This county was established by act of assembly of March 11th, 1752; and is bounded by the Delaware r. on the E., Bucks co. on the S.E., Lehigh co. on the S., Schuylkill co. on the S.W., Luzerne co. on the N.W., and Pike co. on the N. Its greatest length from N. to S. is 40 ms., and its greatest breadth from E. to W. is 50 ms. It contains 874 sq. miles or 559,360 acres. Full 9/16 of the population are German, and they merit the high character given to that people, for sobriety, industry, frugality and thrift.

This county is one of the most interesting in the state, by reason of its agricultural improvements, its mineral wealth, particularly iron and the great coal formations of Mauch Chunk and Beaver Meadow, (see these articles,) and the admirable canal of the Lehigh navigation and coal company.

Northampton is one of the most diversified counties, not only of Pennsylvania, but of the U.S. It is traversed from N.E. to S.W. by the Kittatinny mtns., or as they are locally called in the county, The Blue Ridge. This chain divides it into 2 very unequal sections; that S.E. of the Kittatinny lies in the form of a triangle, the base along the mtns., and the perpendicular on Lehigh co., and contains nearly 400 sq. ms. The surface, though generally hilly, is as generally arable. The very remarkable slate and lime formation which extends so distinctively from the Delaware to the Susquehannah, in the Kittatinny valley, is peculiarly striking in the lower part of Northampton. The limestone tract skirts the S. mtn , and the argilaceous slate the Kittatinny, each extending from its respective base about half way across the valley. Though both are highly productive in grain, fruits and pasturage, the limestone soil is stronger than the slate; and the features of nature bolder on the former, than on the latter formation.

The townships of Lower Saucon and Williams, are separated from the other parts of the county by the Lehigh, and are traversed by a ridge passing by Bethlehem, and interrupted by the Delaware 2 ms. below Easton. From many of the highest eminences of this range, the highly cultivated section we have noticed, spreads before the eye like a vast garden, terminated by the distant Kittatinny mtns.

That section of the county N.W. of the Kittatinny mountain is remarkably broken into mountainous ridges; of which the Kittatinny is the only one that passes through the county in a direct line. Those in the N.W. are scattered, disunited, and lie rather in groups, than extend to collateral ridges. All, however, have a general N.E. and S.W. arrangement, and leave intervening valleys of more or less width and fertility, as in other parts of Pennsylvania, the Northampton ridges receive special names in different places. The principal ones are, beside the S. mtn. or Lehigh hills and Kittatinny, the Pokono or Second mtn., Mauch Chunk, Nesquihoning, Broad mtn., the Pohopoko, Spring mtn., and Mahoning mtn. The soil in the valley N. of the Blue mtn., even where arable, is much inferior to that upon the S. Indeed, the mtn. is the division line between 2 climates, and the temperature of the seasons is not less different than the soil. Vegetation is about two weeks later on the N. than on the S. side.

The general character of the soil below the mountain, is gravel, loam and schist, intermixed with sand in many places. It is warm and productive, particularly in grain; produces excellent fruit, and when plaster is used, very good clover. Above the mountain, the soil is principally a mixture of gravel and clay, and above the Pokono mtn., partakes so much of the latter, as to be cold and unproductive. The timber is chiefly pine and hemlock, and is generally small; but the forests on the Upper Lehigh, and particularly the Great swamp produce large and excellent trees. The country is almost a wilderness, uninhabited except along the road to Wilkesbarre, and there sparsely. Below the mtn. the natural timber is principally oak, mingled with hickory and chestnut. There is here, however, but a small portion of the natural forest remaining, cultivation having felled all that impeded its progress. About 1/4 of the co. is cultivated; about a third of it is susceptible of cultivation. Three fourths of that which is subject to the plough are admirably adapted to grain, particularly rye and wheat.

We may safely assume the general elevation of the cultivated part of Northampton co. in the Kittatinny valley, at 250 to 300 feet, and of the section above the mountain, at 500 to 600 feet.

The rivers of Northampton co. are the Delaware, the Lehigh, and their branches.

The Delaware, which forms the eastern boundary of the co., has a very crooked course, following its windings about 25 miles through a very mountainous country, until it leaves the Water gap. Its banks continue hilly below the mtn. to Welles' falls, S. of the village of New Hope, in Bucks co.

The creeks of the county, below the Kittatinny, advancing S.W. from the Delaware Water gap, are, Crosby's Richmond, Martin's, Muddy, Bushkill, Manookisy, Caladaque & Hockendocque; the three latter fall into the Lehigh, the residue into the Delaware. Above the Kittatinny, the Delaware receives immediately above the Water gap, Broadhead's creek, partly from Pike and partly from Northampton. The mountain section of the county, however, is more particularly drained by the confluents of the Lehigh; these are from the left, Tobyhanna, Dreck, Muddy, Big creek, and Aquanshicola; from the right, Quacakes, Nesquihoning, Mahoning and Lizard creeks.

The Lehigh is emphatically the r. of Northampton co., having therein most of its sources and the greater part of its course. A detailed description of it, and of the improvements connected with it, will be found under the articles Lehigh river, and Mauch Chunk, in this work.

