Friedensville, Pennsylvania

Friedensville, Pennsylvania
Unincorporated community
Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church in Friedensville
Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church in Friedensville
Friedensville is located in Pennsylvania
Friedensville
Friedensville
Location of Friedensville in Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 40°33′33″N 75°23′41″W / 40.55917°N 75.39472°W / 40.55917; -75.39472
Country United States
State Pennsylvania
CountyLehigh
TownshipUpper Saucon Township
Elevation
130 m (420 ft)
Population
 • Metro
865,310 (US: 68th)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP Code
18017
GNIS feature ID1175250 [1]

Friedensville is an unincorporated community which is located in Upper Saucon Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

The community's name is derived from the German: Friedenskirche, "Church of peace".[2] Zinc mining was once a key industry in the area.

History

Friedensville Zinc Mines, founded in 1845, were an important operation in Friedensville.[3] Jacob Ueberroth (1786–1862), a local farmer, first discovered the zinc mineral, around 1830.[4]

In 1881, Franklin Osgood purchased the Lehigh Zinc Company’s mines and formed the Friedensville Zinc Company. He built a zinc oxide plant and zinc smelter in Friedensville.[5][6][7]

References

  1. ^ "Friedensville". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Espenshade, A. Howry (1925). Pennsylvania Place Names. State College, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State College. p. 310.
  3. ^ "History". Upper Saucon Township, Pennsylvania.
  4. ^ Kaas, L. Michael (2016). "The History of Zinc Mining in Friedensville, Pennsylvania". The Mining History Journal. 23: 17–42.
  5. ^ "Richard W. Pascoe, Mine Superintendent by L. Michael Kaas" (PDF). mininghistoryassociation.org. p. 42. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  6. ^ "Friedensville". The Allentown Democrat. Allentown, Pennsylvania. May 25, 1881. p. 2. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  7. ^ "Death of Franklin Osgood". Greensboro North State. Greensboro, North Carolina. January 26, 1888. p. 4. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
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