Easton, a borough, and the capital of Northampton co., Pennsylvania, on the right bank of the Delaware river, between the mouths of the Lehigh river and Bushkill creek, opposite Phillipsburg, N. J., and 54 m. N. of Philadelphia; pop. in 1850, 7,250; in 1860, 8,944; in 1870, 10,987. Excepting the eastern part of the town, the site is hilly, but the plot is nevertheless very regular, and the streets are wide and at right angles. The town has a public square, is lighted with gas, and supplied with water from the Lehigh river. The height of reservoirs on the surrounding hills is so great that a large portion of the town fires are extinguished without the aid of engines. A handsome cemetery of 40 acres has been laid out on picturesque and broken ground overhanging the Bushkill creek. There is a farmers1 and mechanics' institute, whose buildings and grounds cover 30 acres, where fairs are annually held. The rivers are each spanned by several bridges, and the town is connected with the anthracite region, and with New York, Philadelphia, and the west, by means of the Lehigh, the Morris, and the Delaware canals, and the Lehigh Valley, the Lehigh and Susquehanna, the Central New Jersey, the Morris and Essex, the Belvidere Delaware, and the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western railroads.

Being the outlet of a rich agricultural region, Easton formerly manufactured and exported a large amount of agricultural products. The surrounding country contains inexhaustible deposits of the best iron ore, which is largely manufactured here; and within 12 miles are found large deposits of the best zinc ore, which is manufactured near the mines. The borough contains 3 lager-beer breweries and 4 bottling establishments, 3 tanneries, extensive paint works, 3 carriage factories, 3 machine shops and founderies, 3 manufactories of cabinet ware, a pottery, 2 sash and blind factories, an extensive rope walk, an oil refinery, and 3 banks, with an aggregate capital of $987,600. In South Easton, a borough on the opposite bank of the Lehigh (pop. in 1870, 3,167), are a cotton factory, a blast furnace, a large wire and rolling mill, and the machine shops of the Lehigh Valley railroad. Easton is the seat of Lafayette college (Presbyterian), organized in 1831, which in 1872 had 25 professors and instructors, 259 students, and a library of 9,000 volumes. A scientific department was organized in 1865. There are 35 public schools, with 90 teachers. The Easton library association has 6,000 volumes.

There are 2 daily and 4 weekly newspapers, a free reading room, and 14 churches. - The borough was laid out in 1738 and incorporated in 1789. The Six Nations and seven other Indian tribes met here in council in 1758 with the governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey and Sir William Johnston. Gen. Washington made it in the revolution a rendezvous for numbers of British prisoners.