TORREYA 
May, 1912 
Уо]. 12 No. 5 
THE FLORA OF NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, 
PENNSYLVANIA 
Bv WiLBUR L. KiNG 
The county of Northampton is located on the eastern border 
of Pennsylvania. In shape it somewhat resembles a truncated 
funnel lying on its side. It was formerly a portion of Bucks 
county from which it was separated in 1752. When originally 
erected it included what is now Lehigh, Schuylkill, Carbon, 
Monroe, Pike, and all the other counties north of them to the 
state of New York. In 1772 the northwestern part of the county 
became Northumberland county; in 1796 Wayne county took 
the northeastern part; in 1811 Schuylkill county was cut off; the 
following year Lehigh county was formed; Monroe county was 
laid out in 1836 and Carbon county in 1843. The present area 
of Northampton county is about 380 square miles. 
This territory lies south of the Kittatinny mountain, some- 
times known as the Blue mountain, which is a part of the Appa- 
lachian chain. The crest of the mountain forms its northern 
boundary and the eastern and western boundaries of the county 
are formed by the Delaware and Lehigh rivers respectively. 
These two rivers flow through gaps in the Kittatinny mountain— 
the Delaware river at the Delaware Water Gap in the northeast 
corner of the county, and the Lehigh river at Lehigh Water Gap 
in the northwest corner. The direction of the rivers from these 
gaps is SSE. The distance along the Kittatinny mountain 
between the two rivers, in a straight line, is twenty-seven and a 
half miles. The Lehigh river flows SSE. as far as Allentown. 
Here it is deflected ENE., making a right angle bend and, flowing 
past Bethlehem and Freemansburg, it empties into the Delaware 
[No. 4, Vol. 12, of TORREYA, comprising pp. 73-96. was issued 17 April 1912.] 
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