Lehigh County

Kelly Ann Butterbaugh

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780738574134
• eBook ISBN: 9781439624166
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Lehigh County has transformed throughout the years and now is a far cry from its rural identity only 50 years ago. Today Lehigh County is known as an important link to the metropolitan areas of New York City and Philadelphia.

CHAPTER 1

MAIN STREETS

Looking west on Hamilton Street from Lumber Street is the old shopping district of Allentown. In 1811, there were only six stores here. The names of Allentown’s streets today are not those of the original city plan, though a few remain. Today’s names were set in 1853 when the houses received numbers for the first time. Allentown officially became a city on March 12, 1867. In 1902, the town still did not have one paved street.

Many towns in Lehigh County are named after prominent residents while some, like New Tripoli, have more unique origins. Legend says that the town was named in honor of the U.S. Navy’s victory over Tripoli during the Barbary Wars in 1816. Before Madison Street, as it is seen here, was settled, many of the county’s residents feared Native American attacks. In 1756, the entire Zeisloff family was massacred. Their log cabin was preserved and relocated in 2001 to Ontelaunee Park. (Historical photograph courtesy of Robert Metzger.)

The town of Egypt was named in honor of the country because the soil here seemed equally as fertile to the first settlers. Early records list the town as Egypta. It remained a very small community until the American Cement Works opened in 1884, bringing a boom to the area. In 1913, the town proudly had 15 automobiles. To the right is the Egypt Hotel (now known as Riley’s) that Jacob Steckel built in 1790. (Historical photograph courtesy of the Whitehall Historical Preservation Society.)

When the area around today’s Race Street in Catasauqua was known as Biery’s Port, the west bank of the river was known as the Pennsylvania Shore, and the east bank was known as the Jersey Shore. Along the Jersey side, a covered bridge replaced the original chain bridge in 1852. This covered bridge is the second, having been built in 1862 after the first was destroyed by a flood. Thirty years later, an iron bridge replaced this one beside the c. 1835 Biery home. (Historical photograph courtesy of the Historic Catasauqua Preservation Association.)

Originally named Ferndale, Fullerton was renamed around 1865 after James T. Fuller began to plan building lots for the growing community. With a population that nearly quadrupled between 1884 and 1913, Fullerton had always been an industrial area until recently when it turned towards retail businesses. This 1892 view of Third Street shows the changes over time, as the dirt road is now paved and congested with automobiles. (Historical photograph courtesy of the Whitehall Historical Preservation Society and the Fullerton Fire Company.)

Today’s Hanover Avenue began in 1876 as the Rittersville Pike, a toll road. By 1915, Allentown widened Rittersville Pike, and residents uprooted houses and pushed them back to allow for the expansion. The new road proved to be still too narrow, as seen by parts of Hanover Avenue today. After closing its post office on June 30, 1899, 14 Rittersville’s battle for independence was over on February 16, 1920, as it was annexed by Allentown to become the 15th Ward. (Historical photograph courtesy of Robert Reinbold.)

In 1776, Peter Miller established the v...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1 - MAIN STREETS
• CHAPTER 2 - TRANSPORTATION
• CHAPTER 3 - BUSINESSES
• CHAPTER 4 - FUN TIMES
• CHAPTER 5 - RIVERS AND FARMS
• CHAPTER 6 - SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES