This LEO project is designed to study land use in the areas surrounding the Lehigh River from the mid-nineteenth century to today. Analyzing tax records can help to show how the population has grown over time and how people's attitudes and values can change based on the property that they possess. Focus is placed on the areas of Bethlehem, South Bethlehem, and Lower Saucon in an attempt to contribute to the understanding of how urban and rural areas have developed and changed differently over time. The years 1850 and 1870 were studied because of their relationship to the Civil War, hoping that any differences in the tax records likely to have been caused by the war would be discovered.