Glendon, PA

Glendon is a Northampton County borough on the Lehigh River, part of the Lehigh Valley. The 2020 census counted 373 people. Before 1844 the area was scattered farms; the Glendon Iron Works changed that, bringing a furnace, workers' houses, and a small industrial town to the river. By 1856 the works were recognized among Pennsylvania's best, and roughly 30 to 40 buildings supported the workforce. The borough incorporated in 1867, with the ironworks still at the center of its existence.

Glendon's geography made the industry possible. Limestone for flux came by canal, the river dam supplied waterpower, and an 1855 bridge connected the works to the opposite bank. Nearly every local household once had a direct or indirect connection to the plant, so the borough's compact residential form grew around a workplace, canal, and crossing. The industry is gone, but the river corridor and Lehigh Valley setting remain the useful orientation points today, with Easton nearby for larger services and the canal landscape preserving the transportation system that once moved Glendon's iron.