Jersey Joe

It took five attempts and 20 years for Jersey Joe Walcott to finally win the Heavyweight Championship, at age 37. After only one title defense, the rematch against former champion Ezzard Charles, Jersey Joe stepped into the ring with the hard punching Rocky Marciano, who was ten years younger. Marciano was knocked down in round one, for the first time in his career. Although Walcott would gamely defend his hard won crown, the end came in 13th round, shown in the classic photo above. In the following rematch, Walcott's career would end, after being knocked out in the first round.
enlarge photo by clicking

The Union Terrace Train

The Conrail engine backs across Walnut Street, as it delivers a flatbed of large granite slaps and blocks to the Wentz Memorial Company, by 20th and Hamilton Streets. Years earlier, the spur route extended across Hamilton Street and terminated at the building across from school district stadium, now occupied by the park department. On it's run to Wentz's, it went through the auto junkyard, continued on past the now closed Allentown Metal Works, and crossed the trestle in Lehigh Parkway. At Union Terrace the track was next to the former ice skating pond, behind the WPA Amphitheater Stage Mound. This photograph was taken by Dave Latshaw in the 1979, and is part of the Mark Rabenold collection. Rabenold is a local train historian, specializing in Allentown's former branch lines.

A Rude Visit

When Irene stormed through Cedar Park, she knocked down and broke a number of the old willow trees. The sight of these magnificent trees along the creek banks, is the view-shed cherished by us proponents of the historical park system. As a boy in 1955, I remember the same damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Diane. Many of the remaining willows are now about 75 years old. Although they held the creek banks together for three generations, they have lost favor to riparian buffers.


It's nice to sit by the bank under a willow tree and watch the ducks swim by. Hopefully, somewhere along the banks of the Little Lehigh and Cedar Creek, there is still some open space for a few new weeping willows.
please click on photos to enlarge

The End of the End

Yesterday, The Morning Call had a story about the trolley era, including some excellent pictures. Although I take exception with some details in that article, it has motivated me to publish this picture from 1951, which I had intended on using after the bulldozer. Not only are the trolleys gone, but soon all buildings shown here will also be gone. The exception is the Farr Building on the far left, and the Dime Bank, not shown in this picture. Although people still walk and shop the historic busy block, soon it will house the Pawlowski Palace of Sport, laying dormant every day, and I suspect many evenings. It is the end of the end.

WPA Fountain Park Tour report added to post below.

A Grand Tour

Everyday, a thousand men would climb the steps back home after a working in the Mack plants and other industry on S. 10th Street, by Fountain Park. They lived in the well tended row houses which comprised center city. Their wives would shop in Mohican and other center city markets. Six movie houses served the Hamilton Street area to provide entertainment. The steps were constructed by the WPA between 1934 and 1937 and connected the industrial area with it's workers. Today, if properly maintained, they could connect the children and the parents of Allentown with the recreation of Fountain Park. You are invited to join Nicholas Butterfield tomorrow morning as he leads a well informed tour of this Allentown icon.The structure consists of three main sections. The Grand Stairwell from Lawrence Street (Martin Luther King Drive). The magnificent Union Street retaining wall with it's tunnel leading to the second set of steps. The second steps climb up to Spring Garden Street.I will be leading a group along Martin Luther King Jr Drive, starting at MLKJ and Union St, going up the first steps to Spring Garden, then down the 2nd steps from Junction St to MLK Jr Drive, starting 10 am Saturday, September 10 10 am. Call me if interested 610-770-1751. Nicholas Butterfield
TOUR REPORT BY NICHOLAS BUTTERFIELDSeven of us and one very young person took a tour Saturday morning of the WPA walls and steps along Martin Luther King Jr Drive, from S 10th St to Junction & Union Streets.The different walls appear in good condition overall. The steps need help.
From the Junction/Union St tunnel, climbing up to Spring Garden St, there is a lot of graffiti inside the tunnel entrance, going up to the first landing. Most has been there for several years, but there is some newer stuff.
Going up the steps to about the 3rd landing, one stone block is missing, for at least the last two years if not longer. The grass at the top of the steps is a foot high, in need of mowing by the City.
Going east on Spring Garden to S 10th, we looked over the dead parking lot, the prospective park that would connect Jackson St to the Junction St steps down to Martin Luther King & S 10th St. One resident earlier had asked me if the park would be safe from sinkholes, because the area was used as a landfill when the 8th St bridge was built.
The Junction St steps are in much greater need of repair. They are also used to a much greater extent than the Spring Garden steps, by people exercising or gong down to the Fountain Terrace fields. We counted at least 12 persons during our time on these steps.
A stone block is missing from one of the top western steps. The south side of the Junction St wall has a lot of white graffiti in at least 3 different sections. There were several used condoms on the path and a large number of bottles and cans scattered about, although it was much cleaner than in previous years. (Jim Molchany reminded me that over several years we pulled out many bags of trash and at least 13 tires from this area during our LANA clean up).
The macadam walkway has broken up in a number of places and needs to be resurfaced. After the east and west steps come together, there are missing stone blocks in at least 3 different places, including one spot where almost the entire step is gone, very much a hazard.Natalie observed the woods are just overgrown with underbrush and scrub trees, making it a very dark area. We need the City forester to review and recommend removal. There were several street lights along the path, but I will have to check at night to see if they are functioning.
My thanks to Gene Scharle, Edna Himmler who took photographs, Steven Ramos, Rose Gallagher, her daughter Natalie and grandchild Nadia, and Gregg Heilman, who regaled us with the history of this small area.
Nick Butterfield

Allentown's Future

Mayor Daddona's plan to save Allentown was the canopy built in front of the stores on Hamilton Street. Mayor Heydt's plan was tearing down the canopy in front of the stores. Mayor Pawlowski's plan is to tear down the stores and build an entertainment complex. Pawlowski's plan will eventually take three square blocks off the tax rolls. Already the first $100 million block has grown into a second block and another $100 million. Because of a rainy week, Steel Stack's Jeff Parks is walking around with a tin cup asking for donations. The Sands Corporation will be able to finance it's new entertainment complex with a money machine called a casino. When it rains on Pawlowski's white elephant, which it must from all the local competition alone, the short fall will come from our pockets. I'm not sure where Pawlowski will be then, but we're going to be up the creek, without a paddle, paying for huge, underused tax free buildings. There should have been a law, or a vote, or a City Council.