History And Politics

In 2012,  then county executive Don Cunningham and his public works director went about demolishing and replacing several historic bridges. When they got ready to demolish the Reading Road Bridge, this blogger went on the offensive to defend the bridge.

The bridge was built in 1824 and totally rehabilitated in 1980. At that time a separate walking bridge was built next to it for pedestrian safety.  Because the bridge was documented to be in excellent condition, I decided that Don would have to smile and cut his next ribbon somewhere else...I succeeded in convincing the commissioners to save the bridge.

A couple years later residents in South Whitehall would organize to save the historic King George Inn.  I would then play a part in saving Wehr's Dam.  None of these structures would exist today if advocates for history were afraid to do battle with elected officials.  Often these battles even have to be refought against persistent bureaucrats, and other vested interests.

Yesterday on facebook a group member complained about me mixing politics with the history. I only wish that they were as separate and protected as they should be.

reprinted from October of 2019

photo/molovinsky/Reading Road Bridge, view from north side

The Boat Landing

Getting to the Boat Landing, for six year old boys who lived above the park in 1953, was quite an adventure. There were three other wonderful WPA structures to navigate on the journey. Unfortunately,  poor foresight by a previous park director has erased some of the WPA's monuments in Lehigh Parkway. As the postcard from the mid-50's above shows, the Boat Landing (my name for the structure) was a source of pride for the city and park system. It is located at the end of the park,  near Regency Apartments. I use the present tense because remnants of this edifice still exist,  buried under dirt and debris. Other attractions lost in that section of the park include the Spring Pond near the Robin Hood parking lot, and the bridge to the "Island", plus the mosaic inlaid benches which were on the island. ( Island halfway between parking lot and boat landing). Neither the Mayor or the Park Director knows that these centerpieces ever existed. These are irreplaceable architectural treasures well worth restoring.

UPDATE: The above post was written in May of 2009. Later that year I organized a small group of volunteers, and we unearthed a portion of the boat landing. The next year I prevailed on the Allentown Water Shed Foreman, Michael Gilbert, to expose the remaining stones around the Spring Pond and remove the growth hiding the Miniature Bridge.

Trexler Smiles, Landing Revealed

I believe that today, for the first time in decades, General Trexler had something to smile about. Most people never understood why three steps were near the lower entrance of Lehigh Parkway; they seemed to lead nowhere. This morning eight people joined a grass root effort to unveil, for the first time in decades, the structure I called the Boat Landing.

Buried under the dirt and grass were several more steps leading to a landing. Chris Casey was the first to arrive and cleared these steps and the first landing himself. A second set of steps led from the landing to the main landing on the creek. These second steps had a foot or so of ground and plants.

The quality and condition of the stonework is excellent, as was all our WPA icons. I will be polite and say only that it was a crime to have let this neglect occur. On the main landing the accumulated earth was two and half feet thick. The crew dug out the curving retaining wall several yards in each direction, and cleared off the top of the wall.

Eight people working four hours managed to reveal about one third of the landing at the bottom of the steps. It was a thrill to realize we were standing at creek's edge as the WPA architects had envisioned. I stood there often as a boy. There still remains a large portion of dirt to remove at the steps base, but you can now experience the Boat Landing.

The retaining wall and the landing continue for fifty feet or so in both directions. Unfortunately a huge tree has grown on the landing to the right, but the left appears reclaimable.

We who worked there today, hope to return and clear off the remainder of the dirt at the bottom of the steps.

Perhaps others will be motivated to clear off the remaining portion of the landing to the left. Now that might even be an idea for the City; imagine restoring an irreplaceable icon instead of buying something from a catalogue. I'm most grateful to all those who helped today, and will reveal their names with their permission.

ADDENDUM:Michael –

I just wanted to thank you for organizing today’s cleanup at the “Boat Landing” in the Lehigh Parkway. It’s not often that one gets to help unearth a treasure while barely leaving home, but that’s exactly what happened today.

It was truly impressive what big difference a small group of people can make. I can’t even estimate the amount of dirt that was moved with nothing more than a few shovels and a lot of hard work.

