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HISTORY OF KUTZTOWN,
PA
Before the white man came to America, the area that would become
Pennsylvania was inhabited by about 15,000 Indians, mostly of the
Algonquin tribe. It was the Lenni Lenape Clan of that tribe that
eventually sold the area now known as Berks County to William Penn.
In 1662, William Penn began settling his new colony. He promised
a government of benevolence and challenged newcomers to establish
original economic and social forms and enjoy religious freedom.
Back in Europe, the Thirty Years War resulted in the placement of
severe restrictions upon the small German religious sects formed
during the Reformation Period of the 1500's including the Mennonites,
Amish, Dunkards and more. These restrictions and other disturbances
caused the Germans to accept William Penn's invitation to join him
in the New World. Sweden and English also flocked to Pennsylvania,
but most settled in other areas.
Berks County, named for Berkshire in England, was made up of sections
of Lancaster, Chester and Philadelphia counties.
On June 17, 1775, a 130-acre tract of land along the Saucony was
purchased by a man named George Kutz. He named the land Kutztown
after himself and laid out a 215 lot plan for his hamlet. Adam Dietrich
and Henry Schweier were the first to purchase lots. Kutztown grew
and became more and more populated, and by Special Act of Assembly
on March 1, 1815, became the second borough in Berks County.
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