Gordon B. Ripkey

Lehighton (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) Gordon B. Ripkey

Lehighton was the first settlement in Carbon County. This idyllic community sits between two beautiful Pennsylvania State Parks, the Lehigh Gorge and Beltzville. The Lehigh Valley Railroad transformed Lehighton into a bustling railroad town, where free enterprise reigned. The LVRR quickly became the major employer of the towns population and was fully integrated into the very fabric of Lehighton, its people, and the culture. Local business thrived, and the success of the Lehigh Stove Company, the Moxie Bottling Company, and the Lehigh Wagon Company enticed other businesses to move into the area. Along with hauling anthracite coal, the LVRR began passenger service, and Lehighton was on the railroads main line. The scenery that brought droves of Victorians to ride the Lehigh Valley Railroad and other Pennsylvania trains, today brings tourism of another kind. White-water rafting on the Lehigh River is some of the best in the state, and fishermen can still land native trout.