THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY REICHLEY, ADOLPH, BAKER, BENNINGHOFF, BEYER, BOYD, BRENNAN, CALTAGIRONE, CAUSER, CLYMER, COHEN, D. COSTA, CRUZ, DALLY, DAY, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, EVERETT, FAIRCHILD, FLECK, GEIST, GINGRICH, GODSHALL, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HELM, HENNESSEY, HICKERNELL, KNOWLES, KORTZ, MAHONEY, MAJOR, MANN, MARKOSEK, MARSICO, MELIO, MENSCH, MILLARD, MOUL, MURT, MUSTIO, O'NEILL, PALLONE, PARKER, PAYNE, PHILLIPS, PICKETT, PYLE, QUINN, RAPP, READSHAW, REED, ROHRER, ROSS, SAINATO, SANTONI, SCAVELLO, SIPTROTH, STABACK, STEVENSON, SWANGER, TALLMAN, TRUE, VEREB, VULAKOVICH, YOUNGBLOOD AND BRADFORD, JUNE 29, 2009

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, JUNE 29, 2009  

A RESOLUTION

Honoring Emmaus, Pennsylvania, on the occurrence of its 250th

anniversary.

WHEREAS, In the early 1730s, German immigrants began settling

onto lands acquired by William Penn; and

WHEREAS, By 1734, a Germanic log cabin was built in

Maguntsche as a temporary shelter for these settlers; and

WHEREAS, The Shelter House, "Zufluchtshause" in German,

remains a prominent historic site in Emmaus and is believed to

be the oldest continuously inhabited structure in the Lehigh

Valley; and

WHEREAS, The new village was laid out in 1759, and that same

year Andres Giering built the first house; and

WHEREAS, In 1761, Moravian Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg

named the settlement "Emmaus"; and

WHEREAS, The discovery of iron ore in the mid-1800s

significantly changed the area; and

WHEREAS, The east branch of the Philadelphia and Reading

Railroad made its appearance, and by April 20, 1859, the first

train was heard rolling through town; and

WHEREAS, On August 1 of that same year the Village of Emmaus

incorporated as the Borough of Emmaus and accordingly, in 2009,

celebrates 150 years as a borough as well as 250 years as a

town; and 

WHEREAS, Industry continued to flourish as the first blast

furnace was "blown in" in 1869; and

WHEREAS, The heart of every community is its downtown and

Emmaus' is especially rich in character and history with the

Moravian Church on Main Street remaining a landmark in the

community; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor Emmaus,

Pennsylvania on the occurrence of its 250th anniversary.