Catasauqua Residential Historic District

Built on a hill in northern Catasauqua, Lehigh County, this residential district is made up of sixty-three contributing structures, most of them large brick houses of two stories or more, dating mainly from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The district grew after David Thomas, a leading figure in the anthracite iron industry, sold his extensive holdings for development in the late 1800s, and it became the residential area of the town's new upper class. Its most prominent building is the Dery Mansion on Fifth Street, a three-story brick and reinforced concrete house with a Corinthian portico, Italian terra cotta terraces, carved oak walls, a marble staircase, a Tiffany glass skylight, and a swimming pool. Other notable houses include the David Thomas House on Second Street, the Fatzinger House on Bridge Street, and the Oscar Stein House, which are examples of Queen Anne and Georgian Revival design. The district is valued for showing the wealth that industry once brought to the town.