Allentown's Historic Syrian Community

When my grandfather first arrived in Allentown he lived in the Ward, on 2nd. Street. It was around 1895 and the neighborhood was full of immigrants. Some groups came from the same area in the old country, most noticeably the Syrians, from the village of Amar*. They were Antiochian Orthodox, a minority in a Muslim country. The congregation of St. George's Church on Catasauqua Ave., largely is descended from those immigrants. Well known names in Allentown, such as Atiyeh, Haddad, Hanna, Makoul, Koury and Joseph are among their members. They were among one of the first groups to organize, and those organizations still exist. The photo above was organized by the Syrian American Organization in 1944. Note that Jewish, on the left, is treated as a nationality.

* hopefully my Syrian friends will correct any historical errors I have made.

click on photo to enlarge

reprinted from previous years

Another Park Mistake In Allentown

Mayor Pawlowski is patting himself for having the 100 year old fountain refurbished in West Park. Actually, the fountain is less than 30 years old, and is a reproduction of the original fountain, which was scrapped in the 1950's, for a modern brick monstrosity.

 This is what happens when you have a mayor from out of town, and a park director from out of town; There is no institutional memory, whatsoever, of the park system.  We are paying to refurbish a fountain which is probably still in excellent shape.  Meanwhile,  the WPA structures,  which really do need attention, are allowed to crumble away.  We have a mayor who is more political than ever,  wasting our resources on photo opportunities.  His highness deleted my corrected history off his facebook page in about 30 seconds.


At noon today, this blog will be reprinting a short history of the Syrian community in Allentown. Your return visit is welcome.

High Culture Available

Jessica Lenard, who was an important part of Allentown's art scene in the 70's and 80's, died from an accident in December of 2016. I will make pieces available to discerning collectors and institutions, with proceeds to her memory with her favorite institutions. shown All Day Sucker, oil on canvas, 5'x6'  

Boxing Eggs

When I was a little boy, I would work at my father's meat market, boxing eggs. The job was pretty straightforward. I would take eggs from a big box, and put them in small boxes with folding lids, each of which held a dozen. If I did a whole crate without breaking an egg, I did a good job. The real adventure was the drive to the shop. We lived just off Lehigh Street, and would take it all the way to Union Street. The many landmarks are now gone forever, only remaining in my camera of the past. Shown above in 1952, is the portion of Lehigh Street near the Acorn Hotel, which is not visible in the photograph. Before reaching the Acorn, you drove under The Reading Railroad bridge overpass, which recently has been dismantled and removed. That line served the Mack Plant on S. 10th Street. Just beyond the area pictured, the Quarry Barber railroad spur also crossed Lehigh Street, at the bridge over the Little Lehigh Creek. That line also crossed S. 10th, and served Traylor Engineering, now known as the closed Allentown Metal Works. Just last week Mitt Romney was there, to rebuke Obama's former visit to the site. Mayor Pawlowski is now rebuking Romney, but none of them really know anything about it's past. A half block away, on overgrown steps built by Roosevelt's WPA, a thousand men would climb home everyday, after working at Mack and Traylor. Freight trains, on parallel tracks, from two different railroads, were needed to supply those industrial giants.

After my father rounded the second curve on Lehigh Street, we would head up the steep Lehigh Street hill. It was packed with houses and people. At the top of the hill, we would turn right on to Union Street. Going down Union Street, Grammes Metal was built on the next big curve. Grammes made a large assortment of finished decorative metal products. Beyond Grammes were numerous railroad crossings. The Lehigh Valley Railroad tracks crossed Union, as did the Jersey Central and several spurs, near Basin Street. It was not unusual to wait twenty-five minutes for the endless freight trains to pass. A two plus story tower gave the railroad men view and control of the busy crossing. A few more blocks and we were at the meat market, in time for me to break some eggs.

