Founded in 1762, Allentown is located on theLehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of theDelaware River. It is the largest of three adjacent cities, includingBethlehem andEaston in Lehigh andNorthampton counties, in the Lehigh Valley region.[13] Allentown is located 48 miles (77 km) north ofPhiladelphia and 78 miles (126 km) west ofNew York City.
In the early 18th century, the area that is present-day Allentown was a wilderness ofscrub oak, where theLenape, anIndigenous tribe, fished for trout and hunted for deer, grouse, and other game.
In 1737, as part of theWalking Purchase, a large area north of Philadelphia, including present-day Allentown, was deeded by 23 chiefs of theFive Civilized Tribes to three sons of William Penn,John, Thomas, andRichard, in exchange for shoes, buckles, hats, shirts, knives, scissors, combs, needles,looking glasses, rum, and pipes.[16]
The land was surveyed in 1736 and again in 1753 as part of an effort to construct a road fromEaston to the city's east toReading to its west.[14] The 1753 survey reported that alog house, owned by Allen and built around 1740, existed near the western banks ofJordan Creek. The house was used primarily as a hunting and fishing lodge by Allen, but he also entertained prominent guests there, includingJames Hamilton, his brother-in-law, and John Penn, then governor of the Province of Pennsylvania.[14] In 1752,Northampton andBerks counties were formed; Easton was named thecounty 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.[17] A rivalry between the Penns and Allen may have inspired Allen to acquire the land and found the city.[16] 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.[16]
The city's original organization, whose archives are now housed at theHistorical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, included 42 city blocks and 756 lots, most of which were 60 feet (18 m) in width and 230 feet (70 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 forPatrick Gordon, an earlier deputy governor of colonial Pennsylvania. Chew Street was named forBenjamin Chew, and Turner Street was named for Allen's business partner Joseph Turner.[14]
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 theLehigh River and its proximity to Philadelphia, which was then the largest and most influential city inBritish America and the second-most populous city in the entireBritish Empire after London.[18] In 1767, Allen granted the land to his son James.[19]
Allentown played a central role in inspiring and supporting theAmerican Revolution andRevolutionary War. Some of the firstPatriot resistance toBritish colonialism in theThirteen Colonies began in and around present-day Allentown. On December 21, 1774, aCommittee of Observation was formed by Allentown-area patriots, who expanded their resistance to British governance, and droveTories 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.[20]
In June 1775, after the Revolutionary War was launched with theBattles of Lexington and Concord, theSecond Continental Congress incorporated Patriot militias, including those in present-day Allentown, into theContinental Army and unanimously selectedGeorge Washington as its commander. During the Revolutionary War,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 inZion Reformed Church and one on the grounds of the present-dayFarr Building.
Aftercrossing the Delaware and prevailing in theBattle 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-dayLehigh 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.[21]
Hamilton Street Bridge, constructed between 1812 and 1814, the first bridge built across theLehigh 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.Albertus L. Meyers Bridge, which crosses theLittle Lehigh River at 8th Street in Allentown, the longest (2,650 feet; 810 m) and highest (138 feet; 42 m) concrete bridge in the world at the time of its 1913 opening[22]
Allentown holds historical significance as the location where theLiberty Bell, then known as the State House Bell, was successfully hidden from September 1777 to June 1778, during the Revolutionary War byAmerican patriots, who sought to avoid its capture by theBritish Army during their nine-monthoccupation of Philadelphia.
After Washington and the Continental Army were defeated in theBattle of Brandywine inChadds 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.Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council ordered that 11 bells, including the Liberty Bell and ten bells then housed atChrist Church andSt. 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 ofZion Reformed Church at 622Hamilton Street inCenter City Allentown, just prior to Philadelphia's September 1777 fall to the British.
In 1803, the city, whose mail was previously received in neighboringBethlehem, had a post office established inside Compass and Square Hotel inside the present-day Penn National Bank building at 645Hamilton Street in Allentown. In the1810 U.S. census, the city's population exceeded 700 residents, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted the city legal standing on March 18, 1811, incorporating it initially as the Borough of Northampton in what was thenNorthampton County. The new borough's first undertaking was ordering that cows be moved from public streets to pastures, which proved unpopular with residents. The following year, in 1812, the city became part ofLehigh County, which was partitioned from a western section of Northampton County.[16][23]
Throughout the early 1800s, the city grew primarily as a court and market town. Northampton Bank, the city's first bank located at the northeast corner of Center Square, was chartered in July 1814, and the first Hamilton Street Bridge, a 530 feet (160 m)-long chain structure, was constructed to crossLehigh River in the city. The bridge featured two suspended lanes, one for east and one for westbound traffic, and a toll house at the bridge's western end.[16][23][24]
In 1829,Lehigh Canal, a 46.6 miles (75.0 km)-long canal on Lehigh River's east side, was completed for both ascending and descending navigation, which proved influential in expanding the transport ofanthracite coal, then one of the most important domestic and industrial fuels, from Allentown toNew York City,Philadelphia, and other major industrial centers.[16][25] In 1855, the city's first railroad was built on the west side of the Lehigh River, and rail soon began surpassing river transport as the primary means for transporting anthracite through the city.[16][25]
In 1838, the city's name was officially changed to Allentown. The city soon faced major challenges. In 1841, a flood swept away Hamilton Street Bridge, inflicting substantial damage near Lehigh River. Two years later, in 1843, excessive speculation by Northampton Bank led to the bank's failure, resulting in financial ruin for many bank customers. Five years later, on June 1, 1848, the city's central business district burned down in a large fire between 7th and 8th streets on Hamilton Street.
