Table of Content
The burden of supplying a military force logistically fell upon the people, and requisitions for food, grain, cattle, horses, and cloth became commonplace. Lehigh Parkway in Allentown, a 999 acres (4.04 km2) city-owned park along Little Lehigh Creek. Public bus service in Lehigh County is available through the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, known as LANTA.
Trexler Nature Preserve in North Whitehall Township, a 1,108 acres (4.48 km2) county-owned park along Jordan Creek, which includes the Lehigh Valley Zoo. The county has several museums, including Allentown Art Museum, America on Wheels, Da Vinci Science Center, George Taylor House, Jacob Ehrenhardt Jr. House, Lehigh County Historical Society at Trout Hall, Liberty Bell Museum, Museum of Indian Culture, and others. The Great Allentown Fair, one of the nation's largest and longest ongoing city fairs, is held annually at Allentown Fairgrounds on North 17th Street in Allentown the end of August and beginning of September. Mayfair, an arts and festival fair, is held annually in May on the campus of Cedar Crest College in Allentown.
High school athletics
Lehigh Valley Health Network's flagship hospital, Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest, is the third largest in Pennsylvania with 877 licensed beds and 46 operating rooms. In the 2000s and 2010s, Allentown's economy has continued reforming, largely led by service industries combined with health care, transportation, warehousing, and some continued manufacturing. The Allentown Economic Development Corporation operates a business incubator, Bridgeworks, which seeks to attract and support young commercial and manufacturing businesses in Allentown. The Neighborhood Improvement Zone was created by the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 2009 to encourage development and revitalization in Allentown. The NIZ includes approximately 128 acres in Center City Allentown and the city's new Riverfront district on the western side of the Lehigh River. These demographic developments continued throughout the 1960s and for the latter part of the 20th century, challenging Allentown's city government and the Allentown School District with greatly diminished resources.
Nielsen Audio ranks Allentown the nation's 74th largest radio market as of 2022. Stations licensed to Allentown include WAEB-AM , WAEB-FM , WDIY , WHOL , WLEV , WMUH , WSAN , WZZO , and others. In addition, many stations from New York City, the nation's largest radio market, and Philadelphia, the nation's fourth largest radio market, are received in Allentown. Two four-year colleges, Cedar Crest College and Muhlenberg College, are based in Allentown. Allentown is also home to a satellite campus of Lehigh Carbon Community College , a comprehensive community college that offers two-year and four-year degree programs, continuing education, and industry training.
Cityscape and neighborhoods
From 1947 until 1994, Lehigh County was served exclusively by the 215 area code. With the county's growing population, area code 610 was also allocated to the county in 1994. A plan to introduce area code 835 as an additional overlay was rescinded in 2001. It has since been reintroduced and will begin use once 610 and 484 extensions are exhausted, possibly as early as September 2022. Lehigh County-area radio stations include WAEB-AM in Allentown , B104 in Allentown , WZZO in Bethlehem , WHOL in Allentown , and others.
Allentown began being drained of its working class, who began migrating to the newer, less-expensive housing in Allentown's suburbs, which offered lower taxes, green space, less crime, and newer schools. In the 1840s, iron ore beds were discovered in the hills around Allentown, and a furnace was constructed in 1846 by Allentown Iron Core Company for production of pig iron. The furnace opened in 1847 under the supervision of Samuel Lewis, an expert in iron production, leading to the opening of other Allentown plants for production of a wide variety of metal products. Allentown Rolling Mill Company was created in 1860 from a merger of several smaller companies and became the most significant iron company in the city. Although not as large as the iron and steel industry in neighboring Bethlehem in the latter half of the 19th century, Allentown became a major national hub for the nation's iron production. Ten years before, in 1752, Northampton and Berks counties were formed; Easton was named the county seat of Northampton County and Reading the county seat of Berks County.
