[4] In 1808, a tract of forested land near the Lehigh River was owned by members of the Moravian Church.

In 1824, Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company executives purchased the lumber rights to that land and built four sawmills, housing for its workers and a town store on the land in order to establish a lumber harvesting operation to support the company's coal barge construction efforts.

The Lehigh River forms the winding eastern border of the township, carving a gorge up to 1,000 feet (300 m) deep.

[3] The township has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb) and the hardiness zones are 5b and 6a.

16.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was sixty-five years of age or older.

During the 19th century, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania built the first road through what would ultimately become Lehigh Township.

A state road, it began at the segment of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Turnpike where the Spring Mountain House was located, and proceeded through the borough of Weatherly and on to White Haven.