A Brief History of Kutztown

Kutztown's beginnings can be traced back to June 16, 1755 when George Kutz bought 130 acres from Peter Wentz. Kutz planned the town in 1779, and the first lots were sold in 1785. It was located on the Easton Road, which was a popular route for travelers between Reading and Allentown. Kutztown grew during the colonial period and was officially incorporated as a borough on April 7, 1815. Like the rest of Berks County, it was settled mostly by Germans from the Palatinate region of southwest Germany, near the Rhine River.

  • 300 Block of W. Main St.

    300 Block of W. Main St.

    The roof under which the man is standing (342 West Main - currently the home of Mr. Food) was the last to be removed from the Main Street merchants. It was removed in 1958.

  • 4th of July 1915 Kutztown

    4th of July 1915

    This photo is from Kutztown's centennial celebration in July 1915. The building, which is currently the home to Cielito Lindo (with the Tavern next door) was The Keystone House (note the keystone shaped sign hanging above the gentleman in the white shirt).

  • The Farmers Bank & Trust Co. Kutztown

    The Farmers Bank & Trust Co.

  • Fireman's Parade in Kutztown in 1950

    Fireman’s Parade down Main Street - 1950

    Fireman’s Parade down Main Street on Saturday, 9 September 1950 as part of the dedication ceremony for the new Kutztown Fire Company building on Noble Street. Cost of the building = $225,000

The Kutztown area, broadly defined, encompasses an area of land also known as the East Penn Valley, a broad limestone valley situated in northern and eastern Berks County, bounded by the Blue and South Mountain ranges to the north and south, respectively, by the Lehigh County border to the east, and by the Ontelaunee (Maiden) Creek to the west.  This region includes the townships (or portions thereof) of Albany, Greenwich, Longswamp, Maidencreek, Maxatawny, Perry, Richmond, Rockland, and Ruscombmanor; the boroughs of Kutztown, Fleetwood, Topton, Lyons, and Lenhartsville; and the villages or settlements (clockwise from Kutztown) of Monterey, Maxatawny, Mertztown, Kutzville, Schofer’s, Farmington, Hancock, Longswamp, Shamrock, Ringtown, Oreville, Klines Corner, Five Points, Hinterleiter’s, Longsdale, Maple Grove, Red Lion, Pilgerts, Seisholzville, Henningsville, Sally Ann Furnace, Fredericksville, New Jerusalem, Dryville, Bowers, Walnuttown, Blandon, Maiden Creek, Molltown, Evansville, Kirbyville, Moselem, Kempsville, Virginville, Windsor Castle, Dreibelbis, Greenawald, Albany, Kempton, Mountain, Stony Run [Wessnersville], Klinesville, Krumsville, Grimville, Eagle Point [Kroningersville], and Mill Creek.  

Additionally, it contains the valleys (“Thals”), homesteads, cemeteries, and/or roads associated with such establishing and early families as Adams, Albright/Albrecht, Angstadt, Arndt, Bailey, Balthaser, Barnet, Bast, Bauer/Bower, Berk, Bieber, Biehl, Bolich, Bond, Boyer, Breininger, Butz, Christ, Christman, Cox, Cronrath/Conrad, Deisher/Deysher, DeLong, DeTurk/DeTurck, Dietrich, Donat, Dreibelbis, Dressler, Druckenmiller, Drumm/Trump, Dry, Dunkel, Dunkelberger, Esser, Fegely, Fenstermacher, Fink, Fisher, Fister, Fox, Frederick, Fritch, Geehr, Gehret, Geisinger, George, Gerasch, Glasser, Graeff/Groff, Grim, Gross, Gruber, Grünewald/Greenawalt, Guldin, Haring/Herring, Haak/Hauck, Haas, Heffley, Heffner, Heinly, Heist, Helffrich, Henninger, Henry, Herbein, Herman, Hertzog, Hilbert, Hoch/High, Hottenstein, Humbert, Hummel, Kauffman, Keifer/Kieffer, Keim, Kelschner, Kemp, Kerschner, Kistler, Klein/Kline, Knittle, Kohler/Koller, Koser/Kover, Krause, Kressley, Kunkel, Kutz, Laub/Lobb, Leibelsperger/Leibensberger, Leiby, Lesher, Levan, Luckenbill, Ludwig/Ludwick, Mengel, Merkel, Miller, Mohr, Moll, Moyer, Oswald, Peters, Petri, Rabenold, Rahn, Rauch, Reber, Reidenauer, Rhoads/Rhodes, Rohrbach, Rothermel, Sassaman, Sander/Sanders, Saul, Schaeffer, Schappell, Scheidt, Schlegel, Schlenker, Schmidt/Smith, Schoedler, Schollenberger, Schneider/Snyder, Schwoyer/Zwoyer, Seibert, Seidel, Sell, Sharadin/Ghirardan, Siegfried, Sittler, Sontag/Sunday, Sousley, Stein/Stine, Stitzel, Strasser, Stump/Stumpf, Sunday, Trexler, Unger, Wagenman/Wagaman, Wagenhorst, Wanner, Warmkessel, Wessner, Wiltrout, Wink, Yenser, Youse, Zettlemoyer, and Zimmerman

Saucony Bridge Kutztown
Bridge over the Saucony Creek 1900s
Horse Racing Kutztown Fair
E. Main St (formerly Park Ave.)

Featured Stories

History of Kutztown: Featured Stories
The Old Kutztown Pool
The Old Kutztown Pool

The area that today is known as “North Park” is where the old Kutztown pool use to be. The history of the area as far as the Kutztown community is concerned, goes back to 1889.

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The Dorney Park Line
The Dorney Park Line

The Allentown & Reading Traction Company was once known as the “Dorney Park Line”. It was made up of two different traction companies. They were the Allentown Kutztown Traction company and the Kutztown Fleetwood traction company. The two lines were merged into the Allentown Reading traction company on July 10, 1902.

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1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic
1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic

The 10 October 1918 issue of The Patriot reported that the influenza epidemic had not hit the Kutztown area, but the “town is under strict orders to obey the regulations set down by the State Department of Health.” The regulations were listed in the PA Acting Commissioner of Health Dr. B. Franklin Royer’s proclamation.

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Horseracing in Kutztown
Horseracing in Kutztown

​The gentleman’s sport of competitive horse racing in eastern Berks County appears to date to the early 19th century, when, according to the 1915 Centennial History of Kutztown, the George Schaeffer farm, just east of the Agway store (formerly the Crystal Bowl) in Maxatawny Twp., proximate to lands owned by the Hottenstein family, hosted a number of such events from the late 1820s through the early 1830s when it was the property of several sons of Philip Schaeffer, who, appropriately enough, is credited with manufacturing the first horse-powered threshing machine in Berks County.

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