During the 1850s, however, the city began recovering. A new bridge was built across the Lehigh River, and brick buildings were constructed to replace wooden ones that burned down in the 1848 fire. In 1852, the firstAllentown Fair, now one of the nation's longest continual annual fairs, was held.[16][24]
A 1920 postcard of West End Park on Linden Street featuring a statue ofIgnatz Gresser, aUnion army soldier from Allentown who was awarded theMedal of Honor for acts of valor during theBattle of AntietamThe 50th reunion of Allentown's First Defenders, a Union army unit during theCivil War, in front of Soldiers and Sailors Monument atHamilton and S. 7th streets inCenter City onMemorial Day in 1911
On April 13, 1861, with tensions between theNorth andSouth intensifying following theSouth's secession, residents of Lehigh and Northampton counties called a public meeting inEaston to discuss steps that could be taken to support thefederal government.[26] In the meeting, citizens voted to establish and equip the1st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, a new military unit, and placed Captain Samuel Yohe of Easton and Thomas W. Lynn in charge of it, awarding them the respective ranks of colonel and major. Tilghman H. Good ofSouth Whitehall Township, previously captain of Allen Rifles, an Allentown-based militia, and commander of the4th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, was placed in charge of the 1st Pennsylvania's Company I, which included his former Allen Rifles subordinates and members of Jordan Artillerist, another Allentown-based militia.
In April 1861, following the Confederatebombardment of Fort Sumter, these Allentown units were deployed in response toPresident Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to defend the national capital ofWashington, D.C. from Confederate attack.[27] After protecting the nation's capital from April to July 1861, these volunteers were honorably discharged and returned home, though a significant number reenlisted to defend the Union as the Civil War escalated.[16][28] After the Civil War's end, many of these soldiers were namedPennsylvania First Defenders in recognition of their role as one of the first five units to answer Lincoln's call for volunteers to defend the nation's capital.
On August 5, 1861,Andrew Gregg Curtin, the Civil War-eraPennsylvania governor, granted Tilghman H. Good authority to create the47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, a new unit commonly known as the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers.[29] Good secured the assistance of William H. Gausler of Allentown, who was commissioned as a major with the regiment's central command staff, andJohn Peter Shindel Gobin, a senior officer with Sunbury Guards inNorthumberland County, who was repeatedly cited for valor and was promoted to colonel and ultimately as commanding officer of the regiment.[30][31] Companies A and E of the regiment were recruited primarily from Easton and Northampton County; Companies B, G, I, and K were largely recruited from Allentown; Company C was recruited from Northumberland andJuniata counties; Company F was primarily composed of men from the Allentown suburb ofCatasaqua; and Companies D and H were recruited fromPerry County. The 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers achieved Union victories at theBattle of St. Johns Bluff in Florida (October 1–3, 1862) before suffering a costly defeat in theSecond Battle of Pocotaligo in South Carolina (October 21–23, 1862). They were the only Pennsylvania regiment to fight in theUnion army'sRed River campaign acrossLouisiana in 1864.[32]
On October 19, 1899, Allentown erected and dedicated Soldiers and Sailors Monument, at Hamilton and S. 7th streets inCenter City, where it still stands, in honor of these Union soldiers from Allentown and local Lehigh Valley towns and boroughs who were killed in defense of the Union during the Civil War.[16][24][35]
Allentown Rolling Mill Company, a sizable 19th and early 20th century iron and steel manufacturer on Washington Street in Allentown, in 1889Adelaide Silk Mill in Allentown, which opened in 1881 and was one of the world's largestsilk mills throughout the early 20th century, in 1910Allentown's Center Square at N. 7th andHamilton streets in present-dayCenter City, in 1910Mack Trucks' assembly plant in Allentown in 1945; the company was headquartered in Allentown from 1905 until to 2008, when it relocated toGreensboro, North Carolina.West Hamilton and 6th streets in Allentown in 1950
In the late 18th century, Allentown began growing slowly as a hub for commerce and industrialization and as acolonial era population center. Prior to the American Revolution, there were 54 homes and approximately 330 residents. In 1782, there were 59 houses and over 100 cows. In 1783, the town was described by a visitor, "One gets a glimpse of many good stone houses, many of them very neat, and everything about the premises shows good order and attention. The people are mainlyGerman who speak bad English and distressingGerman." In 1795,Gazette of the United States described Allentown as:
A handsome and flourishing town of Northampton County, pleasantly situated on the point of land formed by the junction of theJordan Creek andLittle Lehigh. It is regularly laid out and contains about ninety dwellings, aGerman Lutheran and aCalvinist (Zion) Church, an Academy and three merchant mills.[16]
In 1792, land north of Allentown was purchased byLehigh Coal & Navigation Company forcoal mining, but it initially proved difficult to transport the region's high qualityanthracite coal over what was then a primitive trail system. Only a limited amount of anthracite was mined until 1818, when the company began constructingLehigh Canal, which allowed coal to be transported from Mauch Chunk, later renamedJim Thorpe, down theLehigh River to the river's confluence with theDelaware River inEaston.
In the late 18th century, Allentown's industrial development accelerated. David Deshler, Allentown's first shopkeeper, opened asawmill in the city in 1782. By 1814, industrial plants in Allentown included flour mills, sawmills, two saddle makers, a tannery and tan yard, a woolen mill, a card weaving plant, two gunsmiths, two tobacconists, two clockmakers, and two printers.[16] In 1818, the opening of Lehigh Canal transformed Allentown and the surrounding Lehigh Valley from a rural agricultural area dominated by German-speaking people into one of the nation's first urbanized industrialized areas, expanding the city's commercial and industrial capacity. Allentown underwent significantindustrialization, and the city began evolving into a major national center for heavy industry andmanufacturing.
