Editing Lehigh County, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
[[File:Shelter House Emmaus PA 2.JPG|thumb|[[Shelter House]] in [[Emmaus, Pennsylvania|Emmaus]], constructed in 1734 by [[Pennsylvania Dutch|Pennsylvania German]] settlers, is believed to be the oldest continuously occupied building structure in both Lehigh County and the [[Lehigh Valley]] and among the oldest still-standing building structures in [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="auto">[https://shelterhouseemmaus.org/about/ Shelter House official website], ''Shelterhouseemmaus.org'', retrieved May 4, 2022</ref><ref name="auto1">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20211018165141/http://lehighvalleymarketplace.com/emmaus/ "Emmaus"]}} at Lehigh Valley Marketplace</ref>]]
[[File:2021 - Monument - Looking West - Allentown PA.jpg|thumb|The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, erected in 1899 at 7th and [[Hamilton Street|Hamilton]] streets in [[Center City Allentown]], honors men from Allentown and its suburbs killed in their volunteer service in the [[47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment]] and other [[Union Army]] units during the [[American Civil War]].]]
===Settlement and founding===
Lehigh County was first settled around 1730 and was formed in 1812 when [[Northampton County, Pennsylvania|Northampton County]] was divided into two counties. The county is named after the [[Lehigh River]], a {{convert|109|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} river that runs through the county and whose name is derived from the [[Lenape|Lenape Indian]] term Lechauweki or Lechauwekink, meaning "where there are forks."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Charles R. |title=Place Names of Lehigh County and Their Origin |journal=Proceedings: Lehigh County Historical Society |year=1936 |publisher=Lehigh County Historical Society}}</ref> [[Shelter House]], constructed in [[Emmaus, Pennsylvania|Emmaus]] in 1734 by [[Pennsylvania Dutch|Pennsylvania German]] settlers, is the oldest continuously occupied structure in both Lehigh County and [[Lehigh Valley]] and among the oldest still-standing building structures in the U.S. state of [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>

===American Revolution===
{{See also|Liberty Bell}}
{{Further|Pennsylvania in the American Revolution}}
Some of the first resistance to [[British colonization of the Americas|British colonialism]], which led ultimately to the [[American Revolutionary War]], began in present-day Lehigh County. On December 21, 1774, [[Patriot (American Revolution)|patriots]] in the area formed one of the [[Thirteen Colonies|colonies]]' first [[Committee of safety (American Revolution)|Committee of Observations]]. Following the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], patriot militas pressured [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Tories]] out of Allentown and the surrounding area, and the [[Crown colony|colonial government]] in the area began to break down.

After [[George Washington|Washington]] and the [[Continental Army]] were defeated at the [[Battle of Brandywine]] on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of [[Philadelphia]] was left defenseless and [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council]] ordered that eleven Philadelphia bells, including the [[Liberty Bell]] (then known as the State House Bell), be taken down and moved to present day Allentown (then called Northampton Towne) and hidden in the basement of [[High German Evangelical Reformed Church|Zion Reformed Church]] on present day West [[Hamilton Street]] to protect them from being melted down by the [[British Army during the American Revolutionary War|British Army]] for use as munitions.

===Industrial Revolution===
The opening of the [[Lehigh Canal]] beginning in 1827 transformed [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]] and Lehigh County from a rural agricultural area dominated by [[German language|German]]-speaking people into an urbanized industrialized area and expanded the city's commercial and industrial capacity greatly. With this, Lehigh County underwent significant [[Industrialisation|industrialization]], ultimately becoming a major 20th century center for heavy industry and manufacturing and one of several hubs for the [[Industrial Revolution in the United States|Industrial Revolution]].

===American Civil War===
{{See also|47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment|Pennsylvania in the American Civil War}}
Following the [[Union Army]]'s defeat at the [[Battle of Fort Sumter]] and [[President Lincoln's 75,000 volunteers|Lincoln's April 15, 1861, proclamation]] calling for state militia to provide 75,000 volunteer troops to defend the nation's capital of [[Washington, D.C.]], Allentown deployed the Allen Infantry, also known as the Allen Guards and composed of volunteers from Allentown and its surrounding suburbs. The unit mustered in for duty on April 18, 1861. As the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] progressed, multiple Union Army units were drawn from Lehigh County, including roughly seventy percent of the [[47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment]].

On October 19, 1899, a monument in honor of the Lehigh County men killed in their volunteer service to preservation of the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]], the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, was erected at Seventh and [[Hamilton Street|Hamilton]] streets in [[Center City Allentown]], where it still stands.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/eagles-to-be-returned-to-the-top-of-soldiers-and-sailors-monument-in-allentown/article_26137534-e351-11eb-93fd-f36f1258f5b5.html|title=Eagles to be returned to the top of Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Allentown|first=Jaccii|last=Farris|website=Wfmz.com|access-date=September 11, 2022}}</ref>