Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Originally, this area was populated by the Unami division of the Lenape native people (also called the Delaware people). The name Saucon comes from the native word Saukunk, meaning "mouth of the creek", that being the location of a Lenape village.

Established in 1743, Upper Saucon was originally part of Bucks County, one of the three initial counties established by William Penn in 1682. In 1752, Northampton County was carved off of Bucks County and encompassed Upper Saucon. Later, in 1812, Lehigh County was carved from Northampton, thus Upper Saucon became part of Lehigh County.[4]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 24.6 square miles (63.7 km²), of which 24.5 square miles (63.4 km²) are land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²), or 0.59%, are water.[1] Its boundary with Salisbury Township is located on South Mountain.[5] Elevations range from 340 feet (100 m) in Spring Valley to 1,042 feet (318 m) at Bauer Rock atop South Mountain in Big Rock County Park. Upper Saucon is in the Delaware River watershed and is drained by Saucon Creek into the Lehigh River, except for a very small area in the extreme south just southwest of Locust Valley, which is drained by Unami Creek into Perkiomen Creek and the Schuylkill River.

Upper Saucon Township has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) and is in hardiness zone 6b. The average monthly temperature in Center Valley ranges from 28.9 °F (−1.7 °C) in January to 73.5 °F (23.1 °C) in July.

As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 11,939 people, 3,970 households, and 3,283 families residing in the township. The population density was 483.9 people per square mile (186.9/km²). There were 4,117 housing units at an average density of 166.9/sq mi (64.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 97.11% White, 0.70% African American, 0.06% Native American, 1.13% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.40% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.07% of the population.

There were 3,970 households, out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.2% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.3% were non-families. 13.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the township the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $66,703, and the median income for a family was $73,381. Males had a median income of $50,041 versus $30,165 for females. The per capita income for the township was $27,606. About 0.9% of families and 1.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.6% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.

DeSales University, Penn State Lehigh Valley, and Strayer University-Allentown campus are institutions of higher education located in the township.

Along with the borough of Coopersburg and Lower Milford Township, Upper Saucon is served by the Southern Lehigh School District. Southern Lehigh High School serves grades nine through twelve.

Upper Saucon Township Community Park was dedicated on May 18, 1996, and was designed to meet the current and future recreational needs of the Township's residents. The park covers approximately 70 acres and is conveniently located in the central portion of the Township.[8]

Upper Saucon Township is home to The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley which opened in 2006.

Upper Saucon is a second-class township and elects five at-large supervisors.

• Dennis Benner, Chairman
• Brian Farrell, Vice Chairman
• Stephen Wagner
• Philip Spaeth
• Kimberly Stehlik

Upper Saucon has three north-to-south numbered routes: Pennsylvania Route 309, Pennsylvania Route 145, and Pennsylvania Route 378. In Lanark, PA 309 comes north from Philadelphia via Quakertown to join Interstate 78 coming east from New York City and cross the mountain to Allentown. PA 145 and PA 378 come south from Center City Allentown and Bethlehem, respectively, to meet PA 309 in Lanark and Center Valley, respectively. Other notable roads in the township include Beverly Hills Road, Blue Church Road, Blue Church Road South, Center Valley Parkway/Saucon Valley Road, Lanark Road, Limeport Pike, Locust Valley Road (turns into Allentown Road in Lower Milford before exiting the county), Main Street (Center Valley), Oakhurst Drive/Vera Cruz Road, and Passer Road. LANTA Route 323 serves Upper Saucon to/from Allentown.[9]

• Official website