Easton, Pennsylvania

The Lenape Native Americans originally referred to the area as "Lechauwitank", or "The Place at the Forks". The site of the future city was part of the land obtained from the Delawares by the Walking Purchase. A plaque commemorating this fact is set in the town square. [7] Thomas Penn set aside a 1,000 acres (4.0 km²) tract of land at the confluence of the Lehigh and Delaware rivers for a town. Easton was settled by Europeans in 1739 and founded in 1752,[8] and was so named at the request of Penn; he had recently married Juliana Fermor, the daughter of Lord Pomfret whose estate was called Easton Neston, near Towcester, Northamptonshire, England.[9] As Northampton County was being formed at this time, Easton was selected as its county seat.

During the French and Indian War, the Treaty of Easton was signed here by the British colonial government of the Province of Pennsylvania and the Native American tribes in the Ohio Country, including the Shawnee and Lenape.

Easton was an important military center during the American Revolutionary War. During the Revolutionary War, Easton had a military hospital.[10] On 18 June 1779, General John Sullivan led 2,500 Continentals from Easton to engage British Indian allies on the frontier.[11] Easton was one of the first three places the Declaration of Independence was publicly read (along with Philadelphia and Trenton). It is claimed that the Easton flag was flown during that reading,[12] making it one of the first "Stars and Stripes" to fly over the colonies.[13] This flag was used by a militia company during the War of 1812, and currently serves as Easton's municipal flag.

Easton, photographed circa 1896 by William H. Rau

Sited at the confluence of the rapidly flowing Lehigh River's waters with the more stately waters of the deeper wider Delaware, Easton became a major commercial center during the canal and railroad periods of the 19th century, when it would become a transportation hub for the eastern steel industry. The Delaware Canal, was quickly built soon after the lower Lehigh Canal (1818) became effective in regularly and reliably delivering much needed anthracite coal, into more settled lands along the rivers. And eventually the Morris would also serve to connect the rapidly developing Coal Regions to the north and west, to the fuel starved iron works to the west, the commercial port of Philadelphia to the south, and to the many home owners seeking fuel for heat within Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. Seeing other ways of exploiting the new fuel source, other entrepreneurs quickly moved to connect across the Delaware River reaching into the New York City area to the east via a connection with the Morris Canal in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, so the town became a canal nexus or hub from which the Coal from Mauch Chunk reached the world. The early railroads were often built to parallel and speed shipping along transportation corridors, and by the late 1860s the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (LH&S) and Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR) were built to augment the bulk traffic through the canals and provide lucrative passenger travel services. The LVRR, known as 'the Black Diamond Line' would boast the twice daily "Black Diamond Express" daily passenger trains to and from New York City and Buffalo, New York via Easton. The Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), would lease and operate the LH&S tracks from the 1870s until the Conrail consolidations absorbed both the Central Railroad of New Jersey and Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1966. Today, the Lehigh Valley Railroad's main line is the only major rail line that goes through Easton and is now known as the Lehigh Line; the Lehigh Line was bought by the Norfolk Southern Railway in 1999.

Canal transportation was largely replaced by railroads in the mid-19th century with Easton being a hub for five railroads including the Jersey Central, Lehigh Valley Railroad and others. Easton lost its prominence in passenger transportation with the rise of the automobile in the mid-20th century. The development of improved logistics, transfer and handling methods lead to other regions profiting from freight transportation rather than Easton.

Like the Pennsylvania Dutch region to the southwest, Easton has a strong German heritage. The Pennsylvania Argus, a German-language newspaper, was published in Easton until 1917. As part of their heritage, the Germans put up one of the continent's earliest Christmas trees in Easton; Daniel Foley's book states that "Another diary reference unearthed recently makes mention of a tree set-up at Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1816."[14] There is a plaque in Scott Park (along the Delaware River) commemorating this event. The Pennsylvania guide, compiled by the Writers' Program of the Works Progress Administration in 1940, colorfully described the rich and cosmopolitan fabric of Easton's society in the first half of the 20th century:[15]

The city is a composite of a hurried commercial present and a sedate mercantile past, leavened by a carefree college atmosphere. Coeds, dressed according to the dictates of Hollywood, and college boys in sports clothes and near-white buckskin shoes worn without regard for time or season, rub elbows with frugal Pennsylvania Germans. A familiar sight on market days is the trucks and wagons, loaded with farm produce, drawn up to the curb at the Circle [Centre Square]. Women, scrupulously clean in their calico house dresses, and men in overalls or 'Sunday best,' arrange makeshift counters on which to display their vegetables, meats, crocks of apple butter, and pastries.

— Federal Writers'Project, "Part II: Cities and Towns, Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State (1940)

Historians of angling believe that Samuel Phillipe, an Easton gunsmith, invented the six-strip split-cane bamboo fly rod. A Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission plaque near Center Square commemorates this event.[16]

Easton experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa). Summers are usually hot and very muggy, averaging in the mid-80s during the day, though the high humidity makes it feel much warmer. Fall and spring months are typically mild, offering many days in the mid-60s, as well as stronger winds. Winters are usually very cold and produce about 30 inches of snow. The local hardiness zone is 6b.

The Easton Area Public Library

The Easton Area School District serves the residents of the city of Easton along with Forks and Palmer Townships and the village of Martins Creek to the north. As of the 2000 census, the combined population of the municipalities in the Easton Area School District was 53,554.

