Slatington is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Slatington had a population of 4,283. Slatington is located northwest of Allentown and Bethlehem. Slatington is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
History
left|thumb|A [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne style home at the corner of Diamond and Main Streets in Slatington in June 2013]]
In 1737, Nicholas Kern was the first white settler in what would become Slatington. The Lenape Native Americans were already living along "Warriors Path," which would become Route 873. Kern established a sawmill shortly after arriving.
Slatington was settled in 1738 and incorporated in 1864.
In 1756, Benjamin Franklin reported to Governor Morris that he had procured boards and timber from Kern's sawmill. In the 19th century two Welshmen, who recognized its properties and importance from being used in Europe, discovered slate. A quarry was set up in 1845, and, in 1847, a factory was erected. In 1864, Slatington was incorporated into a Borough of Pennsylvania; its first mayor was Robert McDowell. Historically, structural iron, knit goods, and silk were manufactured in Slatington, and there were abundant slate quarries in the area.
In 1900, 3,773 people lived in Slatington, and, by 1910, that number had grown to 4,454. Between 1910 and the 2010 census, the population reduced slightly, to 4,232. The ZIP Code for Slatington is 18080.
In 2010, the Fireman's Drinking Fountain and Slatington Historic District were named to the National Register of Historic Places.
Geography
Slatington is located in northern Lehigh County at (40.752561, −75.609229), on the west side of the Lehigh River. It is bordered to the east, across the river, by the borough of Walnutport in Northampton County. It is northwest of Allentown, northwest of Bethlehem, south of Scranton, and north of Philadelphia.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , of which are land and , or 4.35%, are water.
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2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Slatington had a population of 4,283. The median age was 38.5 years. 23.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.1 males age 18 and over.
99.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.5% lived in rural areas.
There were 1,771 households in Slatington, of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 39.5% were married-couple households, 19.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
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Education
The borough is served by the Northern Lehigh School District. Northern Lehigh School District has two elementary schools. Peters Elementary school educates students grades Kindergarten through second grade while Slatington Elementary educates grades 3–6. The district has only one middle school (grades 7–8) and Northern Lehigh High School in Slatington for grades nine through 12.
Transportation
As of 2019, there were of public roads in Slatington, of which were maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and were maintained by the borough.
Pennsylvania Route 873 traverses Slatington, following a north–south alignment through the borough via Main Street and Walnut Street.
Airport
Slatington is home to the small Slatington Airport. The single runway airport is used by local monoplane enthusiasts as well as hot-air ballooners. The airport is listed as a "critical facility" for the regional Local Mitigation Strategy and would be used to fly supplies in and be used as an evacuation point in the event of a major natural disaster in the region.
Linear Air, a Massachusetts based air taxi company runs chartered monoplane flights out of Slatington Airport. The airport is also home to Chapter 855 of the Experimental Aircraft Association.
Since 2020 the airport has been home to an annual halloween hot air balloon show.
Accidents
At 2:25pm on August 21, 1988, James Raby Shea crashed his Stolp Starduster in a grove of trees about a quarter mile north of the runway after his engine failed shortly after takeoff but was uninjured.
On October 13, 2013, a Cessna monoplane flipped on the Slatington runway, with the pilot receiving minor injuries.
On July 29, 2021, Slatington was hit by an EF1 tornado, with the airport bearing the brunt of the damage. The airport's owner, Roger Sell reported that an airplane was tossed suffering significant damage, as well as damage to the airport's hangars.