unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Lehigh County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Lechaa Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 374,557.
. Sigmund is located near
Perkiomen Creek
Perkiomen Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Schuylkill River in Berks, Lehigh and Montgomery counties, Pennsylvania.Gertler, Edw ...
, a tributary of the
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...
. It is a suburb of
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
* Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
* Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
* Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in T ...
in the
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...
, which has a population of 861,899 and is the 68th-most populous
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
History
19th century
A
furnace
A furnace is a structure in which heat is produced with the help of combustion.
Furnace may also refer to:
Appliances Buildings
* Furnace (central heating): a furnace , or a heater or boiler , used to generate heat for buildings
* Boiler, used t ...
was located in Sigmund in the early 1800s. The community was first named Hampton, and then Mary Ann, and then Sigmund Furnace prior to settling on Sigmund as its name.
A settlement formed around a store in 1872. That same year, a post office called "Sigmund" was established. A school was erected in 1877, and a creamery and home were built in 1886.
A meeting of the Hereford Literary Society in 1896 noted that "many new members had come in from Harlem, Sigmund and vicinity". A stone house at the camp from 1871 was previously Sigmund's post office, general store, and hotel.
20th and 21st centuries
Sigmund Bible Camp opened in 1956 on of land. The site contains a coal storage building, built prior to 1850, that provided fuel to a nearby
iron furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric p ...
. It is now used as a church. Two quarries and three lime kilns are also located on camp property. A gym at the camp is open to the community, and is used by the Upper Milford Youth Association.
Public education
Sigmund is served by
East Penn School District
East Penn School District is a large public school district in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Established in 1952, it was initially known as the East Penn Union School District.
East Penn School ...
.
Emmaus High School
Emmaus High School is a large public high school located in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. The school serves grades nine through 12 in Pennsylvania's East Penn School District in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.
Emmaus High School is loc ...
serves grades nine through twelve. Eyer Middle School and Lower Macungie Middle School, both located in Macungie, serve grades six through eight.