Easton, Pennsylvania

 city, county seat

The county seat of Northampton County.In 1736 Thomas Penn, son of William Penn, and Benjamin Eastburn, Surveyor General, selected and surveyed the "Thousand Acre Tract" of land at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers. William Parsons and Nicholas Scull began their survey for a town in the 1750s at a spot called by the Indians "Lechanwitauk" or "the Place at the Forks."

The new town was to be called "Easton" in the new county of "Northampton", after Thomas Penn's wife Juliana Fermor's home estate of Easton-Neston, Northamptonshire, England. The Great Square (now known as Centre Square) was, and remains, a gathering place for residents and travelers. In fact, on July 8, 1776, the square was the site for one of only three public readings of the Declaration of Independence. This historic event is celebrated each year on Heritage Day, when thousands gather to join in reenactments of the reading and to revel in entertainment, good food, and fireworks over the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers.

www.easton-pa.com/