We can only hope that the City and the Trexler Trust will become aware of this location and start giving all the great structures in the Parkway the care they deserve.

However, the best part of the story for me came after we all left. I got home and my daughter Lucy (age 7) wanted to know how things went. We hopped in the car and soon we were walking up to the stairs leading to the landing. The sun was shining, and the sunlight trickled through the trees and onto the freshly-exposed stairway.

Lucy asked if she could go down to the landing by the water and next thing I knew we were both there at the waters edge, standing on what had been buried only a few hours earlier and marveling at the beauty of the location.

We spent a few moments there - a father and daughter both enjoying something completely “new” to us (even though the landing is over 70 years old). We talked briefly about what was – and more importantly what could be again.

Thank you for making that moment possible, and I hope many others take the opportunity to visit the landing in the near future.

Mike Schware

P.S. – After visiting the landing, Lucy and I walked further upstream and saw the remnants of the bridge to the island (near the water fountain). The remaining supports of the bridge confirmed what you had told me earlier about the island being much smaller years ago.

I organized the excavation shown above in 2009. We did return and remove the remaining dirt at the bottom of the steps.
reprinted from two separate posts combined

The above post is a reprint

Stairway To Shame

In the mid 1930's, Allentown, and especially its park system, was endowed with magnificent stone edifices, courtesy of the WPA; Works Progress Administration. This was a New Deal program designed to provide employment during the aftermath of the depression. Stone masons from all over the country converged on this city and built structures which are irreplaceable. The walls and step structures in Lehigh Parkway, as the Union Terrace amphitheater, are legacies which must be protected. Pictured above is the grand stairway from Lawrence Street (Martin Luther King Drive) up to Junction Street, built in 1936. The steps are in a state of disrepair. They lead to the great Junction/Union Street Retaining Wall, thirty feet high and two blocks long, which was completed in 1937. I call upon the Trexler Trust and Allentonians of memory, to insist these steps are re-pointed and preserved. The current Administration knows little of our past.  It's important to save the things in Allentown that matter.

The City of Allentown is embarking upon a $3.8 million dollar capital plan to change the nature of our parks, funded in large part by the Trexler Trust. Although a number of fads will be accommodated, not one dollar is earmarked to preserve the existing WPA treasures. General Trexler envisioned the parks as a reserve for the passive enjoyment of nature. Among the new Disney-World type plans are a wedding pavilion in the Rose Garden, and the largest playground in eastern Pennsylvania to be built in Cedar Park. The trail through Cedar Creek Park will have lights installed, and the picnic areas will be expanded. Anybody driving past Cedar Beach on a Monday morning sees the trash generated currently by only a few picnic tables. How many more park workers will be required to deal with the consequences of these new plans? The playground is being billed as a "Destination Playground", who will pay to keep that clean? Allentown should build and monitor numerous playgrounds throughout center city, within walking distance for children and parents. The Trexler Trust and The City of Allentown have a responsibility to first repair and maintain these iconic stone edifices which are unique to Allentown.

photo info: the dedication stone is on the Union Street wall. The steps shown in the photo here go through a tunnel in the wall and climb up to Spring Garden Street. They are in total disrepair. This posting is a combination of two previous posts, which appeared on this blog last September.

above reprinted from May of 2009

UPDATE APRIL 10, 2018: My campaign to save the WPA structures has been on going  for over a decade. About 10 years ago, I organized meetings at the library to bring attention to the neglect inflicted upon these structures. In the process I tutored Karen El-Chaar, from Friends Of The Parks, on the issues. She then was able to obtain a grant from the Trexler Trust,  and repoint the Fountain Park Steps. I opposed the more outlandish proposals cited above for Rose Garden area, and plans were scaled back.  I organized efforts to dig out and reveal the WPA Spring Pond and Boat Landing, both of which were discarded decades earlier. Because of the neglect, the Lehigh Parkway wall collapsed, but has since been partially rebuilt, to allow use of the entrance road into the park. In cooperation with Friends Of The Parks,  I conducted tours of Lehigh Parkway, featuring its history and WPA structures. During the Pawlowski regime I offered my advice to City Council on the traditional park system and WPA, but it was rejected.  I again make the same offer to Mayor O'Connell and the new administration.

