 The employment opportunities at the mills resulted in the continued growth of Riegelsville in the late nineteenth century.John L. Riegel followed in his father's footsteps as the town's leading citizen, founding a preparatory academy which operated from 1883 until 1916 and establishing the Riegelsville Library which remains in existence at this date.He was a liberal supporter of the local Reformed congregation and instrumental in the erection of its new church and parsonage in the 1870s.