Editing Bally, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
[[File:Bally, Pennsylvania (5654945849).jpg|thumb|A home in Bally]]
Bally was originally called '''Goshenhoppen''', possibly deriving from an Indian word meaning meeting "place". Others claim the name derives from [[Germans|German]] settlers calling the area their haven or Hafen in [[German language|German]], eventually becoming Goshenhoppen.<ref name="berks.pa-roots.com">{{cite web |url=http://berks.pa-roots.com/library/church/GoshenhoppenChurch.html |title=History of Goshenhoppen Church, Hereford Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania |website=berks.pa-roots.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901030307/http://berks.pa-roots.com/library/church/GoshenhoppenChurch.html |archive-date=2012-09-01}}</ref> [[Mennonite]]s and [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] settled in the borough in the early 18th century.

Clergyman Ulrich Beidler erected the first house of worship, the Mennonite Church in 1731. Father Theodore Schneider, a [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] priest, came to the area in 1741 and established what would be just the third Catholic mission church in the 13 original colonies.  On land received from the Mennonite community, Father Schneider built St. Paul's Chapel in 1743.  St. Paul's is now known as the Most Blessed Sacrament Church, and it is the oldest existing Catholic place of worship in Pennsylvania and the fourth oldest Catholic structure in the thirteen original colonies.

In 1743, Father Schneider started a Catholic school at the mission church. The school, originally called St. Aloysius Academy, also marked the beginning of Catholic education in the 13 original colonies.  After several name changes, it is currently known as St. Francis Academy, and is the oldest currently operating co-educational Catholic school in the nation.

To reflect the many churches in the town, Goshenhoppen was renamed '''Churchville'''.  When the post office was established in 1883, the townsfolk changed the name to '''Bally''' in honor Father Augustine Bally, S.J., a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] pastor, who had died the previous year.<ref name="berks.pa-roots.com"/> Bally was incorporated as a borough in 1912, and Henry Eddinger, son of Frederick K. and Sophia (Miller) Eddinger, were appointed as the first Burgess.

Bally has traditionally been a home of many [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] settlers and their descendants.

In 1912, Bally resident [[Annie Funk]], a Mennonite missionary to [[India]], died during the sinking of the [[Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']]. Funk was en route to Bally to visit her ailing mother, and reportedly gave up her seat in a lifeboat to another passenger as the ship sank.