UPDATE MARCH 3, 2020: Although O'Connell did invite me to a meeting about the parks, I am once again a persona non grata.  Karen El-Chaar is now director of parks.  It is my understanding that the Trexler Trust has commissioned a study of the Parkway Structures,  but declined to share any information with me.  It is my informed opinion that the immediate services of a stone mason are much more needed than that of their consultants. Time is the enemy of these structures.

UPDATE MARCH 23, 2022: Recently, I have been asked by several people if I will be conducing  another tour of the WPA structures in Lehigh Parkway? My current mission is to prevail upon the city to repair the landings on the Parkway's double stairway, and to remove the rubble around the Robin Hood Bridge piers. If the city does these most worthwhile projects, it would be my honor to lead another tour.

UPDATE JANUARY 23, 2023: With the departure of Karen El-Chaar as park director, I have lost an ally. Although she never fulfilled my wish list for WPA repairs, her door was open to me.  While the Parkway Entrance Wall is almost completely repointed, the landings on the double stairwell desperately  need to be repaired. The stonework at Union Terrace also needs attention. 

Those so interested can type in fountain park steps on this blog's search engine, for numerous posts on the WPA.

The Transformation Of Allentown

Transformational is Ed Pawlowski's word for the change taking place in Allentown. What's happening at the moment is demolition. There is an odor and dust in the air. One merchant told me he's fearful for his health walking around; Is the white soot asbestos? Thirty five, one hundred year old buildings, do that. I recall when the demolished rows of buildings were jewelers, shoe stores, opticians and tailors. None of the stores, even the ones on Hamilton Street, harked back to that era. The demolished stores apparently catered to a disposable clientele, whose votes matter more than their opinion. Those merchants, in vain, actually had gathered thousands of signatures pleading for their survival. The bulldozers, in one week, have established that Hamilton Street will never again aspire to be a shopping district. The only question now is will Allentown succeed as an entertainment and office venue? Will the taxpayers be able and willing to support a vision in which they had no input? The official answer will take years to determine. The true answer, even longer.

reprinted from January of 2012

ADDENDUM JANUARY 20, 2023: Back a decade ago, any scrutiny of what was going on was limited to this naysayer blogger.  Pawlowski and the Morning Call thought that he was a star, the only question was his future, Governor or Senator?  Behind the scene, he was trading city contracts for campaign contributions.  

The arena seems to have been a ploy for the NIZ, which has turned one millionaire into a billionaire, using our diverted state taxes to publicly finance a privately owned real estate empire.

Although years have now passed, center city is a zone now deader than ever.

I'm still basically the lone critic... my name banned from city hall and the Morning Call and assorted apologists.

I still produce this blog for those who stir reality into their morning coffee.

Lehigh Valley Transit Freight Service

Lehigh Valley Transit Company began their freight service in 1908, using converted passenger cars. By 1912, they were purchasing cars manufactured for commercial hauling. Various train/trolley websites specialize in the exact specifications of these trolley cars, and trace the history of specific cars. It was not uncommon for a car to be used by three or four different companies, and retrofitted for various uses. Throughout the formative years, Lehigh Valley Transit acquired smaller companies and absorbed their freight operations; The Quakertown Traction Company operated between Perkasie and Quakertown. Lehigh Valley's freight operation extended to the 72nd Street Freight House in Philadelphia.

Several years ago, Allentown lost an expert on our local train/trolley history, Gerhard Salomon. Mr. Salomon was a partner in the family jewelry store, one of few remaining gems from Hamilton Street's past.

UPDATE: This post heralds back to May of 2010, and was republished in May of 2013. Since that time we lost the few remaining gems on Hamilton Street.  Salomon's was torn down and replaced by another glass Reilly NIZ tower.  Tucker Yarn has recently closed, and will become the location for yet another tower of blandness.  This blog, with perhaps a unique combination of history and politics, will continue chronicling these transitions.

