What is the history of Northampton, Pennsylvania?
Northampton was once a global center for the manufacturing of cement. The Atlas Portland Cement Company was based there, until it was closed in 1982, due largely to foreign competition. Tru Blu brewery, a microbrewery, is based in Northampton. Northampton was created from the villages of Siegfried, Newport and Stemton, which together were formed into an alliance in 1902. In 1909, Atlas petitioned county courts to change the alliance into a borough, reportedly because the change would make it easier for the company to send and receive mail. The Atlas Portland Cement Company plant closed in 1982, but borough residents — many of them former Atlas employees or their descendants — still identify strongly with the company and its history.
