EASTON, a borough of the United States, and capital of Northampton county, Pennsylvania, is situated on the right bank of the Delaware immediately above the confluence of the Lehigh, 54 miles north of Philadelphia. The town is very systematically arranged in spite of the irregularity of the ground on which it is built; the water supply from the Lehigh river is abundant, and a strong pressure is obtained by the elevated position of the reservoirs. As the centre of a rich agricultural and mineral district, with free communication both by land and water, Easton has considerable activity at once in trade and manufacture. Among its establishments the borough contains breweries, tanneries, carriage factories, iron foundries, a rope-walk, and an oil-factory; and South Easton, on the other side of the Lehigh, has a cottonfactory, a rolling-mill, and railway engineering works. The principal buildings are the farmers' and mechanics’ institute, the free reading room, and the Presbyterian or Lafayette college, which was founded in 1831, and in 1872 had 25 teachers and 259 students. The borough, laid out in 1738, was incorporated in 1789. Population in 1870, 10.987; or, if South Easton be included, 14,154.