Breinigsville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 7,495. The town is part of Upper Macungie Township and is located approximately southwest of downtown Allentown and east of Kutztown. It is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census. History 18th century Breinigsville was named for George Ludwig Breinig (January 31, 1733 – May 12, 1812), a German immigrant who came to the United States on board the ship Lydia, arriving in Philadelphia on October 13, 1749. He originally settled in Weisenberg Township (tax records show he was assessed 9 pounds in 1762). On May 10, 1771, Breinig purchased around of land and a stone dwelling for 700 pounds from Peter and Catherine Trexler of Trexlertown. He resided on that land until his death. Breinig was one of the judges of the election at Allentown on July 8, 1776 when delegates to the first constitutional convention of the state were elected. During the Revolutionary War, Breinig became the colonel of the Second Battalion of Northampton County militia. In 1786, he was commissioned a justice of the district of Macungie and Weisenberg townships. Breinig is buried at Zion Lehigh Lutheran Church, Alburtis. Among his seven children was Peter Breinig, his youngest son who founded Breinigsville and owned a farm. He built a tavern in the village and operated it for some years. As in most early towns, the tavern served as the center of the community. Today the town's tavern is located in the Breinigsville Hotel. 19th century In the early 1800s, the village was a center for iron ore mining, which employed many men. Around 1855 the Allentown Railroad was graded through Breinigsville, but the tracks were never laid. In the 1860s, the Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad used the grade to build from Trexlertown, on its main line, into Breinigsville, as part of a branch to serve local limonite (iron ore) mines. The largest deposit of pyrite ore in the region was located northwest of Breinigsville. Later, the village was served by the Allentown-Reading Traction Company. These mines had shut down by the end of World War I, and the rails through Breinigsville were consequently abandoned. They were finally removed in the 1940s. On