Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
Pennsylvania · Lehigh Valley · #416
Northampton County, Pennsylvania
The eastern half of the Lehigh Valley, Northampton County holds Bethlehem Steel's legacy alongside Lehigh University, the Delaware River border with New Jersey, and one of Pennsylvania's most successful transformations of post-industrial landscape into arts and hospitality destination.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Northampton County Emergency Management / E-911 – accessible via norcopa.gov
Services: Countywide emergency management coordination and 911 dispatch
Related: Northampton County Human Services 24-Hour Emergency Line – (610) 252-9060; general non-emergency dispatch (varies by municipality, e.g. Bethlehem Township residents call (610) 759-2200).
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-22 and PA-33 serve Easton, the county seat, at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers in eastern Pennsylvania
Transit: LANTA (Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority) provides regional bus service – confirm current routes directly.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: No countywide building department – permits are issued at the MUNICIPAL level
Services: Bethlehem Township Community Development – 4225 Easton Avenue, Bethlehem, PA 18020, (610) 814-6400, follows the PA Uniform Construction Code (UCC), 2018 International Codes, and 2009 IFC
Notes: Confirm the correct jurisdiction for your specific municipality.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Northampton County Veterans Affairs Office – Easton, PA
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Easton Area Public Library – 515 Church Street, Easton, PA 18042 | Hours: Mon–Thu 8 AM–8 PM, Fri 8 AM–5 PM, Sat 9 AM–5 PM (closed Sun)
Services: A Carnegie library, predated by an 1811 community library built by the Easton Library Company; construction of the current building began with a $57,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie in 1901, completed in 1903; holds nearly 145,000 items and circulates over 176,000 annually, serving nearly 70,000 residents; the main location’s Marx Room, added in 1985, houses the largest local history and genealogy collection in northeastern Pennsylvania (roughly 15,000 texts), and also displays the original Flag of Easton, hoisted during one of the first public readings of the Declaration of Independence
Related: Palmer Branch – 1 Weller Place, Palmer Township, PA, built 1986.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Northampton County’s largest city, Bethlehem, is genuinely and world-renownedly “Christmas City, USA,” a name the town has earned literally since its founding; on Christmas Eve, 1741, a small band of Moravian missionaries – a Protestant denomination with roots in the historical Bohemian and Moravian provinces of what is now the Czech Republic – gathered inside a crude, two-room log house at the confluence of the Monocacy Creek and Lehigh River (the site now occupied by the Hotel Bethlehem) to worship in the tradition of their faith; their visiting leader, Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, along with fellow Moravian David Nitschmann, led the group in singing the hymn “Jesus, Call Thou Me,” whose lyrics include the line “Not Jerusalem – lowly Bethlehem ’twas that gave us Christ to save us”; so moved by the moment, Zinzendorf declared the settlement would be named Bethlehem, after the biblical birthplace of Jesus; the Moravians went on to establish missionary communities among Native Americans and unchurched settlers in the region, and in 1747 Bethlehem became the first city in the United States known to feature a decorated Christmas tree; the town’s Moravian founders brought with them the tradition of the “putz” (from the German “putzen,” to decorate) – an elaborate miniature Nativity display using hand-carved wooden figures to tell not just the manger scene but multiple episodes of the Christmas story, including the Annunciation and the visit of the Magi – along with the hand-making of thousands of beeswax candles as a symbol of the light Christ brought into the world, and the “lovefeast,” a traditional song service in which worshippers share sweet buns and coffee together in their pews; in December 1937, during the depths of the Great Depression, the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce formally adopted the “Christmas City, USA” nickname at a large public ceremony, hoping to draw visitors to the struggling industrial city – a strategy that endures nearly 90 years later, as Bethlehem still hosts the popular Christkindlmarkt holiday bazaar and a full season of Christmas events each year, illuminated nightly by the large electrified Star of Bethlehem shining from atop nearby South Mountain; Bethlehem’s remarkably well-preserved historic Moravian settlement was formally added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the best-preserved examples of its kind in North America
Notes: Bethlehem’s genuine, world-famous status as “Christmas City, USA” – a UNESCO-recognized Moravian settlement whose very name traces directly to Christmas Eve 1741 – is one of the most distinctive and internationally celebrated pieces of local heritage anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Northampton County GIS – accessible via norcopa.gov
Parcel Search: Northampton County Assessment Office
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Northampton County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: The Center for Animal Health & Welfare (formerly the Northampton County SPCA) – 1165 Island Park Road, Easton, PA 18042 | (610) 252-7722 | Fax: (610) 253-7581 | Email: [email protected]
Services: A no-kill shelter located in Williams Township, historically the primary shelter for many county municipalities
Notes: IMPORTANT SERVICE GAP – Northampton County has genuinely and documented-ly lacked a countywide, guaranteed-acceptance animal shelter: the Center for Animal Health & Welfare ended its municipal contract system on January 1, 2013, and now accepts strays only on a space-available basis; the county subsequently commissioned a formal study on consolidating animal control services and held public meetings to gather resident input on the issue. Confirm current shelter capacity and intake status directly before relying on this as a guaranteed resource. Nearby alternative resources include Pets in Need (Nazareth, PA), Lehigh Valley Humane Society, and the PSPCA, which also serves Northampton County residents.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) – dep.pa.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Northampton County’s largest city, Bethlehem, is genuinely and world-famously “Christmas City, USA,” a UNESCO-recognized Moravian settlement whose very name dates directly to Christmas Eve, 1741. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Northampton County
Northampton County forms the eastern half of the Lehigh Valley, sharing the regional economy with adjacent Lehigh County (Allentown) while maintaining a distinct character centered on Bethlehem and Easton. Bethlehem is defined above all by its steel legacy: Bethlehem Steel Corporation, once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, operated its massive blast furnaces here until final closure in 1995. The subsequent transformation of the Bethlehem Steel site into SteelStacks – an arts and entertainment campus built around the preserved blast furnaces – is one of the most successful post-industrial adaptive reuse projects in America, and it has anchored Bethlehem’s emergence as a cultural destination including hosting the Musikfest festival, one of the largest free outdoor music festivals in the country.
