A borough of great historical significance with plenty to be proud of today, Catasauqua has gone from industrial hot spot to the Valley's latest site of innovative brownfield development. Its many mansions attract sightseers, and extraordinary businesses like Blondies Cupcakes and Hartzell's Pharmacy draw customers from across the Valley while residents enjoy a strong church community and proximity to the airport and Lehigh Valley Mall.
Known For:
Being a Sleepy Post-Industrial Suburb
Catasauqua may be seen as a town left behind by the Industrial Revolution and working to redefine itself in a new era, but it's always been a remarkable place. It hasn't held much small-town ambiance since the nearby malls in Whitehall came to MacArthur Road in the 1960s, but Catasauqua was once a bustling microcosm, kicking off the Industrial Revolution in America with the first anthracite iron industry in the United States.
The area began booming soon after the Welsh iron master David Thomas brought his business to Catasauqua, having already revolutionized industry in the Swansea Valley in Wales.
The incredible number of extravagant Queen Anne, Victorian, Georgian and Federal-style mansions, built by the owners of Catasauqua's foundries and mills attest to its erstwhile status as one of the wealthiest towns in the country.
It also became home to a large amount of affordable housing originally built in the 1800s by David Thomas, founder of Crane Iron Works. “When Crane Iron was built,” explains Deborah Mellis, president of the Historic Catasauqua Preservation Association, “David Thomas brought with him from Wales the concept of providing good company housing to attract, and keep, good workers.” The Crane Iron Works continued to upgrade and maintain these two-story, slate roofed brick structures until the company closed in 1926. “These well-built homes still stand,” Mellis says, “and are mostly owner-occupied.”
The intention to build and nurture a strong community is still vibrant in Catasauqua's plans to evolve. “The community's current efforts are to redevelop the Iron Works property, revitalize the downtown and add new housing along the canal,” Mellis says.
Attraction:
George Taylor House
When it was built in 1767, the mansion named for a Lehigh Valley iron master was one of the finest in the area. Restored two centuries later with period furnishings and decor, the George Taylor House is now a National Historic Landmark open to the public.
George Taylor came to America from northern Ireland in 1736, a 20-year-old laborer indentured to iron master Samuel Savage, Jr., in Chester County. He was quickly promoted to manager, and when Savage died three years later, Taylor married his widow and took over the iron works.
He moved his work to Durham Furnace in Bucks County in 1757, which made housewares until the Revolutionary War saw it become a great producer of grape shot, cannon balls and cannons. In fact, it was the first iron works in Pennsylvania to supply munitions to the Continental Army.
He purchased the 331-acre tract of land in what is now Catasauqua and built a summer house there overlooking the Lehigh River. One of only two foreign-born signers of the Declaration of Independence and the only one to have been an indentured servant, Taylor had two slaves and died in 1781, a year after slavery was abolished in Pennsylvania, leaving “a very valuable library, considerable plate, and good clothing, all indicating a man of refined habits.”
Visit his summer residence to see a monument to some of Catasauqua's earliest industrial wealth. The George Taylor House is open during events like the October 3rd “Fest o' Fall” and most first and third Sundays of the month free of charge.
Lehigh and Poplar Sts., Catasauqua | 610.435.4664
Spotlight Business:
Hartzell's Pharmacy
The pharmacy that would become Hartzell's at 300 American Street, in Catasauqua, began in 1874 at the corner of Front and Pine. When Bob Hartzell bought it in 1968, he lost no time in transforming the pharmacy into a comprehensive wellness center as we know it now.
Thanks to the personalized care and expertise on which Hartzell prides himself, the pharmacy went from Bob alone filling 70 prescriptions a week to 46 employees filling 2,000 prescriptions weekly. And getting folks the medicine they need is only the beginning of what Hartzell's offers.
