Upper Mount Bethel Township municipal building is located at 387 Ye Olde Highway, Mount Bethel, PA 18343.
Phone: 570‑897‑6127.
Neighborhoods
Beginnings [1]
This township is one of the oldest settled portions of Northampton County. The Ulster-Scots founded the old Hunter Settlement about 1730, by which name it was known for about 17 years. On July 8, 1746, the inhabitants living on the main branch of the Delaware River petitioned the Court of Quarter Sessions for the organization of Mount Bethel Township, embracing the district from the mouth of Turnami Creek (Martins Creek) up the north branch of said creek, upon the west side of Jeremiah Best's [property], to the Blue Mountains, thence by said mountains to the north branch of the Delaware River, to the mouth of Turnami Creek, to the point of commencement. This composed the territory now included in the towns of Upper and Lower Mount Bethel and that of Washington Township.
The names appearing on the petition were: Peter Schur, Jonathan Miller, Arthur Coveandell, Thomas Roady, Joseph Woodside, George Bogard, James Anderson, David Allen, James Simpson, Peter Mumbower, Jonathan Garlinghaus, Jonathan Carmichael, Richard Quick, Joseph Fuston, Thomas Silleman, Lawrence Coveandell, Jeremiah Best, Manus Decher, Joseph Jones, Alexander Hunter, James Bownons, Jacob Server, Joseph Coler, James Miller, Joseph Quick, Joseph Ruckman, Thomas McCracen, Coleus Quick, Joseph Carson, Edward Moody, Conrad Doll, Thomas Clark, Jonathan Rickey, James Quick, Patrick Vence and Robert Liles.
Among the first settlers in Mount Bethel were three brothers, Peter, Charles and Abraham La Bar. They emigrated from France before 1730, landed at Philadelphia, and went north in pursuit of a home. They finally reached the southern base of the Blue Mountains, believing they had penetrated beyond the bounds of civilized man. They located a tract of land and built a log cabin. They were the first to clear land on the Delaware River above the mouth of the Lehigh River. The brothers eventually moved north of the Blue Mountains into what is now Monroe County.
The original Mount Bethel was divided into Upper and Lower townships on March 17, 1787.
Nearby Towns: Bangor Boro • Belvidere Town • East Bangor Borough • Knowlton Twp • Lower Mount Bethel Township • Portland Boro • Roseto Boro • Washington Township • White Twp •