Lehigh University, perched on South Mountain above Bethlehem, is one of the nation’s premier engineering and business universities and contributes significantly to the regional talent base. Easton, at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers, is a Delaware River border city with a restored downtown and growing reputation as a food and arts destination. The county’s northern townships remain largely rural and agricultural, and Northampton County’s position on the I-78 corridor gives it reasonable access to both the New York and Philadelphia metros – making it attractive for corporate relocations seeking lower costs with regional market access.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Pennsylvania counties assess at 100% of market value; Northampton County’s last full reassessment was in 2019 – more recent than most Pennsylvania counties, meaning assessed values are relatively current. Property owners may appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals by August 1. Pennsylvania has no estate tax; Pennsylvania’s inheritance tax: 0% surviving spouses, 4.5% direct descendants, 12% siblings, 15% others. Gifts within one year of death are subject to inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
SENIOR SERVICES
Northampton County Area Agency on Aging
2801 Emrick Boulevard, Bethlehem, PA 18020
Phone: (610) 829-4560
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, APPRISE Medicare counseling, caregiver support, home modification, and long-term care options counseling for Northampton County residents.
Senior Services
Northampton County Area Agency on Aging
2801 Emrick Boulevard, Bethlehem, PA 18020
Phone: (610) 829-4560
Senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, APPRISE Medicare counseling, caregiver support, home modification, and long-term care options counseling for Northampton County residents.
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Northampton County Register of Wills, Easton (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Northampton County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Register of Wills, Northampton County Northampton County Government Center, 669 Washington Street, Easton, PA 18042 (610) 829-6266 Northampton County is in eastern Pennsylvania, seated in Easton.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Pennsylvania has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Probate runs through its own statute, the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries (PEF) Code, Title 20 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. Probate begins at the Register of Wills – an elected county official – in the county where the decedent lived. Routine, uncontested probate happens entirely at the Register of Wills; only disputes escalate to the Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas.
Small Estate Petition (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102) – available when the estate’s personal property (excluding real estate) totals $50,000 or less. This lets an interested party petition the Orphans’ Court directly for approval of a proposed distribution, skipping the need to formally open a full probate estate. Real property is never covered by this simplified process.
Formal Probate – required for estates exceeding $50,000 in personal property, or for any estate involving real property that needs to pass through probate. The Register of Wills validates the will (if any) and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative files with the Register of Wills in Northampton County, along with the original will if one exists.
The Register of Wills reviews and, if in order, issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative gathers assets, notifies heirs and known creditors, and begins settling the estate.
Pennsylvania has a one-year creditor period running from the date of death, not from any published notice.
A Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return (REV-1500) must be filed with the Register of Wills, regardless of estate size.
Once debts, taxes, and expenses are settled, remaining assets are distributed according to the will or Pennsylvania’s intestacy laws, and the estate is closed.
What it costs
Filing fees vary; check with Northampton County directly for current fees.
Pennsylvania has NO separate state estate tax, but its INHERITANCE TAX applies to virtually every estate: 0% to a surviving spouse (and to a parent inheriting from a child 21 or younger), 4.5% to children and other lineal descendants, 12% to siblings, and 15% to everyone else. No dollar exemption.
A 5% early-payment discount applies if paid within 3 months of death; the return and payment are otherwise due within 9 months.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTER OF WILLS
669 Washington St, Easton, PA 18042
(610) 829-6465
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
669 Washington St, Easton, PA 18042
(610) 829-6600
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Human Services
2801 Emrick Blvd, Bethlehem, PA 18020
(610) 829-4620
Assistance Office (DHS)
201 Larry Holmes Dr, Easton, PA 18042
(610) 250-1700
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Northampton County Human Services Building – 2801 Emrick Boulevard, Bethlehem, PA 18020 | (610) 829-4800 | Hours: Mon–Fri 8 AM–5 PM
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records; 24-hour emergency social services line available
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Easton
Population: 315,000
Tier: 2
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Northampton County facilities via Amazon.
