William Penn's 1681 charter authorized the creation of counties, towns, and townships in Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester, all created in 1682, were the first three counties. This area was in Bucks County at that time, while Macungie Township's boundaries were established in 1742 and it was later divided into Lower and Upper Macungie in 1832. After immigrant families had already settled in the Lehigh Valley, Northampton County was created in 1762, and in 1812 its western townships became Lehigh County. From the beginning, township and county leaders had the important duty of establishing and maintaining roads and bridges. In the mid-1700s, two King's Highways were surveyed and laid out through Macungie Township. The 1736 King's Highway ran north-south, easing travel from the Philadelphia area across South Mountain and into regions west of the Lehigh River, and parts of today's Route 29 and Route 100 follow it. Immigrant families used this road to move into the western parts of the Lehigh Valley, and many of their descendants still live here. The other King's Highway ran east-west, connecting Easton, the county town of Northampton County, with Reading, the county town of Berk's County. Hamilton Crossings stands on the northern edge of this 1755 highway, which met the 1736 highway at the Trexler settlement near today's village of Trexlertown. During the American Revolution, thousands of troops traveled this road, and like other early main roads it became a main thoroughfare for settlers heading west. Many taverns and villages were built at crossroads along it. In colonial times, even King's Highways were packed dirt trails suitable in good weather for wagons, coaches, riders, and foot travelers, and they often followed ancient Indian paths. Before public highways were established, immigrants and other travelers used old Indian paths and fords. Authorized, surveyed, and graded on orders from the colonial governor and executive council, the King's roads quickly became important routes for immigrants, businesses, and commerce, while networks of local roads intersected with them. Many roads still traveled today were first laid out in the 1700s to connect farms and villages, and they remained narrow and unpaved until the early 1900s, some even later.