It is one of 1,457 Townships of the Second Class in the Commonwealth and one of 62 municipalities in Montgomery County.
Townships are the oldest political subdivisions of Pennsylvania.
William Penn's 1681 Charter authorized him to divide counties into towns. As soon as the first counties were created in 1682, they were subdivided into districts for various governmental purposes. As settlement moved westward, townships were often formed in frontier areas before there was sufficient population to justify a separate county, so in most cases the oldest subdivisions are townships, antedating even the county governments. This tract contained approximately 7,482 acres - all of present day East Norriton Township, West Norriton Township and the Borough of Norristown. The tract was intended as a gift to his son, but five days after receiving the land William Penn, Jr. sold it to two Philadelphia merchants, Isaac Norris and William Trent, for the sum of 850 pounds sterling.