Allentown Archaeology

When it comes to the history of industrial Allentown, the railroad buffs are among the current experts. Our heavy manufacturing base moved its materials on the tracks of several railroads. The Front Street area was crisscrossed with tracks and sidings. The West End Branch ran along Sumner Avenue, crossed Tilghman Street, looped around 17th Street and ended near 12th and Liberty. The Barber Quarry Branch ran along the Little Lehigh until it then followed Cedar Creek. It crossed Hamilton Street near the current Hamilton Family Restaurant and ended at what is now the Park Department Building. The rail buffs are current day archaeologists, looking for remnants of those glory days. Shown above is a portion of the Barber Quarry pier and track. This is at the bottom of Lehigh Street hill, near the former bank call center, near the former Acorn Hotel, in a former city still called Allentown.
photo courtesy of Mike Huber, Coplay

above reprinted from March of 2011 

ADDENDUM AUGUST 22, 2023:The bridge has just been rebuilt, and the portion of the earlier railroad bridge show above was removed.

ADDENDUM JUNE 12, 2025: Between the NIZ handouts and compliant city planners, future archaeologists will be wondering about two new projects. The 2013 blueprint and undersized parcel at 9th and Walnut has a new owner.  Compliant planners had kept Bruce Loch's pencil tower plan on the mini parcel marketable for over a decade. I remember back in the day in the mid 1980's, when Daddona sold Loch the undersized city parcels in the west end, and allowed him to build houses on them.

The second NIZ fueled project is an oversized building near the river on Front Street. This will be the second harvest for the boys building at the former Neuweiler site. Pat Browne's NIZ is the gift that keeps giving for a few developers, regardless of parking or other quality of life issues plaguing Allentown.

Both projects have supporters, and I'm not saying that they are bad for Allentown. I am, however, injecting some institutional knowledge into the projects, and reminding readers that they will be paid for with our diverted state taxes.

East Side 'Shootings

There were two gunfire incidents last weekend on the east side. Police Chief Roca said  The actions that are committed by people in this incident do not reflect the hard working people of Allentown. Maybe they don't reflect the hardworking people, but they do reflect too many others. In regard to a new basketball court being built at Stevens Park, Mayor Tuerk said (we can) start rebuilding trust...

Last week Allentown unanimously passed an anti-discrimination ordinance, despite that the last discrimination incident was staged by the victim. Seemingly, there are no longer any officials or institutions in Allentown interested in candor. Motivation appears limited to electability and inclusion and trust, even if it's including the wrong people or having the wrong result.

I'm just a simple small town pizza blogger, who thinks that a city hall should be preoccupied more with public safety, and less with inclusion and trust.

artwork by Mark Beyer

SpaceX and Mar-a-Lago

Chronic readers of this blog know that last year I revealed that molovinsky on allentown also maintains a low-rent office near the Space Coast in Florida. While not actually on the coast, it's close enough that I can see Musk's rockets taking off, and they take off several times a week. Consequently, they are a large part of the economy on the eastern side of central Florida.

Trump has been saying that if Musk doesn't shut his yapper,, there will be a price to pay. While it's true that SpaceX rakes $Billions from the government contracts, there is no competitor that can provide service anywhere near as safe and/or reliable. SpaceX actually softly lands its reusable rockets on the middle of a barge in the ocean. Last time anyone saw something like that was Flash Gordon make-believe in 1950. Even if Trump and Musk end up in the ring on McMahon's wrestling show, we'll still need SpaceX.

The pundits are saying that Trump won and Musk loses. Musk says that Trump is around for 3.5 more years, but he has 40 to go. I think Musk gives Trump's influence too long, it will be over by the mid-terms.

photocredit:James Robert

Allentown Urban Archeology

This blog over the years, and this weekend was the 18th year, has worn several hats. First and foremost, it has supplied local political scrutiny. I started scrutinizing the Pawlowski administration from day one. At first even fellow bloggers assumed that I had sour grapes, as an independent candidate who fared poorly in 2005.

I defended the former merchants of Hamilton Street against the real estate scheme called the NIZ, which to this day has avoided accountability.(Jarrett Coleman is working for an audit) I appeared as an opponent against the NIZ on Iannelli's Business Matters, and consequently was described as dour and misguided in a column by Bill White. 

I have campaigned against the Wildlands Conservancy using our iconic parks as a science fair project, and for the preservation of our WPA structures.

I have written pieces on our local history based on my experiences, rather than wikipedia pasteups. I've managed to save a few structures, notably among them Wehr's Dam and the Reading Road Bridge.

At this point in the endeavor, urban archeology gives me the greatest pleasure. Over the years I've turned my camera on things which are either now gone, or soon will be. Shown above is a railroad bridge used by the former Barber Quarry line, which ran west along the Little Lehigh.

The Morning Call, A Useful Tool

Yesterday's post about Emma Tropiano generated some expected replies. When I referred to an agenda at the Morning Call back in the day, people piped in with a 2020's point of view. Now we hear about left vs right, CNN vs Fox, fake news, etc.. Back then papers had local agendas, this mayor, that developer and this or that project.

The consolidation of the newspaper industry has certainly affected the Morning Call. Now a Tribune paper, it no longer has a building, office space or presses. The paper is composed in Chicago, printed in Jersey City and distributed in Allentown. The local reporters are, for the most part, young and new to the area. The editor's background is in digital production, which is not inappropriate in 2025.

In yesterday's post, I refer to a Bill White quote about Emma not having a new idea in forty years. Ironically, Bill is still the paper's columnist, and he's reprinting posts from forty years ago. The opinion page still has editorials from the same non-profit heads, writing about business in the valley. What they have in common is that none of them ever had a real job, and they're all gray now. However, the paper is a useful tool for the current local establishment, printing what they're given, with few, if any questions asked.

The only local thing I enjoy reading is this blog, because by the morning, I forgot what I wrote the night before :)

Back To The Future With Emma

Although the Progressives, who campaigned against the waste to energy plant and the water lease this year, didn't like Emma Tropiano back in the day, or now, here's a history lesson they may find interesting. Shown above is Emma camping out by the entrance to Kline's Island on October 13, 1989. Her statement to the press. "The deal with the Lehigh County Authority to open Kline's Island to outside sewage sources has promoted massive development in western Lehigh County, drawing potential commercial and industrial development away from Allentown and resulting in higher taxes for city property owners." She was running against The First Mayor For Life Joe Daddona's fourth term. His reply. "It's obvious once again that Emma, because of her lack of knowledge and understanding of a problem, is shooting from the hip and hitting herself in the foot." She was also outspoken about the direction the city was heading in: Is Allentown in an ugly decline, with drugs, crime, filth and mismanagement rotting away the core of the Queen City, as challenger Emma D. Tropiano insists? Or is it squarely facing its problems and coming up with sound, creative solutions, as Mayor Joseph S. Daddona says?" The Morning Call, Nov. 5, 1989.

reprinted from November of 2013

ADDENDUM May of 2017: On Tuesday Bill White repeated his quote about Emma from 2001; I like Emma, but she wouldn't know fresh ideas and positive leadership if they were driving down Hamilton Street in a blue Cadillac. Bill has made Emma one of the symbols of his Hall Of Shame. Bill White protests against this designation, coined by yours truly years ago, and cites the philanthropic Cipko Brothers as proof that the Hall isn't limited to shame. However, I remember back when, and the gag about them was their ridiculous toupees, which White featured in photographs. Philanthropic or not, their toupees put them in the Hall, not their charity. Anyway, I digress. Bill White has been wrong about Emma for over 40 years. The problem is that now a whole generation of people disparage her, based on  Morning Call distortions.

ADDENDUM JUNE 5, 2025: Emma passed away in January of 2002. Many people who still disparage her, didn't even know her. Many of those from that era were fed misinformation. Back then some reporters and the paper had agendas, about both certain people and certain topics.