Foster Township

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

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Foster Township municipal offices are located at 1000 Wyoming Road, Freeland PA 18224.
Phone: 570‑636‑3757.

Neighborhoods

Beginnings [1]

Foster Township was formed from Denison in 1855, and was named in honor of Asa L. Foster, one of its early settlers. The few original settlers were from Northampton County; but mining becoming the chief employment, the present population are mostly Germans, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh. Thomas Morrison made the first clearing in 1837, and erected a saw-mill on Pond Creek in 1851. To this James Morrison attached a grist-mill in the same year. In 1854, Richard Sharp, George Belford, Francis Weiss, William Reed, A. L. Foster, and John Leisenring, explored a considerable tract of land belonging to the estate of the late Tench Coxe of Philadelphia, with a view to the establishment of coal works. Their examination proving satisfactory, they erected a steam saw-mill, at a cost of $7000, and commenced operations at Fillmore, now Eckley, but then a wilderness. In 1855, they shipped 2000 tons of coal, and have since increased it to 110,000 tons per annum.

Foster contains a territory of 50 square miles, but only a small portion of it is adapted to agriculture, being generally mountainous. Its inhabitants consume of agricultural products more than they raise.

  1. Pearce, Stewart, Annals of Luzerne County: A Record of Interesting Events, Traditions, and Anecdotes, J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, 1866

Nearby Towns: Beaver Meadows Boro • Freeland Boro • Hazleton City • Jeddo Boro • Lehigh Twp • Weatherly Boro •


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