Royalton, PA

Royalton is a Dauphin County borough at the junction of the Susquehanna River and Swatara Creek, across the water from Middletown and within the Harrisburg metropolitan area. The borough combines two older communities: Furnace Hill to the north and Port Royal to the south, incorporated together in 1891. Before bridges and highways, Port Royal's ferries, taverns, and boat traffic made the meeting of the river and creek a working crossroads.

The waterway still sets Royalton's street pattern. Pennsylvania Route 441 runs through the borough toward Middletown and Columbia, while the river, creek, and former canal corridor shape the western and northern edges. Royalton's local history includes a ferry house, boatbuilding dry docks, grist mills, iron furnaces, a brick plant, and the Pennsylvania Canal, which opened in 1834 and ran through Lower Royalton. Today the borough shares schools and many services with Middletown, but its two-stream waterfront and old Port Royal name remain easy to find on the map along the river.