Kutztown, Pennsylvania

Kutztown is a small borough in northeastern Berks County, Pennsylvania, in the United States, roughly 29 kilometres southwest of Allentown and 27 kilometres northeast of Reading. The 2020 census counted 4,162 residents. The settlement grew from land that George Kutz bought in 1755 and laid out as a town in 1779, first under the name Cootstown, and it was incorporated as a borough in 1815, making it the second oldest borough in the county after Reading. Like most of Berks County it was settled mainly by German speakers from the Palatinate, and the Pennsylvania German name for the town is Kutzeschteddel. It lies in the East Penn Valley, a broad limestone valley, and Kutztown University of Pennsylvania stands just outside the borough limits. The Kutztown Folk Festival, held each July since 1950, celebrates Pennsylvania Dutch culture.