Engraving depicting Easton as it appeared in 1798. The courthouse in the engraving would be the approximate location of the Circle today.

This is an artists sketch of 1815 center square Easton. The view is looking south and you can see Morgan's Hill in the distance. To the right of the court house you can see the hill that would later become part of the city west of the square.

Circa 1880 photo of the 300 block of Northampton street. The photo may have been taken from one of the upper floors of Laubach's department store. The scene begins on the right edge just after Bush and Bull's store. The steeple in the back ground is that of the German Evangelical church.

Circa 1880 photo of the intersection of 4th and Northampton streets. Check out the fancy carriage in the lower right. Looks like a big football game was coming up, probably Lafayette vs. Lehigh. After looking at this photo you can understand why cities eventually went under ground with electrical infrastructure. Again the German Evangelical Church steeple dominates the skyline as it does to this day.

Circa 1880 photo of Bush and Bull "The Big City Store". Later the store was for many years Woolworth and today is Rite Aid on the Northwest quadrant of Center Square.

Close up view of the southern face of the above c1880 Bush and Bull photo. I'm intrigued by the ghostly images caused by the long exposure times needed by these early cameras. The sign on the upper level of the building says "Gray's Photo Gallery". When I see these old photos I always wish I knew the identity of the people in them. With so many Easton ancestors do you think one could be in this photo?

Close up view of the eastern face of the c1880 Bush and Bull photo. The entrance to Gray's Gallery is on the balcony. I had to wonder if Gray's may have taken this c1880 series of photos? I remember this stairway when I was a kid but it was demolished when I was about 10 or 12 years old.

Circa 1880's photo of the southern side of Center Square. Today the building on the right is where the Alpha building is located. The building in the center of the photo has been renovated and expanded several times over the years. For many years it was the headquarters of Easton National Bank. As the days of the local bank have past us by today this is a branch office of Wachovia bank.

Circa 1880 intersection of South 3rd street and Center Square. While most of the trees have no leaves the people are not dressed too warm so this was likely taken in early November.

Close up of the above photo shows some great detail. Blankets cover the horses and a blanket lies on the carriage bench, probably to keep warm on the morning ride into town. A bicycle is parked on the sidewalk outside the Goldsmith Clothier store.

Circa 1900 photo of South 3rd Street in Easton as viewed from the circle looking directly south. This is a few years after the c1880 photo series and you can see the bank building on the left has been expanded. Farther down the street on the right you can see the top of the newly constructed Drake building.

Circa 1900 view of the Easton/Phillipsburg bridge as viewed from a hill in Phillipsburg. This is not the greatest quality photo but I included it because it shows all of the buildings along the Delaware river on the Easton side. Those buildings were all over time destroyed by flooding and today this part of the river bank is a park.

Early 1900's photo of the circle in Easton. Ringed with horse drawn carriages it was the hub of social and economic activity. The photographer here is positioned in the south east corner of the square looking towards the north west. Photo may have been taken from one of the upper floors of the bank that was located here.

1900's photo of the Farmer's Market at Easton's center square. It was a busy place back in those days. The stand with the striped canopy is about the same location in the circle that the Hagenbuch's operated for many years. In the early 1970's my Mother and I would set up and run the stand on behalf of Mary (Buttner) Hagenbuch after the death of her husband Clayton.

Early 1900's view of Northampton Street. In this scene the photographer has Center Square to their back and they are looking east towards the bridge across the Delaware to Phillipsburg, NJ. Trolley cars and horse drawn carriages dot the street.

1905 photo of the 1st Reformed Church in Easton. This is the church/congregation that the book “Early Settlers of the Forks of the Delaware” is based on.

Circa 1905 photo of the railroad station at Easton. I don't think these structures exist anymore. This would be just below the present day intersection of 3rd Street and Rt. 611. In the haze in the background is South Easton.

1906 view of the Easton/Phillipsburg bridge. This view is looking from Phillipsburg towards Easton. The building in the center of town is the old Easton High School. This bridge was destroyed in 1955 by a flood caused by Hurricane Diane. A similar looking bridge was built in the same place and is today known as the "free bridge".

Just across the Delaware river from Easton is it's sister city of Phillipsburg, NJ. In their heyday these two towns mutually benefited from each others rapid growth and booming economies. This photo of Union Square in Phillipsburg was taken about 1906 while standing near the end of the bridge. In fact you can see the bridge anchors in each lower corner of the photo.

For those who go to the Marx Room it was quite a different place in 1905. As you can see the building that houses the Marx Room is not even constructed yet. Click the photo for additional information.

A 1906 view of the circle and monument from the northeast.

In this 1907 photo the photographer is standing in the 300 block of Northampton Street looking west. Laubach's store is the first building on the left. Note the brick street pavers and Trolley tracks. The horse drawn carriage was still widely in use in this era.

1908 photo shows the Laubach's store on Northampton St., Easton in 1908. At the front right is the Bush and Bull department store. This would later become Woolworth's and then present day Rite Aid.

Circa 1908 photo of the junction of the Lehigh and Delaware rivers at Easton. The Lehigh is in the foreground and the Delaware runs under the bridge joining Easton to Phillipsburg.

I took three photos of the Forks of the Delaware and using digital editing blended them together to make this c1908 panoramic view that you will only see here on kunsman-eichlin.net.

1913 panoramic photo of Easton along the Lehigh river. This photo is frequently offered on E-bay for $20 to $25 by the 21st century descendants of 19th century elixir salesman. The photo can be downloaded by anyone for free at the National Archives website, the copyright having long ago expired.