In the 1840s,iron ore beds were discovered in hills around Allentown, and a furnace was constructed in 1846 by Allentown Iron Core Company for production ofpig iron, avital component used in themanufacturing of steel. The furnace opened in 1847 under supervision of Samuel Lewis, an expert iniron production, and was followed by the opening of other Allentown plants for production of a wide variety of metal products. In 1860, several smaller iron companies merged to create Allentown Rolling Mill Company, which became Allentown's largest iron company and contributed to the region's emergence as a major national source for iron ore.[16][23]
In 1850,Leh's, a shoe andready-to-wear clothing store, was opened in the city by Henry Leh. By 1861, as the Civil War commenced, Leh's emerged as a major source of military boots for Union troops. In addition to Leh's, eight brick yards, a saw mill, a paint factory, two additional shoe factories, a piano factory, flour mills, breweries, and distilleries opened in Allentown during the Civil War era.[16][23][24] In 1855, the first railroads to reach Allentown opened, representing direct competition to Lehigh Canal for coal transport.Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad ordered four locomotives, and train stations were built in Allentown,Easton, and Mauch Chunk. In September 1855, the railroad became operational withCentral Railroad of New Jersey providing transport between Allentown andNew York City. Transport between Allentown and Philadelphia also became available over Perkiomen Railroad, which operated betweenNorristown andFreemansburg.[16][23]
With industrialization, Allentown emerged as a major regional and national center for banking and finance. In 1860, William H. Ainey founded Allentown Savings and served as its first president. In 1864, Second National Bank of Allentown was formed, and Ainey was elected its first president, a position he held until his death. Ainey contributed to Allentown's industrial and retail growth, helping finance Iowa Barb Wire Company, which was later absorbed byAmerican Steel & Wire, Pioneer Silk Factory, Palace Silk Mill, and Allentown Spinning Company.[24]
In the late 1870s, however, Allentown's iron industry collapsed, leaving the city economically depressed. Efforts were made to diversify the city's industrial base, including convincingPhoenix Manufacturing Company to open asilk mill in the city. In 1886, Adelaide Mill at Race and Court streets prompted the opening of Pioneer Silk Mill, and the city quickly emerged as a national leader in silk manufacturing. By the late 19th century, the silk industry emerged as Allentown's largest industry, and it remained the city's largest industry through the end of the 20th century. In 1914, there were 26 silk mills in the city. By 1928, with the introduction ofrayon, the number of Allentown silk mills grew to 85. In the 1940s, during the height of Allentown's silk industry, over 10,000 people were employed in the industry in the city.[16][24]
In 1883, Allentown Boiler Works was founded in Allentown by Charles Collum, whose partner, John D. Knouse, built a large facility at 3rd and Gordon streets in Allentown's First Ward nearLehigh Valley Railroad's yard, which later became Kline's Island. The company manufactured iron products, some of which were used in high-profile construction projects, including construction of theWhite House inWashington, D.C., and theU.S. Military Academy atWest Point. The company's boilers andkilns were used in the production of iron products, which were sold nationally and internationally to customers inCanada,Cuba, and thePhilippines.[16][23]
Through the end ofWorld War I,brickworks flourished in Allentown. Clay unearthed in various sections of the city and its suburbs was used in manufacturing building brick andfire brick, the first Allentown products shipped by rail and sold nationally.[16][23] A vibrant food processing industry also began emerging, due largely to the arrival of predominantlyGerman immigrant bakers, who were among the city's first settlers. In 1887, Wilson Arbogast and Morris C. Bastian formed Arbogast and Bastian, which provided large scale commercial slaughtering.[16][24]
In 1896, Max Hess, a retailer fromPerth Amboy, New Jersey, visited Allentown and began developing the city's first department store. He and his brother Charles openedHess Brothers at 9th andHamilton streets. Hess's developed a reputation for flamboyance, offering the latest European fashion apparel. Hess's opening was followed by the opening of the city's second major department store, Zollinger-Harned Company, located in theZollinger-Harned Company Building on Hamilton Street.[16][24]
In 1905, Jack and Gus Mack movedMack Trucks, their motor company, fromBrooklyn to Allentown, taking over the foundries of Weaver-Hirsh on S. 10th Street. By 1914, Mack Trucks developed a global reputation for manufacturing sturdy and reliable trucks and vehicles. Many were sent toWestern Front battlefields in France just before theU.S. enteredWorld War I in April 1917. TheBritish Army nicknamedMack AC's five and seven-ton trucks the "Bulldog", which was later adopted as the company's corporate brand. Throughout the 20th century, Mack Trucks grew substantially, ultimately including eight Allentown-based manufacturing plants.[16][24]
In the early 20th century, largely as a result of Pennsylvania missionaries, Christians fromWadi al-Nasara inSyria began settling in Allentown. Syrian Christians ultimately developed a significant presence in the city, based largely in Allentown's Sixth Ward.[40] As of 2015, there were an estimated 5,200Syrian Americans in Allentown and surrounding Lehigh Valley cities and towns.[41]
Allentown is among the few large Pennsylvania cities where newspapers still carry columns written in the dialect. Although English predominates on the streets, there is a tendency to enunciate the 'v' with open lips, to soften the hard 'g' into 'ch,' and to use too frequently such words as 'already,' 'yet,' and 'once.' Here also are heard such colloquialisms as 'the pie is all,' (all gone) and 'it wonders (mystifies) me.'
