Back in 1842, East Allen Township was established as a rural township consisting of farms and open space. Today, East Allen Township is a blend of farmland; open space; rural developments in the northern to mid parts of the Township. As you travel south through East Allen Township you will find yourself in residential developments with a more suburban lifestyle.
In the 1970’s and into the 1980’s the Township grew in size with some suburban developments, with only a moderate amount of residential development during the housing boom which took place as we moved into this decade. However, with all of the housing development in surrounding municipalities and numerous State Roads running North-South and East-West through our Township, the number of vehicles traveling through East Allen Township each day has increased tremendously. We are not the quiet community we once were.
Our Township covers 14.4 square miles located in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. East Allen is drained by the Lehigh River via the Catasauqua Creek and Monocacy Creek. Certain areas of the Township which were once villages are still remembered by the names they once had and maybe familiar to you as Franks Corner, Jacksonville, Jamesville, Seemsville and Weaversville. The Township is bordered by the Borough of Bath to the northeast, Upper and Lower Nazareth Township to the east, Allen Township to the west, Moore Township to the north and Hanover Township Northampton County and Hanover Township Lehigh County to the south. There is also a great amount of farmland once owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania known as State Farmland, running North-South through the Township. Some of the land is now owned by Northampton Area School District, East Allen Township Ambulance, private property owners and the Township. Most of the land acquired by the Township has become Bicentennial Park. A beautiful park consisting of 60+ acres of active recreation which adjoins the Northampton County Trail which allows for hiking and bike riding from our park in Jacksonville along the trail to Bicentennial Park; through Allen Township and ends in the Borough of Northampton. The future hope is to have the County Trail also connect to the Borough of Bath (at the eastern end). The Township also inherited some of the State Farm Land which has been transformed, with the help of four other municipalities, into an area on which the First Regional Compost Authority (FRCA) operates through a lease between the Authority and the Township at no charge. The FRCA is a facility run by a five-member Authority consisting of Allen Township, East Allen Township, Bushkill Township, Lehigh Township and Moore Township. It is a recycling facility for yard waste and has been subsidized by several grants from not only the PA Dept. of Environment Protection (DEP) but also Northampton County and the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.
As mentioned above, East Allen has two (2) beautiful parks within our Township, the largest park being Bicentennial Park located between Hanover Street and Colony Drive consisting of 64-active acres and in 2016, an additional 24-acres of passive recreation will be added. The Nor-Bath Trail is adjacent to the park and is one of the few east-west trails within the County, connecting the Jacksonville Park to the Borough of Northampton. It is hoped in the future to connect at the eastern end to the Borough of Bath. Also planned through future development and grant funds is a connection with communities in Hanover Township, Northampton County along the border with East Allen Township to also have access to the Northampton County Trail. The trail provides our residents additional recreation opportunities within the Township and a direct connection to the Wayne Grube County Park in adjacent Allen Township.
East Allen Township is also home to an operating Cement Plant; various light industrial/business parks; several heavy industrial areas, some commercial development as well as a few warehouses all of which help subsidize the tax base for the operation of the Township. Without these areas which have and continue to help with the tax base to run the Township and provide the services it does, the tax base for home/property owners would be so much greater.
All in all, we believe that East Allen Township has a little bit of everything and makes for a very special place to live, work, play and visit. We look forward to serving you to the best of our ability whether you reside here, work here, just passing through visiting family/friends, or driving through on your way to work each day.
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