1917 panoramic photo of Easton along the Lehigh river. This one gives a more extensive view to the right. The railroad bridges over top of the canal locks serve as a metaphor for the fate of the canals. This photo too is offered for sale on E-bay while it can be had for free at the National Archives.

Circa 1910 view of South 3rd Street as seen from the 3rd Street bridge over the Lehigh River. At front left would be the present day Best Western Easton Inn and farther up on the same side is today Perkins. The tall building in the distant left side is again the Drake building that was demolished in the 1970's. In the distant center you can vaguely distinguish soldiers monument in center square (the circle) Easton.

Great 1911 photo of the trolley that operated from Tatamy to Easton including a stop at Bushkill Park near where this photo was taken. At right is the Bushkill Creek. The dirt road next to the trolley is present day Tatamy Road, a heavily traveled route into and out of Easton. This would be the trolley conducted by Alvin Edgar Laubach . Part of the stone wall between the road and the track is still there today.

This is a 1913 photo of the Drake building on 3rd St. in downtown Easton. The building was financed by the John Drake family and housed the Drake and Son business offices. They were in the wholesale food distribution business as well as mining and other ventures. During this era the Drake's were one of the wealthiest families in Easton. John Drake was 4th great grandfather to my wife. This building was demolished in the 1970's to make way for the parking garage. Not a single one of these buildings on this stretch of south 3rd street remain standing today.

Northampton Street west of the circle about 1960's. Farr's, Orr's, Woolworth's, none of these great old stores baring their founders name any longer exist. Also in this era Northampton street was one way heading towards Center Square.

Circa 1970 photo of Soldiers Monument and Center Square in Easton. Shortly after this photo was taken the circle was completely renovated and today the only thing the same is the monument itself. At present a fountain surrounds the monument and the walkways are reconfigured. There also were restrooms under the circle plaza that were closed off with the redesign. The bugler at the top of the monument faces west.

Circa 1900 Chain Dam just west of Easton. Island Park was located on the island in the center of the photo. Nice image of the canal barge and lock tenders house. If you ride or walk the bike paths at Hugh Moore park you can still see the lock tenders house and the locks. The park has done a decent job of preserving this site.

Island Park was an amusement park located on an island in the Lehigh River just west of Easton between Palmer Township and Williams Township. It was a beloved place for Easton area residents to go for fun and entertainment. The park was destroyed by flood in the early 1900's. All traces of the park were completely wiped out in another flood in 1972. Here we see the trolley entrance to Island Park.

1908 view of the boat landing at Island Park.

1905 the casino stage where Vaudeville type acts and motion pictures frequently played. Herbert T. Drake (c1861-1939) is given as a motion picture operator at the casino in his obituary. I am uncertain if it referenced this venue but suspect that it did.

Circa 1900 dancing pavilion at Island Park.

Early 1900's photo of the figure 8 style roller coaster at Island Park.

Circa 1900 giant sand pit for the kids at Island Park.

Very early (1906) photo of Frenchtown, NJ. From the book “The Best of Times”. In the lower right corner of the photo you can faintly make out the covered bridge in the distance. The bridge crossed the Delaware river to Pennsylvania and the town of Erwinna in Tinicum Township where another branch of the Eichlin family settled. This bridge eventually was destroyed by a flood.

Nearly the same scene as above only 17 years later in 1923. This time you can see the covered bridge in the center of the photo in the distant background. John Eichlin (1764-1851) settled in the Frenchtown area in the early 1800's. Many of his descendants still live in various communities around Hunterdon County, NJ..

Frenchtown railroad station taken in the early 1900's. The station was located at the foot of the covered bridge. The building is still there today although renovated and expanded. Today it houses a restaurant. My wife and I ate there in the Spring of 2004 while visiting this town as part of my research.

Directly across the river from Frenchtown was the town of Erwinna, PA. This photo shows the Erwinna Hotel in Tinicum Township, Bucks Co., PA in the early 1900's. Charles Eichlin b.1810 is listed as a hotel keeper in the 1870 census for Erwinna. Could this be his hotel? Erwinna is a very small town so I doubt that there was more than one hotel.

There were two suspension foot bridges built connecting South Easton to Easton and the industrial facilities of West Easton. I suspect hundreds if not thousands of workers crossed this bridge every day. This bridge was built in 1901 and this photo was taken about 1910. This bridge was called the "upper suspension bridge" and was located farther up the river than the other foot bridge. It was lost in the 1955 flood.

Called the "two cent" bridge because of the toll amount, it connected the Lehigh Valley Railroad station to Easton near 10th street spanning the Lehigh river. Built in 1884 it was demolished in 1951.

Rare photo of the Iron Works along the Lehigh river in Glendon, PA. Glendon is a very small town in Williams Township. Several of our ancestors worked at the iron works including Peter Raub b.1872 and his father Jeremiah Raub b.1837. It was part of the Glendon Iron Company, which between the furnace and the iron mines employed scores of our Williams Township and Easton ancestors.

1909 photo shows the trolley that ran from Raubsville to Easton. The road would become present day Rt. 611.

Late 1800's photo of Groundhog Lock in Raubsville, PA. This is today a state park and still looks remarkably similar. Gone though are the smoke stacks from factories that were located here. Originally the Peter Uhler paper mills they evolved through several industries and owners over time until eventually being demolished.

An assortment of Drake brand products. The private brand name was Drako. These were products offered by the Drake Wholesale Company in Easton. See the Drake story for more details on this once notorious Easton family.

1910 photo of the Thomas Iron Company in Lower Saucon Township. John Drake of the prominent Drake family of Easton was a founding partner . He also served as President of the company for a time.