— Federal Writers' Project, "Part II: Cities and Towns",Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State (1940)
In October 1945, following the end ofWorld War II,Western Electric opened a plant on Union Boulevard in Allentown. Six years later, in October 1951, the company manufactured and released the world's firsttransistor, produced at the Allentown-based plant, and the Allentown-based company emerged as a leader in the nation'spost-war electronics revolution.[43]
By the mid-20th century, Allentown was a major retailing and entertainment center distinct and separate fromPhiladelphia andNew York City. Hess's, Leh's, and Zollinger department stores led to retail sector growth in the city, and dozens of smaller retail stores, restaurants, hotels, banks, and professional offices emerged in present-dayCenter City, which was then referred to as downtown Allentown. At least seven cinemas and stage theaters were developed on Hamilton Street between 5th and 10th streets.[16][24]
A 1974 postcard of Hamilton Mall inCenter City, an ultimately failed attempt to redevelop Allentown's central business district as residents began fleeing the city for its suburbs in the 1970sThe entrance toPPL Center (on left) in Center City in October 2018
By the mid-1960s, Allentown's economy had been booming for decades, but the city's rising taxes and regulations prohibited the city's expansion, leading many Allentown residents, especially those from the post-World War IIbaby boom generation, to flee Allentown for its suburbs.Salisbury,South Whitehall, andWhitehall townships each had large areas of farmland, which were prime locations for residential real estate development. A significant portion of Allentown'sworking class began migrating to the newer and more affordable housing developments in these suburbs, which offered lower taxes, more green space, less crime, and newer schools.
Throughout the late 20th century, the departure of Allentown residents for its suburbs began representing a major challenge to the city's government andschool district, both of which began experiencing significantly diminished resources. Allentown School District's financial challenges, in turn, further increased working class flight to the city's suburbs, creating a sea change in the city's demographics. With the departure of many working class families from olderCenter Cityneighborhoods, many of the city's homes were sold to landlords who converted them into inexpensive multifamily apartments, a considerable portion of which were transformed intogovernment-subsidized housing projects, which was then permitted under the city's lax zoning and city codes.
With Allentown's neighborhoods and school system declining, the city focused on attempting to develop itsHamilton Street retail district, largely ignoring Allentown neighborhoods not located in Center City. This, in turn, further increased the flight of Allentown residents to the city's suburbs, leading to the development of a growing number of suburban shopping centers and services, which were built to accommodate these expanding suburban communities. In 1966,Whitehall Mall, the first closed shopping mall north of Philadelphia, opened in Whitehall Township. Ten years later, in 1976,Lehigh Valley Mall, a second suburban closed mall even larger than Whitehall Mall, opened north ofU.S. Route 22 inFullerton. Stores in Allentown's downtown shopping district began closing, replaced with stores whose customers were less affluent and large downtown areas that were razed and replaced with parking lots. In an attempt to compete with fast-growing and newer suburban shopping areas, the downtown Allentown business district was rebuilt with a multiblock row of stores known as Hamilton Mall, featuring newly covered sidewalks and managed traffic patterns. The city's economic plight began being cited as a prominent example of aRust Belt city. In 1982,Billy Joel released the single "Allentown", the lead song onThe Nylon Curtain album, which addressed the city's economic plight in the late 20th century.
The effort to rebuild the downtown shopping district ultimately proved unsuccessful, and two of the city's major department stores, Leh's and Zollingers, closed by 1990. The third,Hess's, was sold toThe Bon-Ton in 1994, which closed its Hamilton Mall location two years later, in 1996.[44] In 1993, Corporate Center, the city's new flagship business center on N. 7th Street, fell victim to a largesinkhole, leading to its condemnation and ultimate demolition. Combined with challenges confronting Center City, Allentown also was heavily impacted by a significant downturn in manufacturing throughout theU.S. Northeast, which began undergoing and suffering fromdeindustrialization, a product of foreign competition, trade policies, and relatively higher U.S.-based manufacturing costs. Many Allentown factories and corporations began closing or relocating.
Responding to the late 20th century economic downturn in the city, Allentown began seeking to diversify its economy in the early 21st century.Allentown's economy saw growth in its service, health care, transportation, warehousing, and some manufacturing industries. In 2009, theNeighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ), created by thePennsylvania General Assembly, sought to address Allentown's economic challenges and encourage the city's development and revitalization. The NIZ includes approximately 128 acres (52 hectares) in Center City and the city's riverfront district on the west side of theLehigh River.
In 2014, Center City underwent major restructuring, including constructing and openingPPL Center, a 10,500-capacity indoor arena, which hosts theLehigh Valley Phantoms, a professionalAmerican Hockey League ice hockey team, and other sports, entertainment, and concert events. A full-serviceRenaissance Hotel also opened in Center City, and older office buildings were redeveloped.[45]
In 2024,U.S. News & World Report ranked Allentown as one of the "150 Best Places to Live in the U.S." and the nation's fifth-best city to retire.[46]
Allentown's geographic boundaries include a total area of 18.0 square miles (46.6 km2). Of this, 17.8 square miles (46.1 km2) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km2) is water, according to theU.S. Census Bureau. Bodies of water includeJordan Creek and its tributary,Little Lehigh Creek, which join in the city and empty intoLehigh River. Other bodies of water in Allentown includeLake Muhlenberg in Cedar Creek Parkway and a pond inTrexler Park.
