How did Lehnenburg, Pennsylvania get its name? This page provides a brief history about the naming of Lehnenburg, the people who settled it, and the industry rising within it.
Lehnenburg is a village in Durham Township near Delaware River about midway between Kintnersville and Riegelsville on River Road (Route 611).
It is exactly on the dividing line of two great geologic formations. The northern part is built upon a solid foundation of granite rock, while the southern part stands on the new red sandstone of the Mesozoic era. The juncture can be traced for miles by outcrops of conglomerate.1 The village was founded about 1793 by Thomas Pursell, purchaser of a part of Durham Tract known as plot No. 12. Pursell built thereon a grist mill and later a sawmill. First named Spring Mills, this property in 1807, passed into the possession of Michael Fackenthal, Sr., who, being an admirer of President James Monroe, gave the name Monroe to the village during the campaign of 1816.2
The post office was established December 3, 1823, with the same name as that of the village. John H. Johnson, the first postmaster, held the office until February 11, 1847, when it was discontinued. Various changes in the village’s postal accommodations occurred about this time, but they are not of sufficient importance to need detailed description at this day. The name of the post office (and subsequently the name of the village) was changed July 16, 1890, to Lehnenburg by Postmaster General John Wanamaker because there were three or more post offices of the same name in the State. The name Lehnenburg was chosen in honor of Mathias Lehnen, a native of Germany, whose business energy had given new life to the village. The products of the big Lehnen handle, sash and door factory were sold all over the commercial world. The old Monroe Inn was established at an early date. Its first few landlords were also proprietors of the river ferry. In the hills back of Lehnenburg a distillery, operated by Charles and Thomas N. Meredith, of New Britain Township, flourished for some years.