First Reformed Church
Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
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.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Easton's First Reformed congregation gathered in 1745, and by 1776 — the very year of independence — its members had built and enlarged this church. In 1777 it hosted an Indian treaty council, one of the diplomatic gatherings that shaped relations between the young nation and Native peoples on the Pennsylvania frontier. During the Revolution the building also served as a military hospital, its pews and floors given over to the sick and wounded of the Continental cause.
Why it matters
Few buildings hold so many strands of the Revolutionary era at once — worship, frontier diplomacy with Native nations, and the care of soldiers — making this church a crossroads of the founding generation's story.
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Related events
- · Indian Treaty of 1777
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Sullivan Campaign
Forks Township, PA · est. 1947
In the summer of 1779, Easton became the staging ground for one of the Revolution's largest offensives against the Native and Loyalist alliance harrying the New York and Pennsylvania frontier. Under General John Sullivan, the army spent more than a month gathering men and supplies before beginning its march on June 18, 1779. The campaign that followed would drive deep into Iroquois country to the north.
Sullivan Expedition Against the Iroquois Indians, 1779 - Sullivan Road (PLAQUE)
Forks Township, PA · est. 1929
This plaque marks the road over which Sullivan's army began its advance on June 18, 1779. Cutting and following such roads was itself a feat, as thousands of men, horses, and wagons of supplies moved through country with few improved routes. The path set the direction of a campaign that would carry deep into the lands of the Six Nations.
Sullivan Expedition Against the Iroquois Indians, 1779 - Heller's Tavern (PLAQUE)
Wind Gap, PA · est. 1929
On June 18, 1779, Sullivan's troops set out on the first day of their long march toward Iroquois country, covering twelve miles before halting at Heller's Tavern. Wayside taverns like this were the natural waypoints of the era, offering the only fixed shelter along frontier roads. The plaque marks where the campaign's opening day came to a close.
Sullivan's March
Wind Gap, PA · est. 1947
On June 18, 1779, the first day's march of General Sullivan's expedition ended at Heller's Tavern near Wind Gap, where his weary army camped for the night. Stirring at four the next morning, the troops pressed on to cross the Blue Mountains through the natural pass at Wind Gap. Their route traced old paths through the ridges as they moved north toward the Iroquois heartland.