Saving A Treasure

Yesterday (repeat post from 2009) I had an amazing experience, I decided to research the WPA items at the Lehigh Valley Historical Society. I found that particular documentation lacking. But, from out of nowhere, an elderly lady handed me a photo from her pocketbook; a picture of the Boat Landing she had taken with a Kodak Brownie camera in the early 1940's. She had the picture with her because she had shown it to several friends who also lamented the loss of our icons.

Today(2009) I went to the park to photograph the still only visible remaining element of that structure, a few steps.

I went over to the other side of the creek and worked my way through the weed wall. There to my utter amazement, I saw that the curved creek walls of the landing have withstood the years of time. Despite decades of neglect by our Park Department, I believe that a half dozen people equipped with a few clippers could unveil a lost treasure. There is a few large trees which have grown on the landing, and there are missing stones, but most of it still exists, waiting only for a few urban archaeologists with an appreciation of what once adorned this park.

ADDENUM: In the fall of 2009, a half dozen people helped me uncover part the boat landing, buried for over 40 years. It ended up requiring much more than a few clippers..   It required pickaxes, shovels, and wheel barrel after wheel barrel of removing earth.

Amazing as this feat was, The Morning Call never wrote one word about it. 

UPDATE July 1, 2020: The photograph shown above was from an elderly widow, who took the photo from the island on her first date with her future husband. At that time the island was maintained, with a walking bridge to it. The island now is completely overgrown.

A Small Meat Market In Easton

A lot of posts on this blog start out as an extension of my own experience and/or interest in local history.  Some of the posts grow out of my interest in my family's history.  In addition to this blog, about a year ago I started a facebook group named Allentown Chronicles. Although there were several existing groups based on local nostalgia,  I foresaw a group which went beyond who has the best cheesesteaks.   Enforcing the group guidelines has alienated some people,  but I believe others appreciate the intent.

While the facebook group does have some material seemingly lifted from wikipedia,  original pieces have also been submitted. Among my favorites are people's personal snapshots of growing up in Allentown, or the greater Lehigh Valley.  Where I'm headed to is a post about my father's meat market in Easton, unfortunately with no corresponding photograph.

I often tell younger people that they should ask questions of their older relatives, because the answers will not be around forever. My father was a workaholic, who had no interest or time for such questions.  Although I have researched the history of his Allentown meat market, the one in Easton has proven much more difficult.

The market in Allentown was in the front of a larger building,  with the back portion being a former meat packing house.  The Easton shop, called Melbern, was a small market contained in the first floor of a former row house. The name came from my father Melvin, and his brother/partner at the time, Bernard. It was located at 34 S. 4th Street, near Pine Street, which was then a very narrow alley.  On the corner of Pine was John's luncheonette, which also served Chinese food. Next to John's was Melbern.  The buildings were later  demolished to make Pine into a wider street.  Two partners in another meat business,  Drucker and Young, set up the shop for a meat market. However, they were taken to court by another butcher named Brill, who had purchased their former market on Washington Street, with a non-competition clause.  I surmise that they were forced to not open their new market on S. 4th, and sold the operation to my father and uncle.  Drucker and Young also operated for many years in the Nazareth Farmers Market.

I worked at the Easton market on weekends and summers during high school. Needless to say, I never inquired about the store's history, nor did my father ever mention such things.

The photograph above is of the Allentown meat market, taken after it was closed, but prior to being demolished. To my knowledge, no photograph of the Easton market exists.

State Of The Allentown Parks

Regular readers of this blog know that over the last decade I have devoted much of my efforts to the traditional Allentown park system.  I say traditional, because that system has been compromised over the years, mostly by the unfortunate influence of the Wildlands Conservancy.

In the mid and late 1920's, Allentown benefactor Harry Trexler assembled large tracts of land along the Little Lehigh and Cedar Creeks to create an iconic park system. He commissioned the foremost landscape architect in America to  design the parks, which would garner national attention in the coming decades. Although the stock market crash of 1929 put the plans on hold,  Roosevelt's WPA program, in the mid 1930's, put those plans in overdrive.  Because of those plans Allentown was shovel ready, and four thousand men assembled each morning in the fairgrounds, to be bused to various  projects throughout the city parks.

