Museum Information
Walking Purchase
Local History Articles

Benjamin Franklin and his tie to Monroe County’s frontier forts

September 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 2010 |
When Thomas Penn, one of William Penn's sons, sought additional lands from native Americans for the Pennsylvania colony, it was agreed between the two parties that this new land grant would contain a tract of land beginning at Wrightstown and extending northward as far as a man could walk in one and one-half days. This became known as the infamous "Walking Purchase." Read More...