reprinted from July 2011

A Previous Revitalization In Allentown

Urban renewal projects are nothing new to Allentown. Every couple decades some Mayor thinks he has a brighter idea. In a previous post, I showed the historic Lehigh and Union Street neighborhood, totally destroyed by city planners. Today, an under used Bank calling center sits awkwardly alone on that Lehigh Street hill. The picture above shows another hill of merchants and residents, fed to a mayor's bulldozer. The picture is from 1953, and shows Hamilton Street, from Penn Street down toward the railroad stations. At that time we still had two stations, The Lehigh Valley Railroad and The New Jersey Central. The current closed bar and restaurant occupies the Jersey Central. Everything on Hamilton Street, west of the bridge over the Jordan creek, with the exception of the Post Office, was demolished up to Fifth Street. Government Center would be built on the north side of the street, and a new hotel on the south, to accommodate the many anticipated visitors. Recently we had to remove and replace the facade of the county courthouse, which leaked since it was constructed. The hotel is now a rooming house.

Unannounced plans are underway for a new hotel to service anticipated visitors to Pawlowski's Palace of Sports. It will be up to some future blogger to document how that hotel becomes a rooming house.

reprinted from June 2011


UPDATE 2017: The arena hotel, The Renaissance, has been operating for a couple of years. I do not believe that it is doing very well. I imagine that things are even worse for the older hotel at 9th and Hamilton.

Female Blog Staff Resigns

Yesterday, I posted that local reports would resume as soon as the staff returned from the march in Washington. However, my entire female staff has resigned en masse. Although, they recognize that this blog is non-partisan, that neutrality no longer suffices in this new post election world. They can no longer work for a publication that is not openly anti-Trump. Although, I would like to assure my readers that the blog will be back up to speed in short order, I can't honestly do that.  Writing the posts myself will not be easy, I can barely read.

A local cheerleader on facebook said,  in response to another shooting yesterday, that public safety must improve.  Understand that our police department is up to full complement.  Center city has been outfitted with surveillance cameras.  Unfortunately, we are facing the consequences of poor policy for over a decade.  I predicted this result as an independent candidate 2005,  and was criticized at the time for my bluntness.  Welcome to big urban reality in small town America.

pictured above is Kellyanne Conway, who has become a target of women upset by the election.

Alternative Facts and Views

Although, my male liberal friends believe that our new president suffers from a narcissistic personality disorder, and that his supporters are primarily low information people, they are conceding that he processes some skill sets. They believe that he can effectively manage and delegate. They actually approve of dropping out of the Trans- Pacific Partnership. They even realize that there is some talent in the new cabinet.

On the other hand, my female friends offer no quarter. Most, just back from the marches, may not even forgive my postings.

Meanwhile, back here in the little apple,  Mayor For Life faces a battle for the first time in the primary. I only wish that some of this talent challenged him previously.  As soon as all the staff from molovinsky on allentown has returned from Washington, local coverage will resume.

The Women's March

My previous post concerning the Trump inauguration protests generated some heartfelt comments.  One reader was afraid that a loved one would loose her health insurance, without the pre-existing condition coverage provided by the ACA.  Although, I had issues with the protests,  the validity of her concern cannot be underestimated.  Let us hope that any replacement to the Affordable Care Act makes a similar provision.

One reader suggested that such protests define democracy.  Another blogger, Chris Casey, a Democrat, commented,  I firmly believe in the right of Americans to protest against the Government. But would it not have been more appropriate to protest by actually voting on Election day? I can't help but wonder how many of those who are upset over President Trump did not get off their rear ends and participate in the process. We have the Government we deserve, and we have to live with it.... 

Considering that many of the protesters began assembling before Trump was even sworn in, many weren't protesting policy,  they were protesting the results of democracy. I credit Hillary for  attending the inauguration, and saying that she was there to honor our democracy.


Many women that I know and care about attended the Women's March On Washington, or local versions of it. Numerically, the marches were incredibly impressive.  I  believe that sheer volume alone will make their messages politically relevant. I hope that Trump reaches out and offers some reassurance to these concerned citizens. In turn,  I hope they can consider extending some benefit of the doubt.

photocredit:Mario Tama/Getty Images