The knowledgeable staff includes a respiratory therapist who can help guide customers in how to adjust to a sleep apnea mask, a compounding pharmacist able to tailor-make pharmaceuticals and, thanks to Hartzell's certification as a clinical nutritionist, an advisor for weight management programs. Vincent Hartzell, Bob's son and the pharmacy's current president, adds travel health consultations, a must-have if you're planning to venture to unfamiliar climes.
In addition to all this, Hartzell's hosts interns and pharmacy students in residence. “We're basically a training and educational facility,” Bob Hartzell says. “I think we're unique in what we do.”
If you aren't convinced of that yet, stop in and see the extensive remodel at Hartzell's to help display their stock of medical equipment. Customers can see bath safety items in a bathroom or a stair glide on a stair before choosing to install these safety and accessibility measures in their homes.
Next month being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it's worth noting that Hartzell's certified mastectomy fitters are equipped to outfit post-operative clients with prosthetic forms, bras and bathing suits.
There's no other pharmacy in the Valley that has the history and wealth of services boasted by Hartzell's.
300 American St., Catasauqua | 610.264.5471 | hartzells.com
History:
Lt. Col. Thomas Lynch
One particularly plucky example of a distinguished service member from the Lehigh Valley is a flying ace from Catasauqua who took to the sky during WWII and gave his life in the Pacific Theater.
Thomas Lynch was a charismatic Eagle Scout, and an excellent student at the University of Pittsburgh. He met his future wife, Rosemary Fullen, at the college's senior prom, and planned to follow his father into a career at Bethlehem Steel.
The future looked rosy at home in Catasauqua, but shadows were deepening over the world stage. Lynch joined the Army Air Corps upon graduating in 1940, becoming part of the 31st Fighter Group and 39th Fighter Squadron, busy with training maneuvers right up until the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Lynch participated in many heroic air battles, racking up 20 victories. Allied pilots were challenged by unwieldy aircraft that were neither as maneuverable nor as efficient as the Japanese Zero. Nevertheless, instances of Lynch's bold initiative and determination are too numerous to list.
After taking a break back home to marry his sweetheart amid local celebration of his accomplishments, Lynch returned to the South Pacific. The plan was for this 26-year-old decorated flying ace to take on more leadership, leaving the chaos of regular combat flights behind, but when a routine sweep of the New Guinea coast turned up three enemy barges, he and a fellow ace couldn't help swooping in to engage, and the altercation cost him his life.
Fun Fact:
Million Dollar Town
Catasauqua is also known as the “Million Dollar Town,” a highfalutin moniker earned during World War I, when this wealthy community became the first in the country to raise over one million dollars for war bonds.
Quick Tip:
Development of the FL Smidth Site
Keep your eye on the old site of the Crane Iron Works in Catasauqua, now known as the former FL Smidth site. This 12.5-acre brownfield along Front Street makes up a large portion of the downtown, and it's ripe for redevelopment since the borough purchased it in 2013.
Though the possibilities for a good deal of this space have not yet been pinned down, part of it has been set aside for a very important purpose: replacing the town's antiquated fire stations.
“Our fire stations,” Gene Goldfeder, Borough Manager explains, “are from the turn of the 20th century. They're roughly 110 years old, from a time when fire trucks were pulled by horses.”
Until the price of the property dropped to the $750,000 they bought it for, Catasauqua sought a new home for its fire station for decades. Now, the project has grown into a consolidated fire station, police station and municipal offices under one roof, leaving most of the site up for sale to private enterprise and development.
The plan is to make the most of the space with professional services, restaurants and perhaps residential components, and together with the guaranteed foot traffic to the new municipal center, give the downtown a major boost. “The idea is to help existing businesses thrive,” Goldfeder says.
Inviting the community to learn more about developing plans inspired the founding of the Iron Works Blast celebration at the FL Smidth site this past June, which promises to be an annual event. Live music, BMX biking and obstacle courses put on by the fire department drew thousands of people who left with a new appreciation for Catasauqua's vivacious and dynamic spirit.
