Everybody, it seems, is celebrating America’s 250th birthday this year.

Naturally this is appropriate. Proudly, our democracy has solidly endured for two-and-a-half centuries.

But Lansford has another important milestone this year that has been overshadowed by the national hoopla. The borough turns 150.

It was on July 1, 1876, that the Borough of Lansford filed official papers to be incorporated.

Life in the town 150 years ago was, obviously, a lot different than it is now. Back then there was no electricity. Every yard had an outhouse. Cars hadn’t been invented yet.

Coal was already an important industry. The first coal mine in Lansford was the No. 9 Mine, which began operations in 1855 and continued until 1972.

Before having the name Lansford, there were several hamlets, with two of them being Ashton and Storm Hill.

The hamlets reportedly merged into what is now Lansford mainly through the efforts of Asa Lansford Foster.

Foster was a direct descendant of Capt. Miles Standish, a Pilgrim. Foster left his home in Massachusetts to make his career along the wilderness frontier.

He initially settled in Berwick, then moved to Bloomsburg, where he opened a store. In 1826, he moved to Philadelphia. A year later, he accepted a position with the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company as its storekeeper in Mauch Chunk, which is now Jim Thorpe.

He published Mauch Chunk’s first newspaper in 1829 under the name of “The Lehigh Pioneer and Mauch Chunk Courier,” which was a weekly.

Foster was a prime force behind the movement to merge the local hamlets into one municipality. He never realized his ambition, passing away in 1868 at the age of 71.

According to the book “Lansford: The First 100 years,” the residents “paid tribute to his dedication by naming the new borough “Lansford.”

Charles Walton was appointed burgess and served until the first general election, when William Evans was elected to that high office.

The town’s first chief of police was William Whildin.

The book states that the first borough council consisted of Frank Zehner, Nathan Drumheller, Thomas R. Williams, George Evans, Hugh Edger and Griffith Rogers. The council changed the name of the post office to Lansford.

By 1880, when the first census occurred, the population of Lansford was at 2,000.

An independent newspaper came to Lansford in 1880 under the banner of the Summit Hill and Lansford Record. Although ownership changed hands several times, the history book notes that “it survives today as the Times News.”

The first fire company was organized in 1885 but not incorporated until 1894.

The book “Lansford: The First 100 Years” was a hardcover printed, of course, for the borough’s centennial.

There was a very active Centennial Committee, headed by chairman Michael J. Serina and co-vice chairmen William T. Richards and Robert Kistler.

Edward Gildea, a former editor of the Times News and Evening Record, served as publicity chairperson. Richard Hoben was the author and coordinator of the book.

The advertisements in the book show that very few of the businesses that existed in Lansford 50 years ago still exist today. Some of the main advertisers were Lansford Apparel Company, My Place Restaurant, Louis Daniels Jewelry Store, Nichols Bargain Store, The Citizens National Bank, Silver’s Furniture, Edgemont Lodge and Russell Holmes Funeral Home.

Sadly, of all the businesses that advertised in that book, only Porvasnik’s Flowers still exists today. Obviously, there are more businesses in Lansford in existence for over 50 years, but it is the only one that advertised in the book 50 years ago.

The actual history of the town goes back beyond 150 years, back to when the area was first settled and only dirt trails exists, when coal mining took off and the mine owners forced the hard-pressed locals to endure inhuman working and living conditions.

Hoben writes in the history book: “Small wonder that the people who had lived and survived and progressed through this period of poverty, of violence, of hardship were strong men and women, and small wonder their descendants today take great pride in their hard forebears.”

In a preface to the arrival of Foster, Hoben writes, “Fortunately, during these trying times, halfway through the 19th century, men of leadership, tolerance, foresight and ability were being attracted to the mines of Panther Valley.”

Hopefully, such leadership continues to be attracted to the borough and resumes the growth that initially transpired.