Museums and cultural organizations
Allentown historically was a hub for the nation's earliest industrialization and heavily manufacturing-based. Beginning in the late 20th century, the city's economy evolved into a more service-oriented one due to the city's Rust Belt decline in heavy industry that commenced around 1980 and accelerated through the last two decades of the 20th century. The city is corporate headquarters for several large companies, including Air Products, Talen Energy, PPL Corporation, and others. The largest employer in Allentown, as of 2007, is Lehigh Valley Health Network with over 7,800 employees.
Allentown's West End, with a mix of commercial corridors, cultural centers, and larger single-family residences, begins approximately west of 15th Street. In 1792, land north of Allentown was purchased by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company for mining. In 1829, the Lehigh Canal, a 46.6 miles (75.0 km) long canal on the Lehigh River's east side, was completed for both ascending and descending navigation. Its construction was the single most important factor in making anthracite coal one of America's most important domestic and industrial fuels.
The song uses Allentown as a metaphor for the resilience of working class Americans in distressed industrial cities during the recession of the early 1980s. Allentown is home to the Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center, which has been the training ground for numerous Olympians and U.S. national gymnastics champions. The program was the subject of an immensely critical 2003 CNN documentary, Achieving the Perfect 10, which depicted the program as a hugely demanding and competitive gymnastics training center.
The Allentown Band, Marine Band of Allentown, Municipal Band of Allentown, and the Pioneer Band of Allentown all regularly perform at the bandshell in the city's West Park. Youth Education in the Arts, the sponsoring organization of The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps, is headquartered in Allentown. Allentown's J. Birney Crum Stadium, the second largest high school football field in the state, hosts the annual Drum Corps International Eastern Classic, which brings together the world's top junior drum and bugle corps for a two-day event.
The four major Philadelphia-based network stations serving Lehigh County are KYW-TV , WCAU , WPVI , and WTXF . The four major New York City-based network stations serving Lehigh County are WABC , WCBS-TV , WNBC , and WNYW . The four major Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-based network stations serving Lehigh County are WNEP-TV , WBRE-TV , WYOU , and WOLF-TV . Most of the county is drained by the Lehigh River and its tributaries, though the Schuylkill River also drains regions in the county's south through Perkiomen Creek and (in the county's northwest) through Maiden Creek.
But the effort was unsuccessful, and two of the city's major department stores, Leh's and Zollingers, closed by 1990. The third, Hess's, was sold to The Bon-Ton in 1994, which subsequently closed in 1996. In 1993, the Corporate Center, the city's new flagship business center on North Seventh Street, fell victim to a large sinkhole, which led to its condemnation and ultimate demolition. The original plan for the town, detailed in archives now housed at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, included 42 city blocks and 756 lots, most 60 feet in width and 230 feet in depth. The town was located between present-day Fourth and Tenth Streets, and Union and Liberty Streets. Many streets on the original plan were named for Allen's children, including Margaret (present-day Fifth Street), William , James , Ann , and John .
This exacerbated the move of Allentown families to the city's suburbs, and shopping centers and services began being developed outside the city to accommodate these growing communities. In 1966, Whitehall Mall, the first closed shopping mall north of Philadelphia, opened. Ten years later, in 1976, the even larger Lehigh Valley Mall opened north of U.S. Stores in Allentown's downtown shopping district began closing, replaced with stores whose customers were less affluent. Large areas of Allentown's downtown were subsequently torn down for parking lots, and the downtown business district was rebuilt in an attempt to compete with the newer suburban shopping locations. A multi-block row of stores known as the Hamilton Mall was developed, including covered sidewalks and reduced traffic.
Several local churches make and sell fastnachts in fundraisers for Fastnacht Day, the day before Lent's commencement. Allentown is home to Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, one of the nation's largest amusement and water parks. Dorney Park's Steel Force rollercoaster is the world's eighth longest steel rollercoaster. Reported robberies, rapes, and property crimes also fell offset by increases in cases of aggravated assault and arson. The number of violent crimes fell more than 30 percent between 2006 and 2010. Allentown does have organized violent gangs, and the city has experienced sporadic gang-related crime and violence.
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