Kutztown, Pennsylvania

Kutztown is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Allentown and 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Reading. As of the 2010 census, the borough had a population of 5,012.Kutztown University is located just outside the borough limits to the southwest.

History

George (Coots) Kutz purchased 130 acres (53 ha) of land that became Kutztown on June 16, 1755, from Peter Wentz, who owned much of what is now Maxatawny Township. Kutz first laid out his plans for the town in 1779. The first lots in the new town of Cootstown (later renamed Kutztown) were purchased in 1785 by Adam Dietrich and Henry Schweier.

Kutztown was incorporated as a borough on April 7, 1815, and is the second oldest borough in Berks County after Reading, which became a borough in 1783 and became a city in 1847.

As with the rest of Berks County, Kutztown was settled mainly by Germans, most of whom came from the Palatinate region of southwest Germany, which borders the Rhine river.

The Kutztown area, broadly defined, encompasses an area of land also known as the East Penn Valley, a broad limestone valley situated in northern and eastern Berks County, bounded by the Blue Mountain and South Mountain ranges to the north and south, respectively, by the Lehigh County border to the east, and by Ontelaunee Creek (Maiden Creek) to the west. Crystal Cave was discovered near the town in 1871.

Kutztown Area High School

Kutztown Area High School is a small rural high school and is the only high school of the Kutztown Area School District, located at 50 Trexler Avenue in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, USA. Kutztown is sandwiched between Allentown and Reading in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. It was built in 1961, with an annex added in 1974, and has not since been remodeled or rebuilt. Also, as part of the "one-to-one laptop initiative" every student has received an Apple MacBook. The school has numerous sports teams and clubs/activities in which they rival Berks County schools Fleetwod, Berks Catholic, and Brandywine. The school is infamous for a notorious group of thirteen students who violated its technology code of conduct and were subjected to external disciplinary action. In the past year the school started a pilot program where students who are enrolled in a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) are manufacturing parts for a company that produces ballistic targets. The students are welding the stock pieces to produce the sub assemblies that are sent back to the company to be painted and delivered to the customers. The full program is slated to go into effect for the 2014-2015 school year.