West Catasauqua is an unincorporated village in
Whitehall Township in
Lehigh 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, ...
. Once a port and station along the busy
Lehigh Canal
The Lehigh Canal, or the Lehigh Navigation Canal, is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of twenty years, beginning in 1818. The low ...
, it is colloquially known as West Catty. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which has a population of 861,899 and is the 68th most populous
metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
It uses the Whitehall
Zip Code of 18052, and is directly across the
Lehigh River from the mouth of
Catasauqua Creek
Catasauqua Creek is an ENE–SSW oriented creek draining (straight line distance) from springs of the Blue Mountain barrier ridge several miles below the Lehigh Gap in the ridge-and-valley Appalachians located upriver and opposite from Allen ...
, the site of the first successful
anthracite iron
Anthracite iron or anthracite pig iron is the substance created by the smelting together of anthracite coal and iron ore, that is using anthracite coal instead of charcoal to smelt iron ores—and was an important historic advance in the late-1 ...
producing North American
blast furnaces in 1839.
Geography
West Catasauqua is located at (40.647895, -75.481828). The villages of
Hokendauqua and
Fullerton are directly to the north and south of the village, respectively. The borough of
Catasauqua is to the east across the
Lehigh River; two bridges connect West Catasauqua to
Catasauqua. The bridges are known as Pine street and Race street. The majority of the residential area is within a triangle shape area in the south-eastern portion of the village in between the roads that the bridges are on.
An abandoned segment of the
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, ...
lies within the village along the Lehigh River, including an abandoned switch yard where the village meets Hokendauqua just north of the Pine Street bridge. The village also served as the eastern terminus of the
Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad.
The West Catasauqua Playground is located in the geographical heart of the village along Pine Street. The West Catasauqua Fire Company as well as a Cetronia Ambulance Corps station are located within the village limits. The village is home also to two gasoline and oil "
tank farm".
Public education
The community is served by the
Whitehall-Coplay School District.
Until 1972, when the centralized Steckel Elementary School was opened on Whitehall-Coplay School District's campus, the village was serviced by the Pleasant Hill Elementary School (K-4) located on First Avenue. The school building was later converted into office space and at one time, was used as the US Headquarters of Tarkett; after Tarkett relocated to another building within the township, the building has been used for general office space including a satellite office for Pennsylvania State Senator
Lisa Boscola
Lisa M. Boscola (born April 6, 1962) is an American politician from Pennsylvania currently serving as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 18th Senate District which includes portions of Lehigh and Northampton ...
(D), 18th State Senatorial District.
Township government
The village falls under the purview of the
Whitehall Township government.
Notable person
*
Albert C. Vaughn
Albert Clinton Vaughn Sr. (October 9, 1894 – September 1, 1951) was an American politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
Early life and education
Vaughn was born in West Catasauqua, Pennsy ...
, former U.S. Congressman
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania