Walking Purchase
Benjamin Franklin and his tie to Monroe County’s frontier forts
September 09 , 2012
In 1755, the Pennsylvania Assembly put Benjamin Franklin and James Hamilton in charge of creating a chain of forts along the Blue Mountains to protect citizens against attacks from native Americans. Franklin traveled to Bethlehem on December 18, 1755, to oversee the creation of these forts. The first to be built in the area now known as Monroe County was Fort Hamilton. Read More...
Pennsylvania’s infamous ‘Walking Purchase’
July 07 , 2010
In 1681, King Charles II of England granted William Penn a charter to establish a colony in the New World. The king owed William Penn’s father ₤16,000 and to repay his debt, King Charles II granted the young Penn 45,000 square miles of land to establish a colony in “regard to the memorie and merits of his late father” on March 4, 1681. Read More...