Allentown is located in theLehigh Valley, an easternPennsylvania geographic valley located between twoAppalachian mountain ridges,Blue Mountain, which varies from 1,000 feet (300 m) to 1,600 feet (490 m) in height about 17 miles (27 km) north of the city, andSouth Mountain, a ridge of 500 feet (150 m) to 1,000 feet (300 m) in height bordering the city's southern edge. The Lehigh Valley includes bothLehigh andNorthampton counties.
Center City Allentown includes the downtown area and its 7th Street retail and residential corridor, which is the city's central business district and the location of most of its city, county, and federal government buildings. To the east of Center City are The Wards, residential areas developed during the late 19th century and early 20th century industrial boom. Just east of theLehigh River are the city's East Side residential neighborhoods, most of which border various routes to neighboringBethlehem. South of Center City acrossLittle Lehigh Creek are the city's South Side neighborhoods, which borderEmmaus. Allentown's West End, with a mix of commercial corridors, cultural centers, and larger single-family residences, begins approximately west of 15th Street.
Center City's tallest building is thePPL Building at 322 feet (98 m). In addition to the PPL Building, Center City commercial office buildings include theDime Savings and Trust Company building, which features the city'sArt Deco architecture, which was highly popular in Allentown andNew York City in the 1920s and 1930s. One City Center, Two City Center,[47][48] and other commercial buildings are located in Center City.
Allentown is characterized by a large stock of historic homes, commercial structures, and century-old industrial buildings reflecting its standing as one of the nation's earliest urban centers.Center City's neighborhoods includeVictorian andterraced rowhouses. West Park includes mostly Victorian andAmerican Craftsman-style architecture. Houses on Allentown's tree-lined streets in the West End were built mostly between the 1920s and 1940s. Houses in Allentown's East and South Sides are a mixture of architectural styles and are generally single and twin family homes built between the 1940s and 1960s; both areas include some older Victorian homes. Allentown has manyloft apartments in converted mills and historic brick manufacturing buildings and modern and historic high-rise apartment buildings in Center City.
Allentown has three primary historic districts: Old Allentown, the Old Fairgrounds, and West Park. Old Allentown and Old Fairgrounds are Center City neighborhoods, which hold a joint house tour organized by the Old Allentown Preservation Association (OAPA) annually in September. West Park also offers a tour of its Victorian and Craftsman-style homes.[52]
ThePPL Building, at 2 N. 9th Street, is Allentown's tallest building at 322 feet (98 m). The building, which opened on July 16, 1928, was designed byNew York City architectural firm Helme, Corbett, and Harrison, andWallace Harrison, one of the firm's partners, served as the building's primary designer. The building was later a prototype forArt Deco architecture inManhattan, includingRockefeller Center and other building structures. Built between 1926 and 1928, the PPL Building's exterior decorative friezes were designed byAlexander Archipenko. The building has been illuminated every night since its opening in 1928.[53] In clear weather at night, the PPL Building's nighttime illumination is visible as far north as theBlue Mountain Ski Area inPalmerton. The building's exterior is featured in multiple scenes in the 1954 movieExecutive Suite.[54]
Miller Symphony Hall at 23 N. 6th Street opened in 1896 and served initially as the city's public market; the 1,100 seat facility is now home to theAllentown Symphony Orchestra. The structure was converted to a theater in 1899 by architectJ. B. McElfatrick's firm, and was initially named the Lyric Theater. Miller Symphony Hall, one of roughly a dozen famous McElfatrick designs still standing in the nation, has been used for burlesque shows, vaudeville, silent films, symphony orchestras, and other entertainment for over a century.[55] Other Allentown-based performing arts facilities and programs include Pennsylvania Sinfonia, Community Concerts of Allentown,Allentown Band, and Community Music School of the Lehigh Valley.
Under theKöppen climate classification, Allentown falls within thehot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) if the 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm is used or thehumid subtropical climate (Cfa) if the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm is used. Summers are typically warm and muggy. Fall and spring are generally mild. Winter is cool to cold. Precipitation is almost uniformly distributed throughout the year.
The average temperature in January is 30.1 °F (−1.1 °C) and the lowest officially recorded temperature was −15 °F (−26 °C) onJanuary 21, 1994.[56] July averages 75.6 °F (24.2 °C) and the highest temperature on record was 105 °F (41 °C) on July 3, 1966.[56][57] January temperatures average below freezing. Seven months average above 50 °F (10.0 °C), and two months average above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C).
Snowfall is variable with some winters bringing light snow and others bringing multiple and significant snowstorms. Average snowfall is 33.1 inches (84 cm) seasonally[58] with February receiving the highest snowfall at just under 11 inches (280 mm). Rainfall is generally spread throughout the year with eight to 12 days of precipitation monthly[59] at an average annual rate of 43.5 inches (110.5 cm).[60] Allentown falls under theU.S. Department of Agriculture's 6b Planthardiness zone.[61]
As of the2020 U.S. census, Allentown had a population of 125,845, making it the third-most populous city in the state afterPhiladelphia andPittsburgh. As of 2020, 54.2% were Hispanic/Latino, 30.2% non-Hispanic White, 10.4% non-Hispanic Black, 1.9% Asian, 0.1% Native American or Pacific Islander, and 3.2% were mixed race or other.[66] A decade earlier, in 2010, Allentown had 42,032 households, including 28.8% with children under age 18, 39.4% who weremarried couples living together, 15.1% who had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% who were non-families. Among all households as of 2010, 33.1% were made up of individuals and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The city's average household size is 2.42 and average family size is 3.09. As of 2000, the city's population density was 6,011.5 inhabitants per square mile (2,321.1/km2), and there were 45,960 housing units at an average density of 2,591.1 per square mile (1,000.4/km2).
