Stump Grinding in Catasauqua, PA

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. Around this time, the area of the borough was referred to as Biery’s Port.

In 1840, the anthracite iron industry was found in Biery’s Port in present-day Catasaqua, making Catasaqua a birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. Welsh immigrant David Thomas relocated to the area and opened the Crane Iron Works. The Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad existed to transport ore from limonite deposits to the plant. 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”), derived from the Lenape language, and meaning “dry ground” or “thirsty ground.” By 1900, Catasauqua boasted 5,000 residents, and had the highest percentage of self-made millionaires of any town in the United States.