Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Allentown, Pennsylvania
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===18th century=== In the early 18th century, the area that is present-day Allentown was a wilderness of [[Quercus ilicifolia|scrub oak]], where the [[Lenape]], an [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous tribe]], fished for trout and hunted for deer, grouse, and other game. On May 18, 1732, the land was deeded by [[Thomas Penn]], one of three sons of [[William Penn]], founder of the [[Colonial history of the United States|colonial era]] [[Province of Pennsylvania]], to [[Joseph Turner (loyalist)|Joseph Turner]], a [[Philadelphia]]-based [[Iron ore|iron]] manufacturer and politician. Two years later, on September 10, 1735, a {{convert|5000|acre|km2|adj=on}} portion of this land was purchased from Turner's business partner by [[William Allen (loyalist)|William Allen]], a wealthy shipping merchant who became [[mayor of Philadelphia]] the following month.<ref name="Allentown1916"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.phila.gov/phils/Mayorlst.htm |title=Mayors of the City of Philadelphia 1691-1998 |date=January 13, 1998 |website=phila.gov |publisher=City of Philadelphia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222024814/https://www.phila.gov/phils/Mayorlst.htm |access-date=January 7, 2025|archive-date=February 22, 2021 }}</ref> In 1737, as part of the [[Walking Purchase]], a large area north of Philadelphia, including present-day Allentown, was deeded by 23 chiefs of the [[Five Civilized Tribes]] to three sons of William Penn, [[John Penn ("the American")|John]], Thomas, and [[Richard Penn Sr.|Richard]], in exchange for shoes, buckles, hats, shirts, knives, scissors, combs, needles, [[Mirror|looking glasses]], rum, and pipes.<ref name="bicen">Allentown PA Bicentennial β Lehigh Country Sesquicentennial 1962 Commemorative Book</ref> The land was surveyed in 1736 and again in 1753 as part of an effort to construct a road from [[Easton, Pennsylvania|Easton]] to the city's east to [[Reading, Pennsylvania|Reading]] to its west.<ref name="Allentown1916"/> The 1753 survey reported that a [[log house]], owned by Allen and built around 1740, existed near the western banks of [[Jordan Creek (Pennsylvania)|Jordan Creek]]. The house was used primarily as a hunting and fishing lodge by Allen, but he also entertained prominent guests there, including [[James Hamilton (Pennsylvania politician)|James Hamilton]], his brother-in-law, and John Penn, then governor of the Province of Pennsylvania.<ref name="Allentown1916">Page 17. Source indicates that the foundations of the lodge were located and destroyed in 1845 when excavations took place.</ref> In 1752, [[Northampton County, Pennsylvania|Northampton]] and [[Berks County, Pennsylvania|Berks]] counties were formed; Easton was named the [[county seat]] of Northampton County, and Reading the county seat of Berks County. In 1762, the land, including present-day Allentown, was named and laid out by Allen, and the city was founded.<ref>[https://www.lehighvalleyhistory.com/allentown-city/ "Allentown"] at Lehigh Valley History</ref> A rivalry between the Penns and Allen may have inspired Allen to acquire the land and found the city.<ref name="bicen"/> The following year, in 1763, Allen and others sought to relocate the county seat from Easton to Allentown, but the Penns' influence prevailed and the county seat remained in Easton.<ref name="bicen"/> The city's original organization, whose archives are now housed at the [[Historical Society of Pennsylvania]] in Philadelphia, included 42 city blocks and 756 lots, most of which were {{convert|60|ft|m}} in width and {{convert|230|ft|m}} in depth and was initially located between present-day 4th and 10th streets and Union and Liberty streets. The city was initially named Northampton Towne. Many streets on the original plan were named for Allen's children, including Margaret (now 5th Street), William (now 6th Street), James (now 8th Street), Ann (now 9th Street), and John (now Walnut Street). Allen Street (now 7th Street), the city's main street, was named for Allen himself. [[Hamilton Street]] was named for James Hamilton, deputy governor of colonial era Pennsylvania from 1748 to 1754. Gordon Street was named for [[Patrick Gordon (governor)|Patrick Gordon]], an earlier deputy governor of colonial Pennsylvania. Chew Street was named for [[Benjamin Chew]], and Turner Street was named for Allen's business partner Joseph Turner.<ref name="Allentown1916"/> Allen initially hoped the city would displace Easton as the seat of Northampton County and become a major national center for commerce due to its location along the [[Lehigh River]] and its proximity to Philadelphia, which was then the largest and most influential city in [[British America]] and the second-most populous city in the entire [[British Empire]] after London.<ref>[https://globalphiladelphia.org/organizations/city-philadelphia "City of Philadelphia"], Global Philadelphia</ref> In 1767, Allen granted the land to his son James.<ref name = "Proceedings">{{Cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Charles R. |title=William Allen, the Founder of Allentown, and His Descendants |journal=Proceedings of the Lehigh County Historical Society |issue=1st |pages=22β43 |publisher=Lehigh County Historical Society |location=Allentown, Pennsylvania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j7VL8u8BCkUC |year=1908 |access-date=August 17, 2008 |archive-date=September 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920173558/https://books.google.com/books?id=j7VL8u8BCkUC |url-status=live}}</ref> ====American Revolutionary War==== {{Further|Pennsylvania in the American Revolution}} {{See also|Farr Building|High German Evangelical Reformed Church}} [[File:2021 - Farr and Haas Buildings - Allentown PA.jpg|thumb|The [[Farr Building]] at 739 [[Hamilton Street]], where a hospital treated wounded [[Continental Army]] troops during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]]] Allentown played a central role in inspiring and supporting the [[American Revolution]] and [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. Some of the first [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] resistance to [[British colonization of the Americas|British colonialism]] in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] began in and around present-day Allentown. On December 21, 1774, a [[Committee of safety (American Revolution)|Committee of Observation]] was formed by Allentown-area patriots, who expanded their resistance to British governance and drove [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Tories]] out of the city. The burden of supplying the local militias fell on the people, and requisitions for food, grain, cattle, horses, and cloth were common.