During the 1940's and 50's Allentown basked in attention, and the parks became destinations. Picture postcards of the parks were mailed all over the country.

Unfortunately during the 1970's, a longtime park director took it upon himself to destroy some of the WPA masterpieces.  Included in the losses were the island and boat landing in Lehigh Parkway.  I took it upon myself, with help from volunteers, to partially dig out a portion of the boat landing.

The Wildlands Conservancy demolished the miniature dam at the Robin Hood Bridge,  which was the last WPA construction in Allentown, meant to provide sound and sight enhancement to the beautiful bridge.  The Conservancy is also responsible for the useless riparian buffers, which block both view and access to the creeks.  The buffers serve no function, because the street water runoff is piped under the buffers, directly into the streams. Because of invasive species, these buffers must be cut down once in early summer,  killing the baby ducks.

Since 2005, when the park and recreation departments were merged, the emphasis has been on recreation.  Several years ago the entrance wall to Lehigh Parkway collapsed from neglect. Part of the wall was rebuilt to allow the road to reopen, and it is my understanding that the remainder of the wall will be repointed.

Needless to say my advocacy of the traditional park system has not always been appreciated by those with a different agenda. I don't need or seek their approval, my mission is for our youth to enjoy that beauty which inspired those picture postcards of yesteryear.

photo of Union Terrace being built by the WPA in 1935

Opportunist Or Emperor

When Jim Martin just referred to Mark Pinsley as a political opportunist, he wasn't mincing words. Pinsley used his short stint as a South Whitehall commissioner to run for two other offices. Since being elected county controller, he has inserted himself into township, city and county politics. 

Recently, when I was watching a virtual South Whitehall commissioner meeting, I was confused about Mark Pinsley's presence. Although no longer a commissioner, he was participating in the discussion. Township residents know all too well that their opinion can only be presented hours later, at the end of meeting, during discourtesy of the floor. Apparently, those rules are not imposed on Pinsley.

Recently, an Allentown ordinance giving grants to artists was proposed by Pinsley, who was never an Allentown resident.

His current intrusion into county politics questions the ratio of black to white inmates who meet bail.

I don't know when he was made emperor of the Lehigh Valley Democratic Party,  because he's not  listed as an officer.

Barbarians At Allentown Post Office Gate

In the 1930's, the "New Deal" was good to Allentown.  Our park system was enriched by monumental stone construction under the WPA. We also received one of the architectural gems of our area, the magnificent art deco post office. Constructed during 1933-34, no detail was spared in making the lobby an ageless classic. The floor is adorned with handmade Mercer tiles from Doylestown. Muralist Gifford Reynolds Beal worked thru 1939 portraying the Valley's cultural and industrial history.

Unfortunately for history and culture, this architectural gem is now being targeted for NIZ private/public enrichment.  Several architectural treasures were demolished for the arena, along with Allentown's mercantile history. The Postal Service has signed off on the building, and the developer is chomping at the bit. The real tragedy is that the other new buildings are not even full, but with private construction being funded by taxpayers, there is no need to worry about such details as occupancy rates.  Efforts to save this irreplaceable building may start and end on this blog.  The Morning Call, itself a partner in the NIZ,  has taken a back seat on such matters.

The 83 year old photograph, part of my private collection,  is the contractor's documentation of the project's progress. The back of the photo states; Taken Sept 1 - 34 showing lobby, floor, screens, desks, completed & fixtures hung

photograph will enlarge when clicked

reprinted from previous years

Mapping Allentown's Past And Future

The map, partially shown above, was produced by the Nathan Nirenstein Company of Springfield, Massachusetts in 1929. His firm specialized in engineering maps of various center cities on the eastern seacoast. The map is 22X30, and expands out from 7th and Hamilton for 2 1/2 blocks east and west,  2 blocks north and south. The map includes names of both the owner of the building, and the merchant/tenant occupying the space, if different.

While numerous small banks are shown on both Hamilton and the side streets, the coming Depression surely culled that herd. Allentown City Hall and police station are still on Linden Street, while the post office is at 6th and Turner. Two large hardware stores, Young and Hersh, are on Hamilton Street.

The buildings are owned by hundreds of different people.  What will future generations think when they see a 2029 map, and all the buildings are owned by just a few people?

reprinted from 2016