Over 280 years ago, Count Von Nicholas Zinzendorf from Herrnhut, Germany, then head of the Moravian Church, decided that the picturesque hills along the Lehigh River would be an excellent site for a Moravian mission.

In 1746, the Moravians established Gnadenhuetten, meaning “huts of grace,” as the first settlement north of the Blue Mountain and the first in what is now Carbon County.

As the westernmost settlement in the Pennsylvania wilderness at the time, the peaceful missionaries endured disease, cold and the uncertainty of the French and Indian War (1754-63).

In November 1755, provoked by the French, hostile Indians carried out a vicious raid on the settlement, burning it to the ground. Only three of the Moravian missionaries survived.

The 11 who perished were buried in “God’s Acre,” located above where the mission house stood at the southern end of today’s Lehighton Cemetery (near Fourth and Alum streets).

The original site was abandoned, and in January 1756, Benjamin Franklin arrived at New Gnadenhuetten, today’s Weissport, and had his men, members of the Pennsylvania colonial militia, construct a fort he named Fort Allen in honor of his friend Judge William Allen. The well, which was constructed inside the fort that same year, still remains at the site today.

The fort proved to hinder attacks, but outrageous Indian attacks continued in the surrounding area for decades, including the massacre of the Hoeth family in Big Creek Valley. As late as 1780, an entire family was abducted from the Gilbert farm in Mahoning Valley and forced to walk to the city of Quebec in Canada.

In 1784, Colonel Jacob Weiss visited this area and purchased 700 acres of land, including that on which Weissport and part of Lehighton now stand along with the land between today’s Parryville and the village of Long Run. Weiss eventually constructed his home near the site of Fort Allen. The village that developed here was first called Weiss’s Mill, but was later changed to Weissport.

By 1794, all the land that is now part of Lehighton was owned by Weiss and William Henry, a gunsmith from Nazareth. The future Borough of Lehighton was part of Bucks County until 1752, when Northampton County was created. It remained with Northampton County until 1843, when Carbon County was established.

Canal, railroads

A bridge connecting Lehighton with Weissport was constructed in 1804 over the Lehigh River. The growth of both Weissport and Lehighton was slow, but the Lehigh Canal constructed in Weissport in 1828-29, gave the area its true start. Then, in 1835, Lehighton became a railroad town when the Beaver Meadows Railroad constructed a track from Beaver Meadows to Parryville.

This railroad bed was later used by the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which quickly expanded its service from Mauch Chunk to Easton, followed in 1864 by the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, later the Central Railroad of New Jersey, with its line through Lehighton to Easton.

On Jan. 2, 1866, 120 years after the mission was established at Gnadenhuetten, the Borough of Lehighton was incorporated.

John Lentz, an LVRR executive, was selected as the first burgess. Francis Weiss, son of Colonel Weiss, surveyed and laid out the original town plan with two central community parks and four main streets running north to south (Bank, Lehigh, Northampton and Pine; now First, Second, Third and Fourth streets.)

The long-gone original mission site near today’s Lehighton Cemetery (Fourth Street) and then fairgrounds, was the far edge of the new town.

In the early 1860s, the LVRR established its repair yard and shops at Packerton.

Almost all of the railroad employees lived in Lehighton, so as the railroad continued to grow, Lehighton rapidly transformed into a thriving center of commerce and innovation.

Economic changes

The town’s streets bustled with industrial, retail and civic activities. The downtown was an idyllic retail shopping center anchored by Bright’s Department Store and even had an electric trolley line.

Lehighton was touted as “one of Pennsylvania’s five debt free communities” with its municipal-owned power, light and water, two railroads, improved highways and airport facilities.

Businesses such as the Lehigh Stove Works, Obert’s Packing House, Baer Silk Mill, Central Carriage Works and a plethora of garment factories helped continue the prosperity.

Favorite town pastimes included church socials, Graver’s Bathing Casino, The Great Lehighton Fair, auto races, soapbox derbies, football, baseball and concerts by the town’s numerous community bands.

This economic boom lasted until the 1960s, when almost all of the railroad operations came to an end.

As developments like “the four-lane” (Route 248), Beltzville Dam, Carbon Plaza Mall and the Pennsylvania Turnpike transformed the area, people began to relocate into the surrounding townships of East Penn, Mahoning and Franklin.

Pride for our community still runs deep as we recognize the need to preserve the natural beauty of this area that first attracted Count Von Zinzendorf and the Moravians to these picturesque hills along the Lehigh River.

Want to learn more about area history? Our 48-page special section, “Our beginnings: Celebrate America 250” will be included in Thursday’s Times News.