The Borough of Nazareth was founded in 1740 by Moravian settlers. Steeped in Colonial history, the borough today is a small but charming community of 6,000 residents situated only miles from Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown with easy access to major metropolitan areas like Philadel-phia and New York both just an hour’s drive away. The borough has a two hundred year history of manufacturing products which are unique, like the original Henry rifles used in several of our earlier wars, and more recently the world renowned Martin Guitar, used by many of today’s to musicians. Cement has always been Nazareth’s trademark, and Nazareth at one time could boast of three major cement manufacturers within the Borough borders – Nazareth Cement, Lone Star Cement and Penn Dixie Cement. Today, Essroc Cement, part of the Italcimenti Group, still is the Borough’s biggest employer and has acquired the properties and manufacturing facilities of both Lone Star and Penn Dixie. Nazareth can boast too of splendid schools, a unique downtown and quiet and attractive residential areas. The Borough currently has three senior citizen facilities within its borders – Moravian Hall Square, the Oliver Border House and the Silk Mill Senior Housing Facility. The Borough maintains its won Highway Department, Police force and several parks with the 20 plus acre Borough Park and Pool, its crown jewel.
School District
Nazareth Area School District 610-759-1170
Public Library
Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity 610-759-4932
School District
Catasauqua Area School District 610-264-5571
Public Library
Catasauqua Public Library 610-264-4151
The Borough of Northampton was settled in 1741 and incorporated in 1902. In the early years, we were known as “The Cement Capital of the World.” Most of the cement for the Panama Canal came from our community. In this day and age, we can most likely be called “The Recycling Capital of PA.” We have four recycling facilities located within our boundaries. Our community consists of 75% residential and 25% business and industrial.
School District
Northampton Area School District 610-262-7811
Public Library
Northampton Area Public Library 610-262-7537
Palmer Township was founded in 1857 and is named after George Palmer a noted surveyor in the late 1700 and early 1800s. It is mostly a residential township with a mixture of commercial and agricultural areas. Palmer Township has about 584 acres of open/recreation space, 18 parks, and approximately 13 miles of bike path.
The township is served by Routes 22 and 33, which are state highways with limited access and provide access to the metropolitan areas of New York, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
School District
Easton Area School District 610-250-2400
Public Library
Easton Area Public Library – Palmer Branch 610-258-7492
Inhabited originally by the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians, Pen Argyl Borough was part of the land created by the “walking purchase” made by William Penn’s sons, John and Thomas Penn, in 1737. In 1854, the first slate quarry opened in Pen Argyl, and the English settlers followed. Row homes and company stores begin to appear to house and feed the laborers. The Pen Argyl Town Council was organized on April 12, 1882, and renamed the town from “Slateville" and “Wind Gap Quarries” to Pen Argyl. After visiting the area in 1865, Augustus Wolle (a founder of Bethlehem Iron Company) coined the phrase Pen Argyl, Pen is the Celtic word for “mountain” and Argyl is Greek meaning “slate rock.”
In 1920 Weona Park was chartered, and in three years the Borough erected a swimming pool, bath house, an athletic field and picnic grounds. In 1923, Pen Argyl Borough purchased its crowned jewel, a standing Dentzel Carousel. All of which are in existence today!
Over the years, Pen Argyl has been known for its slate and textile industries and for hard-working individualists who give back to their community generously in time and talent as well as financially. Pen Argyl’s present population is 3,663 and continues to maintain the same qualities of its original settlers. Pen Argyl’s strength, growth and stability were and are because of its steadfast civic pride.
School District
Pen Argyl Area School District 610-863-3191
Public Library
Blue Mountain Community Library 610-863-3029
The first white settlers to locate in what is now Plainfield Township were probably Holland Dutch. The Dutch cam down the Delaware River from New York State and may have penetrated this deeply into the interior by 1740. Scotch-Irish were also known to be in the region by this time. German settlers filtered into the area a little later, bypassing the legal procedure for obtaining land. A 1750 land warrant deeded acreage to the Plainfield Church Congregation which was largely German, as well as some French Huguenots and Swiss. As Northampton was established in 1752, it included virtually all of eastern Pennsylvania north and northwest of Bucks County. It has been estimated that as many as five thousand white inhabitants lived within this large land area at that time. Lenape raids associated with the French and Indian War took place in the mid 1750s. A chain of forts north of the Blue Mountain was planned under the direction of Benjamin Franklin to cut off Indian access to the mountain passes. The last forts in the chain were completed in 1756, securing safety for permanent settlement. The portion of Northampton County which is now Bushkill and Plainfield Townships was organized as a single township in 1762, and was given the name Plainfield. The early settlers chose the name because of the lack of trees.
