Hellertown, Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Detwiller Plaza in Hellertown in June 2008 | |
 Seal | |
 Location of Hellertown inNorthampton County, Pennsylvania (left) and of Northampton County inPennsylvania (right) | |
  Hellertown Hellertown (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:40°35′03″N75°20′17″W / 40.58417°N 75.33806°W /40.58417; -75.33806 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Northampton |
| Established | 1742 |
| Named after | Johann Christoph(er) Heller and Johann Simon Heller |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | David J. Heintzelman (D)[1] |
| Area | |
• Borough | 1.32 sq mi (3.41 km2) |
| • Land | 1.31 sq mi (3.40 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0039 sq mi (0.01 km2) |
| Elevation | 322 ft (98 m) |
| Population | |
• Borough | 6,132 |
| • Density | 4,675.1/sq mi (1,805.07/km2) |
| • Metro | 865,310 (US:68th) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| Zip Code | 18055 |
| Area codes | 610 and 484 |
| FIPS code | 42-33744 |
| Primary airport | Lehigh Valley International Airport |
| Major hospital | Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest |
| School district | Saucon Valley |
| Website | www |
Hellertown is aborough inNorthampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population was 6,131 at the 2020 census. Hellertown is part of theLehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populousmetropolitan area in the U.S. as of 2020.
Lost River Caverns, a naturallimestone cavern, are located in Hellertown.
Hellertown is located at40°35′3″N75°20′17″W / 40.58417°N 75.33806°W /40.58417; -75.33806 (40.584099, -75.338139).[3] According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2), all land.
The area of present-day Hellertown was inhabited by variousAmerican Indian groups and European settlers.[citation needed]
Hellertown was founded in 1742 by Johann Christoph(er) Heller and his son Johann Simon Heller. The family werePalatines that leftRotterdam on September 5, 1738 and landed inPhiladelphia. Christopher obtained the patent for his land September 8, 1742, and Simon received his patent October 14, 1746. Together they owned a 176 acre property at the southern foot of theLehigh Mountain along theSaucon Creek and constructed the family plantation named "Delay".[4]
In 1820, the town contained thirteen houses, eighteen families, threetaverns, two stores, onegrist-mill, and seventy-three inhabitants. The town specialized in the production oflinseed oil. The first school in Hellertown was built in 1845 following the donation of a plot of land by resident John Rentzheimer. Prior to this all schooling was performed on a rotation basis in local homes.[5]
In the late 1840s, the town would shift from a small farming community to a burgeoning industrial center, with coal yards being built in 1848, and the Lower Saucon Ironworks opening in 1849. This growth was expedited in 1856 theNorth Pennsylvania Railroad was built through Hellertown and Rudolphus Kent, ofGwynedd, purchased a plot of land to build a rail station. The small wooden station would be demolished in favor of a larger stone one in 1868. In 1858, the town's first newspaper,The Hellertown Telegraph began publication, but would only last a year before shutting its doors. In 1866, a large iron foundry was constructed by the Lower Saucon Ironworks. It was joined by the Saucon Savings bank in 1871, and a steel foundry in 1872. APlaning mill was built in 1874 and a furniture factory and flour mill in 1875.
In 1870, the original school house built in 1845 was purchased and turned into anEvangelical Church, the first church in the town, prior to which all religious services where held on a rotational basis in people's houses. Since 1867, the town has had anOdd Fellows lodge, and they were joined in October 1869 by the second ever chapter of theSons of Hermann.
