Lower Saucon Township provides a unique glimpse of the region�s many diverse villages and the German immigrant population. Towns including Wassergass, Shimersville, Polk Valley, Redington, and Bingen were settled largely because of the area�s fertile soil, abundant water, and many iron and limestone deposits, which contributed to surrounding communities such as Bethlehem and Hellertown both socially and economically. These rare family photographs depict a blend of lives that influenced the...

Before the first European settlers arrived in the Saucon Valley, the local Native American tribe, the Lenape, named the 17-mile, eastern Pennsylvania creek Saucon, meaning "at the mouth of the creek." Saucon Valley refers to the area drained by the Saucon Creek, a tributary of the Lehigh River. The valley includes Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township in Northampton County. Lower Saucon Township was chartered in 1743, when it was still a part of Bucks County. The township also included Sout...