As of 2010, Allentown's population broken down by age ranges was: 24.8% under 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% 65 years or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $52,449. Males had a median income of $30,426 versus $23,882 for females.Per capita income in Allentown, as of 2010, was $16,282 with 18.5% of the total city population and 14.6% of families in the city below thepoverty line. As of 2010, city residents living beneath the poverty line included 29.4% of those under age 18 and 10% of those over age 65. As of February 2010, the unemployment rate for the largerLehigh Valley metropolitan area was 9.8%, and Allentown's unemployment rate was slightly higher at over 10%.[67]
In 2020, according to the city, there were 4,283 Part 1 crimes, including homicides, non-fatal shootings, rapes, robberies, burglary, larcenies, motor vehicle thefts, and acts of arson. In 2020, reported non-fatal shootings, rapes, robberies, burglaries, and larcenies in the city fell compared to 2019. Motor vehicle thefts and arsons, however, increased. In 2020, there were nine homicides, unchanged from those in 2019.[68]
On June 20, 2019, two rival gangs, theBloods andLatin Kings, shot 10 people when the two gangs exchanged gunfire outside Deja Vu nightclub onHamilton Street.[69]
The city'sHispanic population, consisting primarily ofDominicans andPuerto Ricans, has grown notably over the past three decades from an estimated 12 percent of the city's population in 1990 to an estimated 55 percent as of 2024.[70]
Allentown city, Pennsylvania – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
Allentown historically was a hub for the nation's earliest industrialization, and its economy was heavilymanufacturing-based. Beginning in the late 20th century, the city evolved into a more service-oriented economy, due largely toRust Belt decline in heavy industry, which began around 1980 and accelerated through the 20th century's last two decades. Allentown is corporate headquarters for several large companies, includingAir Products,[76]PPL Corporation, and others.[77] The city's largest employer, as of 2007, isLehigh Valley Health Network with over 7,800 employees.[78] Lehigh Valley Health Network's flagship hospital,Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest, is Pennsylvania's third-largest hospital with877 licensed beds and46 operating rooms.
Allentown Symphony Orchestra performs atMiller Symphony Hall, located on N. 6th Street inCenter City. The city has a musical heritage of civilianconcert bands and is home toAllentown Band, the nation's oldest civilian concert band, founded in 1828.[81]Allentown houses a collection of public sculptures, including the DaVinci Horse, located on 5th Street, which is one of only threeda Vinci sculptures in the world.Allentown Art Museum, located on N. 5th Street in Center City, is home to a collection of over 13,000 pieces of art and an associated library.Baum School of Art at 5th and Linden streets offers credit and non-credit classes in painting, drawing, ceramics, fashion design, jewelry making, and other arts-related curriculum.
Civic Theatre of Allentown, founded in 1928, has an 90-plus year history of producing theater in theLehigh Valley. Initially named Civic Little Theater, Civic Theatre of Allentown today has paid professional staff, a volunteer board of directors from the community, and volunteer staff. The theater operates the Lehigh Valley's only full-time cinema, showing art, independent and foreign films, and offers a theater school that has served the Valley's youth for over 50 years. The theatre is professionally directed and managed and utilizes community actors in its live theater productions.
Due in part to Allentown's proximity to Philadelphia,cheesesteaks are immensely popular.Yocco's Hot Dogs, a regionally well-knownhot dog and cheesesteak establishment with five area locations, three of which are in Allentown, was founded in 1922 by Theodore Iacocca, uncle of formerChrysler chairman and presidentLee Iacocca.A-Treat Bottling Company, a regionally-popularsoft drink beverage company, has been based in Allentown since its 1918 founding.
Soldiers and Sailors monument, dedicated and unveiled on October 19, 1899, on Allentown's Center Square at 7th andHamilton streets, honorsUnion army volunteers from Allentown and theLehigh Valley metropolitan area who were killed during theAmerican Civil War. The monument is topped by a statue representing theGoddess of Liberty.[84] In 1957, the statue atop the monument, then in a state of disrepair, was removed; it was replaced in 1964.[85] Allentown's motto isSic semper tyrannis, which, translated fromLatin, means "thus always totyrants", suggesting that bad but justified outcomes will ultimately befall tyrants.
Much of Allentown's park system is a product of industrialistHarry Clay Trexler's efforts. Inspired by theCity Beautiful movement in the early 20th century, Trexler helped create West Park, a 6.59-acre (26,700 m2) park in what was then a community trash pit and sandlot baseball field in an upscale area of the city.[86] The park, which opened in 1909, features abandshell designed by Philadelphia architectHorace Trumbauer and has long been home to the Allentown Band and other community bands.[86] Trexler also facilitated the development of Trexler Park, Cedar Parkway, Allentown Municipal Golf Course, and Trout Nursery inLehigh Parkway and was responsible for the development of the Trexler Trust, which provides ongoing private funding for Allentown's park system's maintenance and development.[87]
Allentown's parks includeBicentennial Park, a 4,600 seat mini-stadium built for sporting events, the 127-acre Cedar Creek Parkway, which includesLake Muhlenberg, Cedar Beach, and Malcolm W. Gross Memorial Rose Garden, East Side Reservoir (15 acres), Irving Street Park, Kimmets Lock Park (5 acres), Lehigh Canal Park (55 acres),Lehigh Parkway (999 acres), Old Allentown Cemetery (4 acres), Jordan Park, South Mountain Reservoir (157 acres), Trexler Park (134 acres), Trout Creek Parkway (100 acres), Joe Daddona Park (19 acres), Keck Park, Percy Ruhe Park, also known as Alton Park, and West Park (6.59 acres).[87]
TheGreat Allentown Fair runs annually the end of August and early September on the grounds of theAllentown Fairgrounds on N. 17th Street, where it has been held continuously since 1889.[90] The first Allentown Fair was held in 1852. Prior to moving to the Allentown Fairgrounds in 1889, it was held at the Old Allentown Fairgrounds north of Liberty Street between 5th and 6th streets.