The school district has seven elementary schools (Cheston, Forks, March, Palmer, Paxinosa, Shawnee and Tracy) for grades K-5, Easton Area Middle School Campus (in Forks Township) for grades 6–8, and Easton Area High School (in Palmer Township) for grades 9–12. Total student enrollment is about 9000 students in all grades.

Easton Area High School is known[27] for its long-standing athletic rivalry with Phillipsburg High School in neighboring Phillipsburg, New Jersey. The two teams play an annual football game on Thanksgiving Day that is considered one of the largest and longest-standing rivalries in American high school football. 2006 marked the 100th anniversary of the Easton-Phillipsburg high school football rivalry[27] The game, which was shown on ESPN, was won by Easton. In 2009, Easton was the location of the Gatorade REPLAY Game in which the 1993 teams from the Easton vs. P-Burg Game met again to resolve the game, which ended in a 7–7 tie. The REPLAY Game was won by Phillipsburg, 27–12.[28]

Easton Area High School athletes compete in the East Penn Conference, which consists of the 12 largest high schools in the Lehigh Valley. Easton holds the third most LVIAC championships in all sports, behind only Parkland High School and Emmaus High School.[29]

Easton's Lafayette College, founded in 1826

Easton is also home to Catholic Notre Dame High School.

Easton is the home of one four-year college, Lafayette College, which was established in 1826. Lafayette is located in the College Hill section of Easton and is home to 2,500 undergraduate students.[30] In 2017 the U.S. News & World Report ranked Lafayette as the 36th best liberal arts school in the country.[30]

Before the American Civil War, Easton was the location of Union Law School, which was founded in 1846 and seems to have foundered fairly soon after the 1856 death of its founder, Judge Washington McCartney. (While at least one student, future Wisconsin state senator Robert L. D. Potter, graduated in the spring of 1857, a historian in 2000 dismissed Union in an endnote as "a one-man operation that died with him" [i.e., McCartney].[31])

Easton's daily newspaper is The Express-Times. The Morning Call, based in Allentown, also is widely read in the city. Easton is part of the Philadelphia DMA, but also receives numerous radio and television channels from New York City, as well as the smaller Scranton-Wilkes-Barre media market to the northwest.

Two television stations are based in the Easton area: PBS affiliate WLVT Channel 39 in Bethlehem, and independent station WFMZ Channel 69 in Allentown.

Four radio stations are based in Easton: WEEX, a sports radio station broadcasting at 1230 AM, WODE-FM "The Hawk", a classic rock station broadcasting at 99.9 FM, WCTO "Cat Country 96," a country music station broadcasting on 96.1 FM, and WJRH, a Lafayette College radio station broadcasting at 104.9 FM. In addition, WDIY-FM, a National Public Radio affiliate located in Bethlehem, maintains a translator in Easton broadcasting at 93.9 FM.

Two national magazines, Runner's World and Bicycling, are based in Easton.[32]

Easton is becoming an increasingly sought after destination for motion pictures filming on location.

LANTA bus in Easton

Major state, federal, or interstate highways serving Easton include I-78, US 22, PA 33, PA 248 and PA 611 (Delaware Drive). Major east−west roads (from north to south) in Easton include Corriere Road, Zucksville Road, Northwood Avenue, Lafayette Street, Hackett Avenue, Northampton Street, Butler Street (known as William Penn Highway west of Wilson, then as Easton Avenue nearing Bethlehem), Freemansburg Avenue, and Canal Street. Major north−south roads (from west to east) in Easton include Farmersville Road, Stones Crossing Road, Greenwood Avenue, 25th Street, Bushkill Drive, 13th Street, Centre Street, Sullivan Trail, Richmond Road, 3rd Street (Known as Smith Avenue south of the Lehigh River, then as Philadelphia Road farther south), Cattell Street, Riverside Drive, and Delaware Drive (PA 611).

Air transport to and from Easton is available through Lehigh Valley International Airport, which is located approximately 15 miles (24 km) west of the city, in Hanover Township.

Local bus transportation is provided by LANTA, which serves Lehigh and Northampton counties. The Easton Intermodal Transportation Center in downtown Easton serves as a hub for LANTA buses. NJ Transit provides bus service from Center Square in Easton to Phillipsburg and Pohatcong in New Jersey along the 890 and 891 routes.[34] Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service to Easton, stopping at the Easton Intermodal Transportation Center. Trans-Bridge Lines provides regular bus service to New York City.

Easton has no passenger rail service. Until 1983 NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line terminated at Phillipsburg, on the other side of the Delaware River from Easton. The line now stops at High Bridge, New Jersey, roughly 20 miles (32 km) to the east. Under NJT's I-78 Corridor study this service would be restored.

The former Lehigh Valley Railroad main line, the Lehigh Line, travels through Easton and is owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway.

Electricity in Easton is provided by Met-Ed, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy.[35][36] Natural gas service in Easton is provided by UGI Utilities.[37][38] The city's Public Works department provides water, sewer service, and trash and recycling collection to Easton.[39] Easton's water supply comes from the Delaware River. The city's water is treated at a filtration plant along the Delaware River and then stored in reservoirs and delivered to customers. The Easton Suburban Water Authority serves suburban areas outside of Easton and purchases water from the city's Public Works department.[40] The city's Public Works department contracts with Raritan Valley Disposal for trash and recycling collection in Easton.[41]