King of Prussia is considered to be an edge city of Philadelphia, consisting of large amounts of retail and office space situated at the convergence of four highways.

The headquarters of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region I and American Baptist Churches USA are located in King of Prussia.

The eponymous King of Prussia Inn was originally constructed as a cottage in 1719 by the Welsh Quakers William and Janet Rees, founders of Reesville.

The cottage was converted to an inn in 1769 and did a steady business in colonial times as it was approximately a day's travel by horse from Philadelphia.

It was possibly renamed in honor of Benjamin Franklin's pro-American satirical essay "An Edict by the King of Prussia".

Its construction as an expressway would have caused the destruction of the King of Prussia Inn; however, historic preservationists managed to prevail upon the state of Pennsylvania to avoid this important structure by building north and southbound lanes on either side of it.

For more than a quarter century, the inn was marooned on a median island, with motor traffic whizzing past on both sides.

The extensive suburban development that has taken place since the 1960s in King of Prussia has led urban planning scholars like Joel Garreau to label the area as an epitome of the edge city phenomenon, a situation where the most vibrant economic growth and prosperity in a metropolitan area (in this case, Philadelphia) no longer occurs in the urban center, but rather at its periphery.

Before 1960, the Greater King of Prussia area was known for little more than being the place of Washington's winter respite in 1777-8 (see Valley Forge National Historical Park).

That event and the subsequent court proceedings surrounding the 'Plowshares Eight' were dramatically depicted by Emile de Antonio in the 1983 motion picture In the King of Prussia.

The proposed development needed to be rezoned but Upper Merion Township officials and local residents were opposed to the plans.

The planned development became known as the Village at Valley Forge and would include a suburban downtown, apartments, townhouses, and offices.

Improvements were made to King of Prussia including landscaping the median of US 202, installing King of Prussia signs at the borders to the community, creating a shuttle service connecting the business park to nearby train stations, and changing the zoning laws to allow for apartments and townhouses to be constructed in the business park.

[12] There is no incorporated city of King of Prussia, although the United States Postal Service office there has carried that name since 1837.

[13] King of Prussia's boundaries, as defined by the Census Bureau, are the Schuylkill River to the north, U.S. Route 422 to the west, Bridgeport to the east, and I-76 to the south.

[23] A large business park is located to the northwest of the King of Prussia mall, with over 60 commercial and industrial companies on 676 acres.

[30] It was formed in 2012 by the merger of Mother of Divine Providence in King of Prussia and St. Teresa of Avila in West Norriton.

[23][32] The King of Prussia mall is surrounded by several big-box stores, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses, including a United Artists Theatres and an iFLY indoor skydiving center.

[4][36] King of Prussia is also the location of the Valley Forge Casino Resort, which has over 500 hotel rooms, 600 slot machines, table games, sports betting, seven restaurants, a spa, nightlife, a convention center, and a seasonal poolside club called Valley Beach.

The memorial, which was dedicated by the King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company on the 10th anniversary of the attacks in 2011, consists of two steel beams recovered from Ground Zero at the World Trade Center in New York City.

The Schuylkill Expressway (I-76), which leads to Center City Philadelphia 19 miles (31 km) away, ends in King of Prussia at the Pennsylvania Turnpike, an east–west toll road across the southern portion of the state that heads west towards Harrisburg as part of I-76 and east across the northern suburbs of Philadelphia towards New Jersey as I-276.

[41][42] Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 6, which serves Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties, is headquartered in King of Prussia.

[44] The Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association operates The Rambler as a community shuttle around the King of Prussia area Monday through Saturday, serving residential areas, shopping centers, the King of Prussia mall, medical facilities, the Upper Merion Senior Center, and the Upper Merion Township Municipal Building.

[49][50] Fullington Trailways provides intercity bus service from the King of Prussia Park and Ride along a route serving Philadelphia, Harrisburg, State College, and DuBois.

[42][54] The Abrams Yard operated by Norfolk Southern Railway is located in King of Prussia on the Harrisburg Line.

[56][58] Electricity and natural gas in King of Prussia is provided by PECO Energy Company, a subsidiary of Exelon.

[63] The Upper Merion Township Public Works Department provides wastewater service to King of Prussia.

[66] The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's 135,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) "Specialty Care and Surgery Center" opened in King of Prussia in 2015.