Kutztown Tourism Government Office

About Kutztown

Kutztown (Pennsylvania German: Kutzeschteddel) is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Allentown and 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Reading. As of the 2020 census, the borough had a population of 4,162. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania 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 present-day 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. Like most of Berks County, Kutztown was settled predominantly by Germans, most of whom came from the Palatinate region of southwest Germany, which borders the Rhine river. The Kutztown area 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.