<ref name="Moll">{{cite web |url=https://www.angelfire.com/pa5/mollpa/ |title=The Moll Family In Pennsylvania |website=[[Angelfire]] |access-date=October 23, 2017 |archive-date=June 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624203658/http://www.angelfire.com/pa5/mollpa/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In June 1775, after the Revolutionary War was launched with the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]], the [[Second Continental Congress]] incorporated Patriot militias, including those in present-day Allentown, into the [[Continental Army]] and unanimously selected [[George Washington]] as its commander. During the Revolutionary War, [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian]] prisoners of war were kept in Allentown in the vicinity of present-day 7th and Gordon streets, and the city housed four hospitals for wounded Continental Army troops, including one in [[High German Evangelical Reformed Church|Zion Reformed Church]] and one on the grounds of the present-day [[Farr Building]]. After [[George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River|crossing the Delaware]] and prevailing in the [[Battle of Trenton]] on December 26, 1776, Continental Army commander George Washington and his staff traveled through Allentown, where they proceeded up Water Street, which is present-day [[Lehigh Street]]. On the grounds of present-day Wire Mill on Lehigh Street, Washington and his staff stopped at the foot of the street, where they rested and watered their horses, and then proceeded to their post of duty.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lehighvalleyhistory.com/allentown-city |title=Allentown City β Lehigh Valley History |website=lehighvalleyhistory.com |access-date=October 23, 2017 |archive-date=October 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024043615/http://lehighvalleyhistory.com/allentown-city |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1777, a manufacturer of [[paper cartridge]]s and [[musket]]s for the Continental Army relocated to Allentown from neighboring [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania|Bethlehem]], and a shop of 16 [[armourer]]s was established on [[Little Lehigh Creek]], which was used to repair Continental Army weapons and manufacture [[saddle]]s and [[scabbard]]s.<ref name="Allentown1916"/> =====Liberty Bell's hiding===== {{Further|Liberty Bell}} [[File:First Bridge Across Lehigh River.jpg|thumb|Hamilton Street Bridge, constructed between 1812 and 1814, the first bridge built across the [[Lehigh River]]. Three times since, in 1841, 1862, and 1902, it was destroyed by flooding and subsequently rebuilt. In the 1980s, the bridge was extensively refurbished.]] [[File:2007 - South Eighth Street Viaduct.jpg|thumb|[[Albertus L. Meyers Bridge]], which crosses the [[Little Lehigh Creek|Little Lehigh River]] at 8th Street in Allentown, the longest ({{convert|2650|ft|m}}) and highest ({{convert|138|ft|m}}) concrete bridge in the world at the time of its 1913 opening<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://transportationhistory.org/2021/11/17/1913-the-inauguration-of-a-record-breaking-bridge-in-pennsylvanias-lehigh-valley-region/ |title=1913: The Inauguration of a Record-Breaking Bridge in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley Region |website=Transportationhistory.org |date=November 17, 2021 |access-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509215956/https://transportationhistory.org/2021/11/17/1913-the-inauguration-of-a-record-breaking-bridge-in-pennsylvanias-lehigh-valley-region/ |url-status=live}}</ref>]] Allentown holds historical significance as the location where the [[Liberty Bell]], then known as the State House Bell, was successfully hidden from September 1777 to June 1778, during the Revolutionary War by [[Patriot (American Revolution)|American patriots]], who sought to avoid its capture by the [[British Army during the American Revolutionary War|British Army]] during their nine-month [[Philadelphia campaign|occupation of Philadelphia]]. After Washington and the Continental Army were defeated in the [[Battle of Brandywine]] in [[Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania]] on September 11, 1777, Philadelphia was left defenseless and American patriots began preparing for what they saw as an imminent British attack on the colonial capital. [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council]] ordered that 11 bells, including the Liberty Bell and ten bells then housed at [[Christ Church, Philadelphia|Christ Church]] and [[St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Philadelphia)|St. Peter's Church]] in Philadelphia, be taken down and moved out of Philadelphia to protect them from the British, fearing their being melted down and cast into munitions. Two farmers and wagon masters, John Snyder and Henry Bartholomew, then transported the Liberty Bell north to present-day Allentown, where it was hidden under floorboards in the basement of [[High German Evangelical Reformed Church|Zion Reformed Church]] at 622 [[Hamilton Street]] in [[Center City Allentown]], just prior to Philadelphia's September 1777 fall to the British.
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Allentown, Pennsylvania
(section)
Add topic