Slateford is an

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 ...

in Northampton County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is part of 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 ...

metropolitan area, 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. The nearest communities are

Stroudsburg Stroudsburg is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. It lies within the Pocono Mountains, Poconos region, approximately five miles (8 km) from the Delaware Water Gap at the confluence ...

to the north and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

to the south. Slateford is approximately one mile (1.4 km) from the

Delaware Water Gap Delaware Water Gap is a water gap on the border of the U.S. states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. The gap makes up the southern portion of the Delaware Water Gap ...

. Its name comes from its location at the edge of the Northampton Slate Belt. Slateford is part of the

metropolitan area.

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

production began in the area as early as 1808, making it one of the earliest such sites in the United States. Immigrants from

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

came in the 19th century to work in the quarries. Quarries and slate production factories operated in the area until 1917. Slateford is the location of

Slateford Junction Slateford Junction was a railway junction in the small town of Slateford, Pennsylvania. It was built to connect the existing mainline of the Lackawanna Railroad, the so-called Old Road with the new Lackawanna Cut-Off. It was in service from 1911 u ...

, the connection between the

Lackawanna Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

's old mainline and the Lackawanna Cut-Off.

Notes

Unincorporated communities in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania {{NorthamptonCountyPA-geo-stub