The canal of the Schuylkill navigation and coal company, accompanies the Lehigh and Mauch Chunk in its course through the county of Northampton to Easton, where it communicates with the Delaware, and with the state canal. (For a particular description of it, see that part of the "Introduction which treats of the canals of Pennsylvania" and "Mauch Chunk.")

The chief towns and villages of Northampton co. are Easton, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Mauch Chunk, Anthracite, Weisport, Lowrytown, Richmond, Williamsburg, Dutotsburg, Stroudsburg, Lehighton, Berlinville, Cherryville, Kreidersville, Kernsville, Kellertown. (For a particular description of these, see their several titles.)

A main turnpike road leaves Philadelphia, passes through Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks and part of Lehigh counties, enters Northampton in the t-ship of Lower Saucon, and crosses the Lehigh at Bethlehem, where it branches into two routes. One turns N.W. up the Lehigh, passes Kreidersville, and through the Lehigh Water gap, by Lehighton Mauch Chunk and Lausanne, continues to the banks of the Susquehannah, at Nescopeck. From Bethlehem, the other or northern branch proceeds towards Easton, but breaks into numerous country roads, one of which leads to Nazareth and to the Delaware Wind gap. Here it is divided into two branches; one of which runs N.W. to Wilkesbarre, and the other into Pikes co. The lower Philadelphia road reaches Easton, between the foregoing and Delaware r. From Easton another road leads up the Delaware to the Water gap. Besides these , numerous cross roads chequer the lower part of the county, and render communication easy and convenient. A rail road of 9 miles in length, runs from the village of Mauch Chunk to the coal mine on Mauch Chunk mtn., and another rail road of little more than 5 miles in length, communicates with the mines lately opened by the Lehigh coal company, on the N. of the Nesquihoning mtn.

Good bridges are found in this co., over most of the streams where the convenience of the public has required them. The most notable are those erected over the Delaware at Easton; over the Lehigh at that place and Bethlehem, Lehighton, and Mauch Chunk.

The several gaps of which we have spoken are certainly objects of curiosity. The Delaware Water gap is a crooked passage, forming a right angle in the mtn. which appears as if cleft in twain for the egress of the river, and forms perpendicular cliffs of rocks which rise 1200 feet from the river, so near the brink, that the road is cut in the hill. The Lehigh Water gap is a similar passage, but has not such large rocks, nor is it so steep as the preceding.

Moor's cascade is a perpendicular fall of Moor's run, of two separate pitches of about 40 feet each. The first falls into a basin, and the second upon broken rocks, the whole being in a deep glen whose sides rise about a hundred feet. Immediately below is the turn hole, a deep eddy in the river Lehigh, bounded by a rocky and perpendicular cliff, 150 ft. high.

The county is not distinguished for manufacturing enterprize. Its distance from market, and the sparseness of its population, afford satisfactory reasons for its backwardness in this particular. With the improved means of transportation produced by the Lehigh and Delaware canals, it is probable that the wealth and attention of its citizens will be more turned into this channel. The ordinary handicrafts prosper, and much fax and wool are converted into clothing of a rude but durable texture, by the hands of the farmers' wives and daughters. Flour, whiskey, lumber, coal and iron, are the great stables of the county. Large quantities of flour are annually sent to Philadelphia by the Delaware, and much will hereafter reach New York by the Morris canal, which connects with the Delaware in the state of New Jersey opposite to Easton. There are beds of valuable iron ore in various parts of the county, particularly in the t-ships south of the Lehigh; and there are here one furnace and 3 forges in profitable operation.

The German population of the state has been reproached with being indifferent of the progress of letters, and perhaps the inhabitants of this county are not exempt from the charge. Yet, with the aid of the state, an academy and a college, called La Fayette, have been established at Easton, and another at Stroudsburg; and the Moravian institutions have been long distinguished for their attention to the rudiments of education, and their schools at Bethlehem and Nazareth, have had justly much reputation. A library of some 1500 volumes is established at Easton, where many gentlemen display a due regard for science.

The population of this county was in 1810, 38,145; in 1820, 31,765; and by the census of 1830, amounts to 39,297. The apparent diminution of 1820, arises from the abstraction of the townships which form Lehigh county, in 1812. The taxables in 1828 were 7382. Assessed value of real estate $6,360,982. Of population there were males, 21,418; females, 18,657; colored persons, 192; aliens, 568; deaf and dumb, 20; blind, 10; and 1 male slave. The price of land varies of course according to quality and vicinity to market, and ranges from $5 to 100 the acre. The latter price is demanded for some well improved farms in the limestone formation along the Lehigh river.

Judiciary. Northampton forms a part of the eastern district of the supreme court; and together with Berks and Lehigh, constitutes the 3rd judicial district. The courts are held at Easton on the 3rd Mondays of January, April, August, and November, annually.

Senatorial district. Northampton and Lehigh form the 12th senatorial district of the state, which sends two members to the senate. The county, joined with Wayne and Pike, has four representatives in the assembly. With Bucks, Wayne and Pike, it forms the 8th congressional district, and sends 3 representatives to congress.

There are two banks in the county, located at the town of Easton. (See Easton.)