Easton, Pennsylvania, USA
1854 - Easton

Easton, a post-borough, capital of Northampton county, Pennsylvania, on the Delaware river, immediately above the mouth of the Lehigh, 100 miles E. N. E. from Harrisburg, and 56 miles N. from Philadelphia. The New Jersey Central railroad, 78 miles long, connects it with New York city. It is built on a point of land at the confluence of the Lehigh river and Bushkill creek with the Delaware. A fine bridge, about 500 feet long, crosses the latter river, and a chain bridge connects Easton with South Easton, on the right bank of the Lehigh. The town is laid out in rectangular blocks, is lighted with gas, and supplied with good water, conveyed by pipes from a spring one mile distant. It contains 2 banks, a public library, several academies, 8 newspaper offices, and is the seat of Lafayette College, a flourishing institution founded in 1832, with a library of 5000 volumes. The building is among the principal ornaments of the town. Easton is one of the most flourishing towns in the state, advantageously situated at the junction of the Delaware, Lehigh, and Morris canals, by which vast quantities of stone coal, lumber, grain, and other produce are received and exported. A railroad is in course of construction from this town to Philadelphia, and to the Delaware Water Gap. It has abundant water- power, and is the seat of extensive manufactories, among which are numerous flouring mills, iron foundries, saw mills, a cotton factory, and 2 rifle factories. It is surrounded by a beautiful, rich, and highly cultivated country, which abounds in iron ore and limestone. Laid out in 1738, and incorporated in 1789. Population, exclusive of South Easton, in 1840, 4865; in 1850, 7250.

A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.

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