School District
Pen Argyl Area School District 610-863-9093
Public Library
Blue Mountain Community Library 610-863-3029
Historic Portland Borough, incorporated in 1876, is located along the Delaware River on Scenic Route 611. The borough is primarily a residential community, but has a well-defined business district and a world-class manufacturer of Windsor chairs and benches, Duckloe Bros., Inc.
The borough’s original historic Town House and Lock-up (1877) is open to the public periodically, and its 1886 Portland School is utilized for municipal offices and community groups’ meeting rooms.
A visit to Portland is not complete until each visitor crosses the footbridge over the Delaware, which was constructed on the original piers of the covered bridge destroyed in the flood of 1955. The view is magnificent!
School District
Bangor Area School District 610-588-2163
Public Library
Bangor Public Library 610-588-4136
The Borough of Roseto is located at the foot of the Blue Mountain, approximately 76 miles northwest of New York City, 90 miles north of Philadelphia, and 14 miles south of the Delaware Water Gap, Most of its citizens are of Italian descent. Roseto had its beginning in 1887, when Nicola Rosato, Lorenzo Falcone, Giovanni Policelli and Angelo Tedesco purchased tracts of land and built homes that soon developed into a settlement that became known as "Little Italy". By 1897, there were enough residents to warrant a post office, which opened in 1898 with Giuseppe Policelli as the first Postmaster. The name given was "Roseto" after Roseto Valfortore, Italy in the province of Foggia, the original home of the new settlers. On January 2, 1912 Roseto was granted consent to incorporate, and became the first 100% Italian borough in the USA. It has continued to prosper with citizens who take a great deal of pride in their homes and area.
School District
Bangor Area School District 610-588-2163
Public Library
Bangor Public Library 610-588-4136
The Borough of Stockertown was named after Andreas and Jonas Stocker, who settled on these lands in the late 1700s. In late 1900, a group of Stockertown citizens petitioned Northampton County Court to grant the community the status of a Borough. That petition was granted and, early in 1901, the Borough government was organized. The Borough is situated along the Bushkill and Little Bushkill Creeks.
The Borough contains large industries, such as, Hercules Cement, Polymer Products, Praxair and 84 Lumber Company. Two large industrial parks surround the Borough with Main Street being the only access for all the truck traffic. The Borough is located within a 2 1/2-mile radius and provides services for a population of 687 residents. Stockertown is at the hub of five surrounding second-class townships with large housing developments on the horizon every year. A volunteer fire company and a police department serve our residents. Both emergency services have been successful in acquiring grants to improve the equipment that they operate.
School District
Nazareth Area School District 610-759-1170
Public Library
Easton Area Public Library – Palmer Branch 610-258-7492
School District
Nazareth Area School District 610-759-1170
Public Library
Easton - Palmer Branch 610-258-7492
School District
Bangor Area School District 610-588-2163
Public Library
Bangor Area Public Library 610-588-4136
The history of Upper Nazareth Township begins with the Township originally being a part of the Barony of Nazareth, a parvel of land consisting of 25,000 acres, which William Penn had created and pleged for his daughter Letitia in 1682. This land area was a part of Bucks County until 1752, when Northampton County was established. Upper Nazareth was a part of Bethlehem Township until 1788, when Nazareth separated from Bethlehem Township and was divided into Upper and Lower Nazareth Townships. The central area of Upper Nazareth Township separated via a petition and became the Borough of Nazareth on November 27, 1858. The boundaries of Upper Nazareth remained unchanged until December 3, 1948, when on petition of a majority of freeholders, the Borough Council of Nazareth ordained the annexation of portions of Upper Nazareth Township chiefly in western part of what is today the Borough of Nazareth. Upper Nazareth Township boundaries have remained then same since that change in 1948.
