Coopersburg Borough

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

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Coopersburg Borough Hall is located at 5 North Main Street, Coopersburg PA 18036.
Phone: 610‑282‑3307.

Neighborhoods

Beginnings [1]

Coopersburg was founded and grew along the south branch of Saucon Creek. The stream created a small valley as it flowed northward to join the main branch of the Saucon directly south of Friedensville. Coopersburg is surrounded by low lying hills to the west, south and east. Both valley and hills were covered with fertile limestone soil which attracted settlers as early as 1730. Geography thus made agriculture and transportation the two most important industries. Settlers, largely German, moved into Bucks County directly south of Lehigh Mountain, from 1730 onward, George Bachman, a Mennonite, took up 300 acres of land, on which Coopersburg evolved in 1737. It is likely that along the south branch of the Saucon and Indian trail extended southward from Lehigh Mountain to the Delaware River and with settlement became a crude road extending northward from Philadelphia to the foot of the mountain. As early as 1735 a King's Highway had been opened from the Goshenhoppen region across the mountain at Zionsville to the Macungie Plain in the Great Valley. This was about 10 miles west of Coopersburg. Incentive to open a similar road came with the peopling of the Great Valley between the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers, after 1730. The Bethlehem Pike which was opened from Philadelphia to Bethlehem in 1755 passed through the settlement forming on the land of George Bachman. Sometime between 1745-1750 he founded a hotel named Der Siebenstem (The Seven Star) located at the heart of present day Coopersburg. About his farm settled other farmers, and craftsmen like weavers, coopers, carpenters, blacksmiths and millers. In 1763 Upper Saucon Township had about 250 people. Farming exceeded other occupations by about 4 to 1 in the township. Around Der Siebenstem were built a log barn, a log store and a few log houses to shelter the tradesmen who served the drivers and passengers of wagons and stagecoaches which stopped at the hotel.

  1. ‡ Mahlon Hellerich, Lehigh County Office of Archives and Museums, Coopersburg Historic District, Lehigh County, PA, nomination document, 1980, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.

Nearby Towns: Allentown City • Fountain Hill Boro • Hellertown Boro • Lower Milford Twp • Milford Twp • Quakertown Boro • Richland Twp • Richlandtown Boro • Springfield Twp • Trumbauersville Boro • Upper Milford Twp • Upper Saucon Twp •


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