A Blog and a Cemetery

About ten years ago, I began searching for the grave of a young Jewish woman, who died around 1900. Among several Jewish cemeteries no longer in use, I searched Mt. Sinai, a small section of the sprawling Fairview Cemetery on Lehigh Street, just west of the 8th Street Bridge. The cemetery is the history of Allentown past, including the graves of Harry Trexler, John Leh, and Jack Mack. As one proceeded deeper into the cemetery, away from sight on Lehigh Street, conditions worsened. As is the case with many old cemeteries, fees paid for perpetual care, 100 years ago, were long gone. Complicating the situation, the current private operator wasn't particularly assessable. In addition to extended family members upset about conditions, the situation was compounded by his refusal, with few exceptions, to allow private upkeep. My early posts on the situation drew response and phone calls from people with no interest in local political blogs; They were just exasperated relatives, with a family member buried long ago at Fairview. After beginning a series of posts, and letters to the editor, I prevailed upon The Morning Call to write a story one year later. The Call's story appeared on August 11, 2008. Within two weeks, the cemetery operator agreed to a public meeting I had organized at a local church. Arrangements were made between the operator and several parties. As with several of Allentown's older cemeteries, the issue of maintenance will be ongoing. This would be a worthwhile project for City Hall.

Mt. Sinai in Fairview Cemetery

Jews have been buried in a small section of Fairview Cemetery, called Mt. Sinai, for over 138 years. Although the markings on several stones have worn away, Hannah Dreifuss was buried there in 1868. The September 10th Chronicle in 1875 reported that two members of the Jewish faith, prominent Hamilton Street merchants, Joshua Schnurman and Simon Feldman, purchased a section from Fairview Cemetery and applied for a charter for Mt. Sinai Cemetery,* thus creating the first Jewish Institution in Allentown.
Fairview Cemetery itself was not formally laid-out until 1870, when the renowned architectural firm Lathan of Buffalo was hired to create the premiere resting place in the Lehigh Valley. The giants of Allentown would be buried there, among them Harry Trexler, the Leh's, and the Mack's of truck fame.
The History Lehigh County, published in 1914, notes Mt. Sinai contained 29 graves.** Among them was Julia Wolf, who died in 1907. Her husband Morris served with the local regiment in the Civil War, and lived to be 98 years old. Feldman and Schnurman were among the earliest Jews in Allentown, immigrants from Germany who practiced the modern "Reformed" Judaism. These gentlemen and their extended family members would go on to form the "Young Ladies and Men's Hebrew Society" in 1883***, a predecessor to the Keneseth Israel Congregation organized in 1903. Mt. Sinai remained the resting place for Reformed Jews till 1928, when Keneseth Israel established its own cemetery. Burials continued at Mt. Sinai through the 1940's as spouses and passing family members joined those previously departed in family plots. Today there are 78 graves. In July of 2006, thirty years after the previous burial in 1976, Joseph Levine was laid to rest at the age of 103.

* Chronicle source courtesy of Frank Whelan
** states "people of Hebrew faith" purchased section in 1881
*** Congregation Keneseth Israel 100th Anniversary History

Blogger's Note: Mt. Sinai Cemetery is unaffiliated with any synagogue, and with few exceptions, has been unused for 60 years.

reprinted from February 2012

Parkway Tears

Director Harms Lehigh Parkway
February 04, 1993|The Morning Call
To the Editor:

How much longer must park devotees put up with Allentown Park Director Donald Marushak's misuse of evergreen trees, no trespass signs, and wrecking tools to destroy cherished elements of the people's parks?

First Marushak closed off a much-used slope by planting a dense cluster of 60 evergreen trees across its width.

Next, four "No trespass" signs were posted to prohibit access to 30 acres of deciduous woodland with its magnificent understory of many species of plant life. Trespass, a legal term, is defined in a children's encyclopedia as intrusion on private land. The term has no application for restricting passage on public land.

The WPA in the 1930s created a three-acre island by diverting water from the Little Lehigh Creek. The island had remained a source of joy for birders, naturalists, and nondescript strollers. No one foresaw Marushak arriving on the scene with wrecking tools to rip up the bridge, terminating public access to the island. Three masonry piers remain in place. Also remaining are 12 discarded auto tires gathering silt in the small stream.

