In 1901, the present Borough of Northampton did not exist. Instead, it consisted of three villages: Siegfried, Stemton and Newport. These villages were located in Allen Township. My friend Larry Oberly found this information in the newspaper The Allentown Democrat, March 5, 1902.
In 1902, the three villages decided it was time to organize a borough. The village officials met in Shiery’s Hall, (the site of the former Edelweiss House) on lower Main Street, Stemton. The officials petitioned Northampton County Court to agree to the formation of a borough. The court agreed and the Borough of Alliance was created in 1902. This is the article that appeared in The Allentown Democrat at the time:
The New Borough of Alliance
The newly created Borough of Alliance, comprising the former villages of Stemton, Siegfried and Newport, with intermediate territory, has a population of over 6,000. It has six churches, Zion Chapel, Reformed and Lutheran, Mennonite Brethren in Christ, United Evangelical, Holy Trinity Lutheran, Grace Reformed and Greek Catholic, eight hotels and two boarding houses, one bank, five bakeries, one jewelry store, one drug store, one hardware store, two newsstands, six barber shops, four livery stables, two post offices, four restaurants, two railroad stations, 20 grocery and general stores, marble and granite works, two clothing stores, one merchant tailor, five butcher shops, one furniture store, one stove and tinsmith shop, one shoe store, three shoemakers, two flour mills, one brewery, three cement mills, three blacksmith shops, four physicians, three school houses with 16 teachers, one newspaper, one job printing office, one bicycle and automobile factory, three saddlery and harness shops, one carriage factory, one carriage paint shop, four undertakers, two milliners, two coal yards, one machine shop, three sign painters, one lumber yard, one club house, six wall paper dealers and justices of the peace.
In 1909, the name was again changed. The Borough of Alliance was now the Borough of Northampton.
Join us next time as we begin a five-part series on Becky’s Drive-In.
