The town was founded in 1792 by Col. Jacob Weiss. The area was located between Lehighton, Parryville, and Longrun. Soon after, the town itself was established and the first wooden bridge over the river to the town was built in 1805, along with the first post office, taverns, banks, and stores all by 1812.
Within 20 years of its founding, the Weissport established itself as a vital part of the canal industry, specializing in the restoration, building, and repairing of boats along the Lehigh Canal, which ran parallel to the Lehigh River. By 1832, Lewis Weiss began building boats for the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company and the Morris Canal & Banking Company.
Peaked at 683 in 1920; 413 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Weissport’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Weissport, 1913–1918
Passages that mention Weissport, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania1913 · page 237Read the page →
Read the text
Until 1838 the religious interests of both Lehighton and Weissport centered in South Lehighton. During the ensuing thirty years the common place of worship was at Weissport. Jacob's Reformed and Lutheran church was built at the latter place in 1839. This was the mother of the churches of these denominations in Lehighton, Prior to 1870 a union Sunday school had been organ-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania1918 · page 352Read the page →
Read the text
About the year 1800, settlers began to pour into the region west of the Lehigh, and this gave rise to agitation for the construction of a bridge across the river at Weissport. The bridge was built by Northampton county, of which Carbon then formed a part, in 1805, the cost of the structure being about $3,000. Following its erection, the road leading from Bethlehem to Gnadenhiitten, which was built by the Moravians, more
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania1913 · page 353Read the page →
Read the text
About the year 1800, settlers began to pour into the region west of the Lehigh, and this gave rise to agitation for the construction of a bridge across the river at Weissport. The bridge was built by Northampton county, of which Carbon then formed a part, in 1805, the cost of the structure being about $3,000. Following its erection, the road leading from Bethlehem to Gnadenhiitten, which was built by the Moravians, more
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.
Timeline
Weissport, 1867 to 1931
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born 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.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
