In 1736, Thomas Penn, son of William Penn and Beniamin Eastburn, surveyor general, selected and surveyed the "Thousand Acre Tract" of land at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers. In the 1750's Easton was born, at this sport the Indians called "Lechawitauk" or "The Place at the Forks". The Great Square (now known as Centre Square) was, and remains, a gathering place for residents and travelers, in fact, on July 8, 1776, it was the site for one of only three readings of the Declaration of Independence.