the army into Canada (Invasion of Canada) where he captured two forts and the city of Montreal, and died while attempting to capture the city of Quebec during a fierce snow storm on the 31 of December 1775. The British recognized his body and ordered a honorable burial. In 1818, his body was moved to New York City and interred at St. Pauls Church.)
The racial makeup of the county is 86.46% Caucasian, 7.46% African American, 0.115 Native American, 4.02% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.75% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. 2.04% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. The median age in the county is 38 years.
Within the county there are 35 Townships and 53 cities and towns. Cheltenham Township and Abington Township are two locations that are near to La Mott. La Mott is a community within Cheltenham Township.