The city lies along the west bank of the Schuylkill River, 52 miles (84 km) south of Wilkes-Barre.

This grant comprised all lands west and south of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers; present-day Pottsville was originally in Chester County.

When the legislative Council, on May 10, 1729, enacted the law erecting Lancaster County, which included all the lands of the Province lying westward of a straight line drawn northeasterly from the headwaters of Octoraro Creek (near the southern borders) marked with blazed trees, to the Schuylkill River, then this placed Pottsville in Lancaster County.

Legend has it that Allen fell asleep at the base of the Broad Mountain and woke to the sight of a large fire; his campfire had ignited an outcropping of coal.

Moses Phillips and his wife Endel began sewing shirts by hand and selling them from pushcarts to the local coal miners.

Van Heusen and other textile companies left the region starting in the late 1970s, mainly as a result of foreign competition.

When the 18th Amendment was repealed, Yuengling stopped production of "near beer" and resumed making alcoholic beverages.

The brewery famously sent a truckload of its Winner Beer to the White House in 1933 as thanks to President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the repeal of Prohibition.

The 1929 film Berth Marks stars the comedy legends Laurel and Hardy as they attempt to reach Pottsville by train for one of their booked performances.

[citation needed] Soldiers in training at nearby Fort Indiantown Gap were prohibited from visiting Pottsville during most of World War II due to the large numbers of illicit venues and activities present during the time.

In June 2011, the City of Pottsville became the county's transportation hub for Schuylkill Transportation System (STS) bus service throughout the county with the $16.1 million Union Station Intermodal Transit Center at 300 South Centre Street.

[8] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.20 square miles (10.9 km2), all land.

Joining near Progress Avenue and Terry Reiley Way they form Norwegian Creek, which flows underground through the heart of the city.

The Pottsville Formation is named after the town; it is a geologic complex including coal, sandstone, and coarse conglomerate that runs along the Appalachian Mountains from Alabama to New York.

The designation of North, South, East, and West is found at the intersection of Norwegian and Centre Streets.

They include WNEP-TV 16 (ABC), WYOU-TV 22 (CBS), WBRE-TV 28 (NBC), WVIA-TV 44 (PBS) and WOLF-TV 56 (FOX).

Two radio stations broadcast from Pottsville: WAVT-FM 101.9-FM (Hot AC) and WPPA 1360-AM 105.9-FM (Talk & Sports).

Dial telephone service came to Pottsville on August 30, 1956, with Mayor George Heffner making the first call on the new MArket 2 exchange, which still exists.

Since 2011, Intercity public bus service has been provided at the Union Station Intermodal Transit Center at 300 South Centre Street.

Mass transit for the greater Pottsville area is provided by Schuylkill Transportation System, which operates inter-city bus services throughout the county.

Passenger train service between Pottsville, Reading, and Philadelphia[16] was operated by Conrail under the auspices of SEPTA until July 29, 1981.

John O'Hara's 1934 novel Appointment in Samarra is set in a fictionalized version of Pottsville called "Gibbsville".