The area of present-day Hellertown was inhabited by various American Indian groups and European settlers.

Together they owned a 176 acre property at the southern foot of the Lehigh Mountain along the Saucon Creek and constructed the family plantation named "delay".

[4] In 1820, the town contained thirteen houses, eighteen families, three taverns, two stores, one grist-mill, and seventy-three inhabitants.

The first school in Hellertown was built in 1845 following the donation of a plot of land by resident John Reutzheimer.

[5] In the late 1840s, the town would shift from a small farming community to a burgeoning industrial center, with coal yards being built in 1848, and the Lower Saucon Ironworks opening in 1849.

This growth was expedited in 1856 the North Pennsylvania Railroad was built through Hellertown and Rudolphus Kent, of Gwynedd, purchased a plot of land to build a rail station.

In 1858, the town's first newspaper, The Hellertown Telegraph began publication, but would only last a year before shutting its doors.

[7] Like many other boroughs in Pennsylvania, Hellertown's highest executive historically was the Chief Burgess, a largely ceremonial office selected by members of the borough council amongst themselves to serve a one year term that was often reserved for the more senior members of the council.

PA 412 has an interchange with Interstate 78 just outside the corporate limits of Hellertown, which heads west to Allentown and Harrisburg and east to Easton and New York City.

[23] Klein Transportation and Trans-Bridge Lines provide bus service from Hellertown to New York City from a park and ride lot located at the interchange between I-78 and PA 412.