Formed March 11, 1752 out of Bucks County. Named for Northamptonshire in England. Easton, county seat, was incorporated in 1789. County is noted as a leading center for the steel industry and for cement and slate production.

Congregation organized 1745. This building, enlarged and restored, was erected, 1776. Scene of Indian Treaty, 1777. During the Revolutionary War, it was used as a military hospital.

At White's Hotel near here, on Dec. 27, 1824, local citizens gathered to found Lafayette College. One of their leaders, James Madison Porter, had recently met Lafayette during the French general's well-received American tour of 1824-25, that revived widespread patriotic sentiments about American independence. The College is one of the principal US memorials to this statesman and military leader instrumental in our nation's birth.