EASTON, a city of eastern Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the Delaware river, at the mouth of the Lehigh and Bushkill rivers, opposite Phillipsburg, N.J., and 6om. N. of Philadelphia; the county seat of Northampton county. It is on Federal highways 22 and 611; is served by the Central of New Jersey, the Lehigh Valley, the Lehigh and Hudson River, and (through Phillipsburg) the Lackawanna and the Pennsylvania railways ; and is at the junction of the Delaware, the Lehigh and the Morris canals, by which coal comes from the anthracite region 50m. north-west and bulky products are shipped away. The population was 33,813 in 1920 (87% native white), and was 34,468 in 1930 by the Federal census. The local estimate of the population living within 5m. of Centre Square in 1928 was 85,000.
The city is beautifully situated on rolling ground, commanding fine views of hills and rivers. The assessed valuation of property in 1926 was $39,390,166. A city planning commission was created in 1913, and a comprehensive plan of development has been pre pared. On a hill overlooking the city is Lafayette college, a Pres byterian institution for men, opened in 1832, which has an en rolment of over i,000. It was named after Gen. Lafayette, who was on tour through the country when the movement to establish the college was launched in 1824. Easton is the commercial centre of a region rich in mineral and agricultural resources. Water power and abundant hydro-electric power are available, and the city has important and varied manufactures, with an aggregate output in 1927 valued at $26,247,328. Among the principal pro ducts are steel, cement, slate, silk, hosiery, sash and doors, paper cups, pianos, crayons, cigars, fireworks, flour, fire-escapes, rope and twine, wire cloth, furniture, clothing, paints, pumps, dental sup plies, machinery of many kinds, plush, rugs, awnings, furnaces and show-cases.
Easton was settled by Thomas and John Penn, brothers of William Penn, and was named after the family of Thomas Penn's wife. The land was acquired in 1752 from the Indians, who had had a trading post at this point, and several important treaties were negotiated with them here between 1756 and 1762, during the French and Indian war. The First Reformed church, built in 1776 and still standing, was used as a hospital during the Revolu tion. The bell rung to summon the people to the official reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776, still hangs in the belfry of the court-house, and the flag unfurled on that occasion is in the public library. Easton was incorporated as a borough in 1789; as a city in 1887.