Place:Catasauqua, Lehigh, Pennsylvania, United States

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Catasauqua (referred to colloquially as Catty) is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, settled in 1805 and chartered as a borough in 1853. It is a suburb of Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley, which has a population of 861,899 and is the 68th most populated metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

In 1839, Catasauqua was the location of the first manufactured anthracite iron in the nation.

Catasauqua's population was 6,568 at the 2019 census.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

George Taylor, signer of the Declaration of Independence, built a Georgian stone house in 1768 in what is now the borough of Catasauqua. The George Taylor House has been named a National Historic Landmark, a showpiece of the community's rich historical heritage.

In 1840, the anthracite iron industry was founded in what is now known as Catasauqua, originally Biery's Port, making it a birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. Welsh immigrant David Thomas relocated to the area and opened the Crane Iron Works. Remembered as "the father of Catasauqua," Thomas initially named the community Craneville after his former employer in Wales.

The wealthy, generous Thomases were responsible for many sweeping changes to the prosperity of the community. David Thomas founded the Presbyterian Church of Catasauqua, in which residents still worship today, and his wife Elizabeth donated money and land to found the Welsh Congregational Church, which no longer exists. Thomas organized Catasauqua's first fire company, installed its first public water system, and served as its first burgess.

In 1854, the town was formally titled Catasauqua (pronounced "Cat-uh-SAW-kwuh"), from the Lenni Lenape language, meaning "dry ground" or "thirsty ground."

Catasauqua is home to two different neighborhoods listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One is Biery's Port, located along the Lehigh River and named for an early family of prominence. The other is known as "the mansion district," and comprises Victorian homes once owned by wealthy residents.

By 1900, Catasauqua boasted 5,000 residents, and had the highest percentage of self-made millionaires of any town in the United States.

In 1917, while many of the young men of the town served in World War I, Catasauqua became the first community in the United States to raise $1 million in war bonds, earning it the nickname "The Million Dollar Town".

Catasauqua observed its 150th anniversary of incorporation in 2004. In July 2014, the town also celebrated its 100th anniversary of the old home week celebration in 1914. The original old home week marked the 75th anniversary of the town's Lehigh Crane Iron Company.

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