Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1822.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Macungie’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Macungie is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #273 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Macungie’s overall grade.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Macungie’s 9.2 sits above most of its state (76% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). Two sources give 1776.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Macungie’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Macungie is derived from "Maguntsche", a place name used as early as 1730 to describe the region that is present-day Macungie and Emmaus, Pennsylvania. "Maguntsche" is a Lenape word, meaning either "bear swamp" or "feeding place of the bears". The borough's current seal depicts a bear coming to drink at water near some cattails. Valentine Weaver House in Macungie was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Macungie was founded as Millerstown in 1776 by Peter Miller. On November 15, 1857, the village of Millerstown was incorporated as a borough.
Passages that mention Macungie, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, from the earliest settlements to the present time, including much valuable information for the use of schools, families, libraries1902 · page 40Read the page →
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VILLAGES — Centreville is a suburb of Macungie, contains a hotel, store, schoolhouse and number of dwelling houses, post office Macungie, electric railway passes through the town. Population 360. Albuitis on the East Pennsylvania Branch of the P. & R. railroad and the terminus of the Catasauqua & Fogelsville branch of the same railroad, is a thriving town and has several stores, hotels, silk mill, shirt factory, post office, school house containing four .schools; was founded in 1857 and its population in 1900 was 780. East Texas is a small village, seven miles from Allentown on the line of the AUentown & Kutztown
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History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families1914 · page 1230Read the page →
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Melchior Ziegler, the brother of Michael, was a pioneer settler in Northampton county, in the territory now embraced in Macungie township, Lehigh county. His name appears, in 1749, among the heads of families who built “Ziegel church,” and in 1762, his name is among the taxables of Macungie township. He had, among others, the following sons: Philip and Abraham.
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History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, from the earliest settlements to the present time, including much valuable information for the use of schools, families, libraries1902 · page 46Read the page →
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ville from Trexlertown to Goshenhoppen, 1736, the second road was the Great Philadelphia road laid out in J 740, the third road was laid out at the same time from Emaus to Chestnut Hill Among the old sites are Fisher's tavern between Shimerville and Macungie, on the King's High road, opened prior to 1795, by Jacob Fisher, the property being now owned by Ambrose Schantz; Seider's tavern opened in 1785 by George Seiders, on the Great Philadelphia road upon the property now owned by U. H. Wieand. The early churches were Zionsville Reformed church, founded in 1750, Rev. John E. Hecker was the first pastor. Zionsville
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History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families1914 · page 1150Read the page →
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Daniel was a blacksmith by trade, residing along the road from Trexlertown to Macungie. His shop stood in the meadows at the iron bridge across the Little Lehigh. He also traded largely in real estate, buying at one time a large tract of land in Upper Macungie township, from the Wister estate. From 1799 to 1801 he held a license for an apple-jack distillery, paying a duty
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Macungie, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1776, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Macungie’s post office opened in 1822, and the census of 1880 counted 701 people here.
How does Macungie rank for history?
Macungie is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #273 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Macungie?
One place: the Valentine Weaver House (listed 1984).
How old are the homes in Macungie?
19% of Macungie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1982.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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