Easton Heritage Day - Celebrate Easton PA History!

Re-live the past and celebrate the historic reading of the Declaration of Independence that took place in Easton's "Great Square". Watch history come alive all day Sunday July 11, 2010 in Historic Downtown Easton!

Easton, PA. was founded in 1752 by Thomas Penn. As he approached the Forks of the Delaware from the south the terrain reminded him of his homeland of England. Penn, knowing that his wife, Lady Juliana Fermor, was homesick for her native country, named the city Easton and the new county Northampton after the estate she resided in Easton-Neston, Northamptonshire, England. Penn had his agent and surveyor, William Parsons, design the town as a grid of streets around a "great Square" to be formed at the town center. In the Great Square, Northampton County's first Court House was built in 1765. The streets were names after Julianna and her family to help remind her of England.

As a young town Easton became a leader in the fight for freedom and was chosen as one of the three cities where the Declaration would be publicly read. From the steps of the old Court House in the Great Square the Declaration of Independence was read on July 8, 1776 by Robert Levers. Here the Easton flag, the first to use red, white and blue with stars and stripes was first unfurled and Easton's Liberty Bell made by the Moravians at Bethlehem added its bronze note of rejoicing from the cupola of the historical Court House. Easton resident George Taylor was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Easton Area Heritage Day is a celebration of these historic events!

Heritage Day is a time to bring family and friends together to celebrate the 3rd public reading of the Declaration of Independence. Along with the entertainmnet and historical aspects of the day, we will have a great variety of food and beverages. Lets not forget the spectacular fireworks display that will culminate the festivities of the day.

Easton Heritage Day, Inc., wishes to thank the Easton Area Education Association Community Impact Fund for recommending the Plein Air on the Delaware Program to the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation's Board of Governors for their generous grant. We also wish to thank ACE and our local artists who are generously giving their time to mentor a number of Easton students during Farmers’ Market Saturdays. The completed works will be available on Heritage Day in the Plein Air tent.