Bowmanstown, PA

Bowmanstown is a small Carbon County borough on the northeast bank of the Lehigh River, about three miles west of Palmerton and four miles south of Lehighton along Pennsylvania 248 in the valley. The river gives the borough its first bearing, while the nearby Palmerton industrial corridor supplies much of the larger valley context. The place took its name from John Deter Bowman, who settled here in 1796.

Bowmanstown grew from a village of roughly 300 people by 1896, and the New Jersey Zinc Company helped push that growth. Residents pursued borough status for years before incorporation on November 29, 1913. Borough Hall now occupies a former school building constructed in 1903; the Palmerton School District later made that campus unnecessary, and the borough kept the building for municipal offices. Put Bowmanstown on the map as a Lehigh River borough with an old school at its civic center, Palmerton nearby, and the river valley’s industry and roads shaping the edges.