Following more than a decade of hard work, Palmerton has been officially recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

The National Park Service of the Department of Interior approved Palmerton’s application on Jan. 26, finalizing 12 years of applications, surveys and questions and other tasks taken on by Palmerton Area Historical Society members and other helpful contributors. The Historic District is roughly bounded by Avenue A and Harvard Avenue and by 8th Street and Tomb Street.

Historical Society president Jane Borbe was thrilled to find that the borough had been officially recognized.

“After investing all those year and thinking we were written off, it’s wonderful, and I’m ecstatic,” she said.

Historical Society member Peter Kern was equally proud of the honor, and thanked all of those who contributed to the effort.

“It really was a team effort. We’re very pleased that we finally got this status,” Kern said.

The mission for the listing began in 2006, when the Historical Society began discussing the prospect with April Frantz and Keith Heinrich of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. In 2008, the Commission determined that the borough was eligible for consideration, and the heavy work began.

“At that point, it was necessary to do a rather detailed survey, because not every part of Palmerton is considered historic,” Kern said.

Through the assistance of Dale Freudenberger of Tamaqua, the Historical Society was able to obtain a $10,000 Keystone Preservation Grant through the PHMC in September of 2011. These funds allowed the society to cover about two thirds of the cost to hire Ben Harvey, a historical preservation consultant, to help complete the detailed survey required for submission.

Harvey’s final report included over 20 pages of text, along with a collection of photographs covering the area.

By 2012, the application was submitted to the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Board for review. Members of the Society engaged in meetings in Harrisburg, where revisions were made before the application made its way to the National Park Service for review. Following a few more changes, the submission headed to Washington, D.C. for federal review.

Heinrich, a National Register Reviewer, assisted the society with the nuts and bolts of the application process, and found the finish to be especially gratifying.

“For me, it’s incredibly important to do that, to have a community that wants to recognize their existence, to celebrate what makes them different or unique historically,” he said.

According to Heinrich, those differences and historical landmarks are what makes a location a prime candidate for the National Register of Historic Places, and Palmerton had plenty to offer in that category.

“Obviously, the zinc factory was important, because without that, you don’t have Palmerton. Also, there’s the Neighborhood House, which was important for the immigrants coming to the neighborhood to work for the zinc company,” he said, pointing out that the area’s schools and parks contributed greatly to the aesthetic of the town as well.

Kern said that the borough was one of the first communities to employ such careful planning in its setup in order to accommodate the New Jersey Zinc Company and its workers. Stephen S. Palmer brought in engineers and architects from New York in to develop Palmerton.

“Palmerton was the first planned community in Carbon County, and was one of the first in the commonwealth, planned from the ground up,” Kern said.

Access to the Lehigh River, a steady coal supply and railroad transportation made Palmerton a more desirable location for the zinc smelting operation, as it was cheaper to bring the zinc to the borough than to bring coal to New Jersey.

Kern emphasized that without the help of the historical society staff, along with people like Freudenberger and Heinrich, Palmerton would never have made it to the list.

“There are times when we almost gave up hope. It takes time to do it, and I give all the credit for their persistence to the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission and Keith Heinrich. We relied on the Commission staff to be our bulldog on this one,” he said.

While the listing is a great honor for all those involved in the arduous process, Kern said that no one was more delighted than Betsy Burnhauser, one of the originators of the Historical Society. Burnhauser has pursued the honor of a National Register of Historic Places listing for Palmerton since the very beginnings of the society, and after nearly three decades, she has finally seen the hard work pay off.

“This was a passion of hers, to see the town honored in this way. When she was informed, she was ecstatic,” Kern said.