Here's a fun fact to start with: If you live, or have ever lived, in Wilson Borough, you were an election outcome away from living in Taft Borough.
Which, I know, sounds disgusting.
Imagine....
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"Where are you from?”
"Oh, I'm from Taft."
You lucked out, Wilson residents.
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FAST FACTS
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Who named it?
Rebellious eastern Palmer Township citizens
When was it formed?
1914, as a township (incorporated a borough July 12, 1920)
What is it named after?
President Woodrow Wilson (Lived 1856-1924; President 1913-1921)
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The 1912 Election
In 1912, "agitation" began in the eastern portion of Palmer Township to break off and form a new municipality. But whatever Palmer did to your predecessors, Wilson residents, it couldn't have been that bad. Probably just tax rates. It's usually about taxes.
The agitated then-eastern Palmer Township residents in the area decided they would name their new township after whomever won the United States presidential election of 1912. Woodrow Wilson won - and quite easily, both the electoral and popular vote – against Progressive former President Theodore Roosevelt and Republican incumbent President William Howard Taft.
The Socialist Party of America's candidate, Eugene Debs, by the way, had no real chance of winning and gained no electoral votes (though he earned a notable 6% of the popular vote, nearly a million votes total).
But you have to admit, "Debs Borough" does sound kind of cool.
And so it was that the new township would therefore be named after the former governor of New Jersey and President of Princeton University, Thomas Woodrow Wilson. Even though Roosevelt won Pennsylvania in that same election. Wah wah.
If the PA-NJ rivalry was then as it is now, naming a PA municipality for a Jersey politician must have stung for some. Imagine if we, I don't know, renamed West Easton "Christie Borough." Imagine the displeasure.
“Baby Borough”
In 1920, probably just to show up Palmer Township, Wilson Township petitioned the county to be incorporated as a borough. And so it was that on July 12, 1920 they one-upped Palmer.* Actually, in seriousness, borough status was probably deserved. They were experiencing some massive population growth at the time: from 1912-1929, the population went from less than 1,500 to over 8,000. The current population is actually a bit below that.
The Wilson Borough Diamond Jubilee souvenir book I was reading says that in 1917 Wilson tried to merge with Easton. Possibly just in order for it to make sense how the street numbers don't start over when they get to Wilson from Easton (even Palmer Township takes up those numbered streets until 27th Street - this starting from Easton's "1st St.", currently Larry Holmes Drive).
In any case, Easton rejected the notion that Wilson should join the city. Partly as a result of that decision, we now have a weird school district/municipality scenario:
Wilson Area High School is actually closer to the city of Easton than Easton Area High School is.
MORE (QUICK) WILSON HISTORY
The area now known as Wilson Borough was first Forks Township starting in 1754, and then Palmer Township from 1857 until 1914. You're missing out on some gigantic trash and recycling bins, Wilson. If things go south, living in one is my back-up plan.
Northampton County's first fair and first cattle show was held in present-day Wilson, then Forks Township, in 1855. It was near the southwest corner of 15th and Butler Streets and run by the Northampton County Agricultural Society, which no longer exists.
The Fairgrounds were then established in the area by the Farmers and Mechanics Institute of Northampton County. It existed from 17th Street west, bordered on the north by Fairview Avenue and the south by Bethlehem Road (present-day Butler Street). Its first fair was on September 23, 1856.
During the Civil War, the area was the site of Camp Washington. For now, suffice it to say it played host to the First Regiment of the Rhode Island Marine Artillery and a certain Ambrose E. Burnside, famed Union Army general and hair enthusiast.
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Kyle M. Jones, though not a general of any kind, is sort of a hair enthusiast. He is also a docent at the Sigal Museum in downtown Easton.. There's Victorian hair art at the museum – that's fairly gross, but also fairly cool.
A website about local history in and surrounding Northampton County is coming within the next couple months. Right after the “webmaster” learns how to, you know, code stuff.