BERT LUCKENBACH
ALLENTOWN (February 4, 1993)

20 years later......
Most people have long ago forgotten that there was a bridge to the island, although the stone piers still remain, obscured by overgrowth. The curved wall and landing of the Boat Landing, shown in the lower right of the photograph, are buried. In 2009, with help from others who appreciate our treasured parks, I had the privilege to rescue the steps which lead to the landing. This Spring, in conjunction with Friends of The Parks, I will conduct a tour of current and former WPA sites remaining in Lehigh Parkway.  Michael Molovinsky

The Candidacy of Alfonso Todd

Todd's Fuzion 2012

I've known Alfonso Todd for number of years. While the City hired special event coordinators, and created whole bureaucracies, Alfonso outdrew them at his own promotional events, at no cost to the tax payer. While the City events hosted the usual non-profits that clamor every year for grants, like baby birds for worms, Alfonso attracted minority entrepreneurs who will be part of Allentown's real future. There is a self starting, pragmatic aspect to the man. Over the years, starting in 2008, I attended a number of his events, and was always impressed with his attention to detail. Alfonso has decided to offer that same due diligence to the citizens of Allentown, and run for City Council.

The Sunday Drive

My family wasn't much for recreation.  My father worked six days a week, from early morning till early evening.  We did go for a long car ride on Sundays.  Back then gasoline was cheap, and having no destination wasn't thought of as wasteful.  Children were more content to sit in back seat and look out the window, now they want a video screen in the vehicle.



Even children's play then involved more imagination and interaction.  Howdy Doody was just a puppet on strings,who spend most of his time talking to an adult, Buffalo Bob, can you imagine?

 Sitting in that back seat in the mid fifties, I might well had



my "coonskin" hat with me.  Fess Parker was a genuine American hero.  It mattered little if he played both Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, both were king of the wild frontier.  The ride probably lasted for two hours and then we would go to a restaurant to eat dinner.  Compared to now, there were very few restaurants.



My mother would cook all the other meals that week, and we probably ate out more than most.  Supermarkets were the new rage in food shopping, but the butcher, baker and candle stick maker were still going strong.  If my father headed west or south, chances are we ended up at Shankweiler's Hotel, famous for chicken and waffles.   They were at the intersection of Old 22 and Route 100.  The building still exists and currently is a bank.  The family also owned another hotel on Route 309.  Both locations also operated adjoining Drive-In movies.



If my father headed north or east,  we would end up at Walp's, which was on the corner of Union Blvd. and Airport Road.  Walp's was a much more urban place.   While Shankweiler's was an old country inn,  Walp's was built as a modern restaurant.  I enjoyed those rides, they were a learning experience.

reprinted from May 2010

Remaining Merchants Pay For Reilly's World

Pat Browne is confident that 2012 is the only year in which the Arena Authority will have to dip into the base state tax, I'm confident it is not. Browne's excuse for breaking the promise not to use those funds was the delay caused by the lawsuit, filed by the surrounding municipalities not wanting to pay for J.B Reilly's real estate empire. Of course they also were promised that their taxes would be returned. Sy Taub, Authority Chairman, said it stands to reason that during the period of the hole, before revenue starts pouring in from completed construction, that there would be a shortfall. He has more confidence in the pending success of both the Palace of Sport and Reilly's Office World than I do. They used up the taxes of the small merchants this year because the NIZ law allows them to do so. Expect more broken promises and excuses in the coming years.                                                                         commentary based on Morning Call report by Scott Kraus and Matt Assad

Allentown's Real Riverfront Story

As readers of The Morning Call are being fed the mayor's version of Transformation at the riverfront, here's the sordid history not revealed elsewhere. In the early 70's, the City and Redevelopment Authority subdivided the Neuweiler property. The actual brewery portion, the front, went to a supposed developer with long time ties to former Mayor Daddona. The rear portion, formerly garages for the Neuweiler trucks, went to a roofer. Under the city's watch, the developer removed windows and exterior walls, braking through to remove the brewing tanks and piping for scrap. All metal, wires and any object of value were crudely ripped out in an orgy of demolition. With a large opening in the back wall smashed out, the basement mysteriously got filled up with roofing debris. Still the building remained iconic, because of it's rich industrial architecture. In 2003, a New Jersey investor bought the building for over $200,000 in the condition shown in the photograph. The building has been in that condition since the late 70's. HIs hope was at some point the City would appreciate the landmark and cooperate in its revival. He must have found the building citations from the Pawlowski administration mind-numbing; Can you imagine being held responsible for carnage committed by a previous owner? Before seizing the property, Pawlowski actually had the hapless new owner jailed when he came to Allentown to discuss the situation. Meanwhile, the roofer was rewarded with an $876,000 buy out. This is how the city reunited the property; Welcome to the Transformation.