In 1874, the first cemetery in the town was started, the Union Cemetery. In 1875, the town's second newspaper,The Saucon Advertiser was founded, but it would close in just a few months. That year Hellertown consisted of five stores, two hardware stores, one drug store, two carriage factories, one foundry, one grist-mill, one saw-mill, one planing-mill, two furnace stacks, three hotels, coal and lumber yard, furniture manufactory, a town hall, a bank, two churches, and a population of almost 1,000.[5]
In the2016 Presidential election,Donald Trump won the borough with 1,349 votes to 1,281 votes in favor ofHillary Clinton.[6] In the2020 Presidential election,Joe Biden won with 1,648 votes to Donald Trump's 1,572 votes.[7]
Like many other boroughs in Pennsylvania, Hellertown's highest executive historically was theChief Burgess, a largely ceremonial office selected by members of the borough council amongst themselves to serve a one year term that was often reserved for the more senior members of the council.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: Complete list, order, party affiliation, tenure. You can help byadding to it.(October 2023) |
| No. | Name | Term | Party | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thomas R. Laubach | Tinsmith and stove dealer elected the first Chief Burgess.[8] | ||
| Milton Hess | Brother of Jeremiah. Local businessman.[8] | |||
| Jeremiah S. Hess | Brother of Milton. Local businessman.[8] | |||
| A.J. Harris | Owner of the first Drug Store in the borough.[8] | |||
| George B. Deemer | Owner of a stone quarry that most of the borough used to build structures.[8] | |||
| Charles J. Waidner | Northampton County commissioner and veterinarian.[8] | |||
| James Wagner | Owner of a gist mill.[8] | |||
| Morris J. Dimmick | 1925 - 1945 | Vice President ofGuerber Engineering from 1930 to 1960.[9] |
| This sectionneeds expansion with: Mayors until 1969, Mills' party affiliation, Chief Burgess prior toMeixell v. Hellertown Boro. Council. You can help byadding to it.(October 2023) |
| No. | Name | Term | Party | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Hess | 1946-1949 | Descendant of Thomas R. Laubach, Northampton county commissioner, restored and preserved the original borough jail.[10] | ||
| Emerson Mills | 1969-1981 | Served three terms until his defeat in 1981.[11] | ||
| Donald C. Zimpfer | 1985-1993 | Democratic | Spent eight years on the borough council before becoming mayor.[12] Defeated in the Democratic primaries.[11] | |
| Ben Muschlitz | 1993-1997 | Democratic | Longtime borough councilmen, engaged in a corruption scandal at the end of his term.[13] Attempted to merge Hellertown andLower Saucon Township.[14] | |
| Richard Fluck | 1997-2017 | Democratic | Spent 28 years on the borough council, and 20 years as mayor.[15][16] | |
| David Heintzelman | 2017-present | Democratic | Localfuneral home owner and prominent local businessman.[17][15] |
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 605 | — | |
| 1890 | 708 | 17.0% | |
| 1900 | 745 | 5.2% | |
| 1910 | 915 | 22.8% | |
| 1920 | 3,008 | 228.7% | |
| 1930 | 3,851 | 28.0% | |
| 1940 | 4,031 | 4.7% | |
| 1950 | 5,435 | 34.8% | |
| 1960 | 6,716 | 23.6% | |
| 1970 | 6,615 | −1.5% | |
| 1980 | 6,025 | −8.9% | |
| 1990 | 5,662 | −6.0% | |
| 2000 | 5,606 | −1.0% | |
| 2010 | 5,898 | 5.2% | |
| 2020 | 6,132 | 4.0% | |
| Sources:[18][19][20][2] | |||
As of thecensus[19] of 2000, there were 5,606 people, 2,448 households, and 1,571 families residing in the borough. The population density was 4,180.8 inhabitants per square mile (1,614.2/km2). There were 2,570 housing units at an average density of 1,916.6 per square mile (740.0/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.20%White, 0.30%African American, 0.07%Native American, 0.20%Asian, 0.68% fromother races, and 0.55% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 2.48% of the population.
There were 2,448 households, out of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% weremarried couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the borough, the population was distributed, with 20.2% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 23.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 89.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $39,651, and the median income for a family was $49,604. Males had a median income of $37,935 versus $26,322 for females. Theper capita income for the borough was $20,119. About 4.1% of families and 4.6% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 6.5% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.
_just_north_of_Polk_Valley_Road_in_Hellertown%2c_Northampton_County%2c_Pennsylvania.jpg)
As of 2010, there were 24.26 miles (39.04 km) of public roads in Hellertown, of which 3.58 miles (5.76 km) were maintained by thePennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and 20.68 miles (33.28 km) were maintained by the borough.[21]
Pennsylvania Route 412 runs north-south through Hellertown on Main Street, heading north toBethlehem and south intoBucks County, where it provides access toPennsylvania Route 611. PA 412 has an interchange withInterstate 78 just outside the corporate limits of Hellertown, which heads west toAllentown andHarrisburg and east toEaston andNew York City.[22]
LANta provides bus service to Hellertown along Route 215, which provides service Monday-Saturday north to Bethlehem andLehigh Valley International Airport, and Route 105, which provides Sunday service north to Bethlehem and theLehigh Valley Mall.[23]Klein Transportation andTrans-Bridge Lines provide bus service from Hellertown to New York City from apark and ride lot located at the interchange between I-78 and PA 412.[24][25] Hellertown formerly had commuter rail service alongSEPTA'sBethlehem Line north to Bethlehem and south toPhiladelphia atHellertown station, but service ended in 1981.
Hellertown andLower Saucon Township are served by theSaucon Valley School District. Saucon Valley School District includes an elementary school, middle school, andSaucon Valley High School.
It's even led him to regular golf outings and dinners with Sandy Koufax — arguably the greatest pitcher of his era — who spends his summer only 15 minutes away in Hellertown.
Municipalities and communities ofNorthampton County, Pennsylvania,United States | ||
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