Slate Industry of Slatington
Near Allentown, Pennsylvania
Slatington, in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, built its identity on stone pulled from the earth by Welsh hands. In the eighteen forties, Welsh immigrants recognized the slate outcroppings here and established a cluster of quarries. The industry made Slatington one of the largest slate-producing centers in the United States.
Welsh slate workers brought not just skill but community, founding churches and mutual aid societies in the valley. Their product roofed buildings across the country through the late eighteen hundreds, and the distinctive blue-gray stone of this region became a marker of quality in an era before asphalt shingles.
