George Taylor (delegate) - Public Life, Private Estate

Public Life, Private Estate

Shortly after becoming ironmaster at Durham, Taylor entered public life for the first time, serving as a justice of the peace in Bucks County from 1757-63. When the lease for the Durham mill expired, the Taylors relocated to Easton, the county seat of Northampton County. He obtained the Bachmann's Tavern, later known as Easton House in 1761. The next year, 1764, Taylor was commissioned as a justice of the peace in Northampton County and with William Allen’s backing, was elected to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly.

During this period, Taylor purchased 331 acres (1.34 km2) near Allentown at Biery’s Port (now part of the borough of Catasauqua). Employing Philadelphia tradesmen, he built an impressive two-story Georgian stone house on a bluff overlooking the Lehigh River. The house was completed in 1768, but shortly after the Taylors moved in, Ann died.

Taylor continued living here for the next several years, and for a time, leased half of the property for farming. In 1776, two years after moving back to Durham, he sold the estate. Two centuries later, on July 17, 1971, the George Taylor House was designated as a National Historical Landmark.