Asa Packer's life was one of the finest examples of an American "rags to riches" story. His early days consisted of little formal education with only the local tannery offering employment. By the time of his death, in 1879, he was the richest man in Pennsylvania. Packer's political influence reached as far as Washington, D. C., and he had provided the leadership for several important enterprises, all of which spurred the development of South Bethlehem.

Packer was born Dec. 20, 1806, in Mystic, Conn., to Elisha and Desiree Packer. At age 17, he walked 200 miles from Mystic to Susquehanna County, Pa., to learn the trade of carpentry from his cousin, Edward Packer. In Springville, the village where he resided to learn his new trade, Packer met his wife, Sarah M. Blakslee.

When the Lehigh Valley Canal opened in 1823, Packer purchased a canal boat along with renting a farm to support his family. He soon moved on to building canal boats and locks, mining and operating a general store. In 1852 he risked all his capital to purchase the majority of the stock in Delaware Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad.

Packer saw the many problems of relying on the canals to transport coal and believed a railroad would be more efficient. He hired 29-year-old Robert H. Sayre as the chief engineer. Sayre surveyed along the Lehigh River, from Mauch Chunk to Easton, to lay a single track of 46 miles. Laying the track required the blasting of limestone bluffs between Bethlehem and Easton along with building the first railroad bridge to be erected over the Delaware River. In 1853, DLS&S changed its name to the Lehigh Valley Railroad. In Easton the Lehigh Valley Railroad met up with the Belvedere, Delaware, and Central of New Jersey railroads. This connection gave Packer access to New York.

Packer selected the area, which later became South Bethlehem, for the headquarters of the Lehigh Valley Railroad as it was perfectly situated between Philadelphia and New York. Once the railroad was in place, manufacturers, attracted to the natural resources of the Lehigh Valley, began building plants nearby. One of the new industries was the Bethlehem Iron Company. Packer took charge of the company in 1860 to assure him of a steady supply of high quality iron rails. The South Bethlehem Union Depot opened Nov. 18, 1867, to serve the passengers of the Lehigh Valley and North Pennsylvania railroads. The North Penn Railroad gave Packer access to Philadelphia.

Politics drew Packer's interest as he ran and was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1841-1842) where he put forth the motion to form Carbon County (1843) along with naming Mauch Chunk as the county seat. Packer served as a county judge of Carbon County (1843-1848) and was called Judge Packer for the remainder of his life.

Packer strongly opposed slavery and when the Civil War erupted in 1861, he encouraged railroad employees to enlist by continuing to pay their salaries while they volunteered. Packer had great respect for a well-rounded education, as he was denied this opportunity himself. After the Civil War, he founded Lehigh University in 1866 and endowed to it 56 acres of land and $500,000 in railroad stock. Packer hoped the college would produce well-educated and moral leaders.

The opening of St. Luke's Hospital (1872) would not have occurred without the support of Packer. He donated $10,000 and secured another $5,000 from the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Packer knew there was a great need for this hospital. The closest hospital to the area, at the time, was in Philadelphia. His railroad workers frequently suffered serious injuries during the course of their work.

When Packer's will was probated in 1879, he had provided the hospital with $300,000 a year to pay the medical expenses of any employee of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Anything remaining from the bequest could go to general hospital expenses.

Packer married Sarah Minerva Blakslee in 1828 and they had seven children. Only four of their children survived to adulthood. Mary Hannah Packer Cummings (1839-1912) was the only child to survive into the 20th Century. In 1861, the Packers settled into their Italianate style villa in Mauch Chunk. The villa, which can be toured today, consisted of 18 rooms and topped by a central cupola. It was designed by Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan. The mansion took nearly two years to build, and the cost of construction was $14,000 dollars, the equivalent of $2.3 million dollars today.

Although they had achieved great wealth, the Packers were modest people. Sarah continued to knit her stockings and make her own clothes. They were not impressed by ostentation in others. It has been said that the mansion was built to reflect a man of power and wealth, however, Asa and Sarah were never comfortable there.

A fall at his office in Philadelphia had left Packer bedridden for several weeks in which time pneumonia had set in. He died on May 17, 1879, and was buried in Mauch Chunk Cemetery. A deeply religious and philanthropic man throughout his life, it is estimated that Packer gave $33 million dollars to various institutions in the Lehigh Valley.