Allentown and its surroundingLehigh Valley region are known for high quality high school-level athletics, and the region has been the starting ground for a considerable number of professional andOlympic-level athletes.
Allentown is home to theParkettes National Gymnastics Training Center, which has been the training ground for severalOlympians and U.S. national gymnastics champions. In 2003, the program was the subject of an immensely criticalCNN documentary,Achieving the Perfect 10, which depicted it as a hugely demanding and competitive gymnastics training center.
Allentown is legally classified as aPennsylvania third-class city and has operated with the strong-mayor version of themayor-council form of government since 1970. The mayor serves as the city's chief executive and administrative officer, and Allentown City Council serves as the legislative branch.[94] Electedat-large, the mayor serves a four-year term under the city'shome rule charter.[95] The current city mayor isMatthew Tuerk, aDemocrat. Allentown City Council has seven council members who are elected at large for four-year staggered terms.[95] The city council holds regular public meetings and enacts city legislation, including ordinances and resolutions. Allentown City Council's current president is Daryl Hendricks.[96] The city controller, who is responsible for oversight of the city's finances, is elected and serves a four-year term.[97]
Allen High School at 106 N. 17th Street, one of the city's two large public high schools
Allentown School District, founded in 1828, is Pennsylvania's fourth-largest school district as of 2025.[100] The district covers the majority of the city limits with the exception of a small portion near Trexler Park; which is covered by theParkland School District.[101] As of the 2023-24 school year, Allentown School District had 16,510 students and 1,050 teachers for a student-teacher ratio of 15.72 on afull-time equivalent basis, and an annual school district budget of $414.939 million, according toNational Center for Education Statistics data.[102]
Allentown School District's four middle schools, for grades 6–8, are: Francis D. Raub Middle School, Harrison-Morton Middle School, South Mountain Middle School, and Trexler Middle School. The city district has 16 elementary schools for kindergarten through fifth grade: Central, Cleveland, Hiram W. Dodd, Jefferson, Lehigh Parkway, Lincoln, Luis A. Ramos, McKinley, Midway Manor, Mosser, Muhlenberg, Ritter, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Union Terrace, and Washington.
Other Allentown-based parochial schools serving K to 8 students include Saint John Vianney Regional School, Holy Spirit School, Lehigh Christian Academy, Mercy Special Learning Center, Our Lady Help of Christians School, Sacred Heart School, and Saint Thomas More School.Roman Catholic-affiliated parochial schools in Allentown are operated by theRoman Catholic Diocese of Allentown. Grace Montessori School is a pre-school and early elementaryMontessori school run as an outreach of Grace Episcopal Church. Allentown has one privateJewish school, Jewish Day School, and two independent day schools,Salvaggio Academy, an independent day school, and The Swain School, which is associated withMoravian Academy. Newcomer Academy at Midway Manor and Allentown School District Virtual Academy are parochial schools serving grades 8 to 12.
There are 314.10 miles (505.49 km) of public roads in Allentown, 26.16 miles (42.10 km) of which are maintained by thePennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and 287.94 miles (463.39 km) that are maintained by the city as of 2022.[108]
The most prominent highway passing through Allentown isI-78, which runs concurrently withPA 309 along an east–west alignment across the southern portion of the city. I-78 runs fromLebanon County in the west to theHolland Tunnel andLower Manhattan in the east, while PA 309 runs fromPhiladelphia in the south to theWyoming Valley in the north.US 22 briefly passes through the northwestern corner of the city as it follows the Lehigh Valley Thruway along an east–west alignment; it runs fromCincinnati in the west toNewark in the east.
Public buses in Allentown are provided byLANta, a bus system serving Lehigh and Northampton counties. Allentown Transportation Center, located on N. 7th Street, serves as a major hub for LANTA buses.[109]
The last passenger rail service in the city, which was provided bySEPTA, ceased operating in 1979, though one of SEPTA's two main Allentown train stations remains standing. In September 2020,Amtrak, as part of its expansion plan, proposed restoring rail service between Allentown andNew York City by 2035.[116][117] This largely single-track Amtrak route has been opposed byNorfolk Southern Railway, which acquired theLehigh Line as part of its purchase offederally-foundedConrail in 1999. In November 2008, the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) and both Lehigh and Northampton counties commissioned a study, exploring restoration of theBlack Diamond service, which ran until 1961, which would entail extendingNew Jersey Transit'sRaritan Valley Line to Allentown.[118]
Allentown's reputation as a ruggedblue-collarRust Belt is one of several factors that has led it to be referenced broadly in popular culture during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[133] The city is often cited as one of the most prominent examples of a U.S. city which was once a global leader in heavymanufacturing but was subsequently impacted bypost-industrialization,offshoring, and the loss of substantial manufacturing-related jobs and companies in the late 20th century.[134] Allentown has also been used as a backdrop for films depicting mid-20th centuryAmericana.[135][136] Several prominent examples include:
In 1987,Season 5, Episode 23 of the sit-comNewhart, titled "Good-bye and Good Riddance, Mr. Chips", Dick Loudon, played byBob Newhart, takes an adult typing class with a teacher who failed him in his sixth grade geography class at Cunningham Elementary in Allentown.[144]
In 1982, Allentown is the subject and title of theBilly Joel song, "Allentown," which is the first song onThe Nylon Curtain album and uses Allentown as a metaphor for the resilience ofworking class Americans in distressed industrial cities during therecession of the early 1980s.[145]
In 1980, in theBroadway musical42nd Street, Allentown is the hometown of lead character Peggy Sawyer.[146]
In 1975,Frank Zappa references Allentown in his song "200 Years Old," which appears on the albumBongo Fury.[147]
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1981 to 2010.