School District
Nazareth Area School District 610-759-1170
Public Library
Nazareth Memorial Library 610-759-4932
Nestled along the east side of the Lehigh River in Northampton County, just south of Lehigh Gap, the Borough of Walnutport was incorporated in 1909 with a population of 1,000. The Lehigh Canal was built in 1827-1829 by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. The area around Lock #23, supporting canal related enterprises such as boat repair shops, blacksmiths, carpenters and livery stables, became known as Walnutport because of the many walnut trees that grew around this canal boat stopover. As the community grew, numerous businesses were established and are still operating today Paris Accessories, Inc. in 1911 as a silk mill and the American Nickeloid in 1924 as an electroplating facility. The Diamond Fire Company was organized in 1893 and continues to protect the Borough with its modern equipment and trained volunteers. Post high school Educational opportunities are available at Carbon Lehigh Community College head-quartered several miles away and various universities in the Greater Lehigh Valley. The WCA (Walnutport Canal association) actively works on restoration projects such as improvements to trails, parking, pavilion facilities and the Lock Tender’s House. The WPA (Walnutport Playground Association) supports and manages athletic programs at the three athletic fields and pavilion. The Annual Canal Festival held each fall and the Annual WPA Carnival held each summer provides for fun and entertainment and raises funds to assist in their efforts.
School District
Northern Lehigh Area School District 610-767-9800
Public Library
Slatington Public Library 610-767-6461
Washington Township lies in the shape of an almost perfect triangle and is bounded on the northeast by Upper Mount Bethel Township, on the southeast by Lower Mount Bethel Township, on the west by Plainfield, and for a very short distance on the north by Monroe County. It became a separate township in 1871 when it was set off from Lower Mount Bethel. The surface is mostly rolling and hilly, underlaid with slate formations, except for a marshy valley along the southern side of the Blue Mountain ridge where the springs that feed Martin’s Creek (the Indian “Moiawugurtenk”), flow nearly the entire length of the township, furnishing an abundance of water to power its mills. The first settlement within the present limits of the township was made around 1730, at what is now Richmond. The first mill was a log mill, built at Ackermanville in 1778 by Henry Miller; the first blacksmith shop was opened in the late 1700s, and the first tavern was opened in 1800 at Richmond. A meal cost $.25 and lodging was a shilling charged by Philip Gross, the owner. Mail was carried by horseback weekly, via Portland to the first post office in Richmond in the year 1804.
School District
Bangor Area School District 610-588-2163
Public Library
Bangor Area Public Library 610-588-4136
School District
Wilson Area School District 610-258-0841
Public Library
Mary Meuser Memorial Library 610-258-3040
Williams Township is situated in the southeastern corner of Northampton County. The Township is bounded on the east by the Delaware River, and bounded on the north by the Lehigh River. The Township is bordered on the west by Lower Saucon Township, and on the south by Durham and Springfield Townships, Bucks County.
First mentioned in Bucks County records as Williamstown (possibly named for early settler, John Williams), the Township was occupied by European settlers at least by 1725. It was established as a Township in 1750 with 150 residents. Northampton County was officially cut out of Bucks County in 1752. Because William Allen owned so much acreage in the Township, it is possible the Township was named for him. Williams Township is a community of rolling hills, farmland and woodland with great scenic beauty. It also includes older villages and newer developments. These homes are not far from many excellent opportunities for employment.
Williams Township's primary mission is to protect the health, safety and general welfare of its residents. We are a community that emphasizes balanced well-planned growth, while continually guiding changes to serve the public interest, and to provide residents with a very high quality of life that is affordable.
School District
Wilson Area School District 610-259-0841
Public Library
Mary Meuser Memorial Library 610-258-3040
The Borough of Wilson was named for the successful candidate of the 1912 presidential election between William H. Taft and Woodrow Wilson. The Borough is primarily a residential community. Cadmus Printing, Easton Hospital and warehousing at Wilson Park are the largest employersin the Borough. In addition to Wilson Area High School, Philip Lauer Middle School, Wilson Elementary, and Avona Elementary, Wilson Borough is home to Easton Hospital and Mary Meuser Library. Meuser Park provides for summer band concerts, the annual Lion’s Fair, an Italian-American festival and recreation facilities.
School District
Wilson Area School District 610-258-0841
Public Library
Mary Meuser Memorial Library 610-258-3040
The Borough of Wind Gap better known throughout historic Pennsylvania as “The Gateway to the Poconos,” was incorporated in August 1893. The Gap was a natural passageway for the Indians, settlers and the military. The stone house on upper Broadway was at one time a tollgate. The Wind Gap Memorial located at Park and Lehigh Avenues, indicates names of 53 young men who served in World War I, 322 individuals who served in World War II, including four who did not return. Wind Gap has a beautiful and spacious Borough Park, which is located at the corner of Third Street and Lehigh Avenue and is used regularly by residents from all over the area.
School District
Pen Argyl Area School District 610-863-3191
Public Library
Blue Mountain Library 610-863-3029