^Official records for Allentown were kept at Allentown Gas Company from March 1922 to December 1943, and at Lehigh Valley Int'l since January 1944. For more information, seeThreadEx.
^Whelan, Frank (May 7, 1991). "'Cement City' Moniker Is A Mystery American Heritage Says Label Was Allentown's".The Morning Call. pp. B.03.. "Queen City's origins as an Allentown nickname are obscure. It is believed to come from a turn-of-the-century competition hosted by the Allentown Chamber of Commerce. The winning entry was said to be Queen City."
^Wholberg, Julie. "The New Main Street? A-Town's 19th Street Experience".The Morning Call.
^Salter, Rosa (April 20, 2003). "Two in tune with the times ** At 175, Allentown Band, America's oldest, preserves best of tradition".The Morning Call. pp. E.01.. "1967: Allentown named Band City-U.S.A"
^Whelan, Frank (March 13, 2002). "Hamilton Street used to be thick with peanut shells ** And Allentown's Army Camp Crane once had a popular commander".The Morning Call. pp. B.04.. "Allentown's title as the Peanut City goes back to the late 19th and early 20th century when large amounts of them were eaten in the Lehigh Valley. From the 1880s to the 1920s, vendors lined Hamilton Street, singing jingles in Pennsylvania Dutch about the superior quality of their peanuts. FormerCall-Chronicle Sunday editor John Y. Kohl recalled in 1967 that the peanuts were eaten mostly by young men and boys who would walk Hamilton Street on Saturday nights flirting with girls and 'throwing the shells about with complete abandon.' Sunday morning sidewalks were 'not quite ankle deep' in shells. Merchants would get up early to sweep them into the gutter so churchgoers would not have to wade through them.'"
^Whelan, Frank (May 7, 1991). "Cement City' Moniker Is A Mystery American Heritage Says Label Was Allentown's".The Morning Call. pp. B.03.. "Silk City for example, is a throwback to the late 19th and early 20th century, when Allentown was known for its many silk mills. Although the last mill closed a few years ago, the name hangs on in the minds of older residents."
^Roberts, Charles R. (1908)."William Allen, the Founder of Allentown, and His Descendants".Proceedings of the Lehigh County Historical Society (1st). Allentown, Pennsylvania: Lehigh County Historical Society:22–43.Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. RetrievedAugust 17, 2008.
^abcdefghijkAllentown, 1762–1987, a 225 Year history, Volume II, 1921–1987, Lehigh County Historical Society, 1987.
^abHISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD, Hamilton Street Bridge (Dam #7), HAER No. PA-89 Jean P. Yearby, HA.ER, 1985, United States Department of the Interior, Philadelphia, PA, 19106
^Schmidt, Lewis G (1986).A Civil War history of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers: the wrong place at the wrong time. Allentown: L.G. Schmidt.OCLC15166408.
^Blumenau, Kurt (April 8, 2007). "Valley of the malls ** The region is in the midst of biggest burst of building since 1970s".The Morning Call. pp. A.1.
^Blumenau, Kurt (April 25, 2004). "The different sides of Whitehall Mall ** MacArthur Road's first retail center has changed over time. More is to come".The Morning Call. pp. AA.1.
^Whelan, Frank (June 29, 2003). "'Band' plays on words and pictures to tell informal history".The Morning Call. pp. E.!.
^Long, Ernie (December 13, 1999). "The Popular Stoners Were Hurt By League: ASL Got Away From What Made It Successful, Which Destroyed Allentown Team".The Morning Call.
^"Government".allentownpa.gov.Archived from the original on March 5, 2009. RetrievedOctober 31, 2009.
^Central Railroad of New Jersey's timetable:"Archived copy". Archived fromthe original on October 14, 2006. RetrievedFebruary 9, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) The Lehigh Valley Railroad'sBlack Diamond timetable
^"Service Area". PPL Electric Utilities.Archived from the original on August 20, 2017. RetrievedAugust 20, 2017.
^"General Tariff"(PDF). PPL Electric Utilities. June 20, 2017. p. 4.Archived(PDF) from the original on August 20, 2017. RetrievedAugust 20, 2017.
Adams, Anna. "Perception Matters: Pentecostal Latinas in Allentown, Pennsylvania." inA reader in Latina feminist theology (U of Texas Press, 2021) pp. 98–113
Lee, George A. "Negroes in a Medium-Sized Metropolis: Allentown, Pennsylvania--A Case Study."Journal of Negro Education 37.4 (1968): 397–405.online
Marzan, Gilbert. "Still Looking for that Elsewhere: Puerto Rican Poverty and Migration in the Northeast."Centro Journal (2009) 21#1 pp 100–117online; full coverage on Allentown
Sandoval, Edgar.The New Face of Small-town America: Snapshots of Latino Life in Allentown, Pennsylvania (Penn State Press, 2010)
Core cities are metropolitan core cities of at least a million people. The other areas are urban areas of cities that have an urban area of 150,000+ or of a metropolitan area of at least 250,000+. Satellite cities are in italics.
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