Allentown's Vanishing History

Years ago a reader sent me the above image.  It looks down the hill from 7th and Hamilton, north, toward Linden Street. He had been attempting to locate the old Lafayette Radio store on 7th street, because of a pleasant memory from his childhood. By my day the store had moved onto the southern side of the 700 block of Hamilton Street. History is quickly succumbing to the wreaking ball in Allentown. All the buildings shown above, on the unit block of 7th Street, have been knocked down for the arena and Reilly's Strata complexes.  When Salomon Jewelry departed,  Tucker Yarn remained one of Hamilton Street's last remaining businesses from the glory days.

Phil and Rose Tucker opened their first yarn store on N. 7th St. in 1949. That first store can be seen on the left side of the above photo. The Tucker Yarn Company had been at its current location at 950 Hamilton Street for over 50 years. For knitting enthusiasts the endless inventory was legendary. Phil told me years ago how even in May, traditionally a slow month for the industry, Hess's annual flower show kept Hamilton Street and his store busy. A busy Hamilton Street is a memory now, shared only by a couple of surviving merchants. Although many of Tucker's customers were elderly, the business was much more than a time capsule. His daughter Mae, nationally known in the trade, gave classes and operates a large mail order web site, tuckeryarns.com

Tucker Yarn has closed.  In the near future you will see the building replaced by one more new office building.  This blogger will continue his downtown recons, but I will no longer be sitting in a familiar place with familiar faces.

The above image can be found in Doug Peters' Lehigh Valley Transit

reprinted from November of 2019

Faith Baptist Church (Allentown)

There is a small church on the 200 block of N. 12th Street, which is served by a humble man, Pastor Robert Hargrove. Pastor Hargrove has been ministering to his flock at Faith Baptist Church for over 40 years. Years ago, when I managed buildings in the neighborhood, I had the privilege of meeting the pastor and seeing his concern for others. While his congregation was small, his outreach in the neighborhood was large. In addition to running a summer program for local kids, his church door was always open for those in distress.

While his formal congregation was mostly Black, it seemed that most of his outreach helped the poorer whites in the surrounding blocks.

Over the years he kindly allowed me to conduct a few community meetings at the church, on topics such as Fairview Cemetery and the removal of bus stops.

While the large churches with the politically astute leaders get most our attention,  many people in need often turn to the small neighborhood churches, such as Faith Baptist.

reprinted from December of 2019

A Hammer From 7th Street

The other day I noticed a ball peen hammer head for sale.  It was stamped 521 N 7  Allentown PA   Although I've seen machinist stamp their tools with their initials and even work ID numbers,  usually a stamping like this means that the hammer was made at 521, or at least sold there.  Allentown has a long tradition in iron, steel and hardware.  In the next block, C.F. Wolfertz, knife maker, was in business from 1862 to 1989.

Although I have yet to identify the hammer head,  521 has its own story.  Over the years many people lived in the apartments over the store. Although I won't mention people by name, there were births, deaths, accidents, robberies,  marriages and arrests.  Although the walls don't talk, the newspaper archives do.

Over the years many people worked in the storeroom, in many businesses.  In the mid 1940's, Clements Variety Store had about everything,  but I suspect the hammer is from before then. In 1958 a business called Niagara offered a good living to good salesman, but apparently you had to apply before learning what you sold.  I suppose not that many people applied, because the storeroom was for rent in 1959.  By 1961 Melody Organs gave the space a try.  However, by 1962 you could buy a whirlpool by Jacuzzi there. In 1963 a dry cleaner gave it a shot.  The 1960's must have been slow on 7th, because the space was again vacant in 1964.

In 1971 the building was offered for sale at $22,500.  Filmlab operated there throughout the decade and into the 80's, until they moved up to the corner on Liberty. Today that storeroom, at 445, is owned by Peter Lewnes,  current 7th Street Development Director.

Back at 521,  rough times were coming again. In 1991 Unique Treasures opened. Apparently, the merchandize wasn't unique enough, because by 1993 it was the People's Choice Store.  They were ahead of the times by about 25 years, and were dispensing marijuana, until the police thought better of it.  Years later, in 2012, a barber shop fronted for an after-hours club in the basement.

Peter Lewnes is doing a terrific job  managing the street. Over the decades I had many favorite eating spots on 7th Street.  I look forward to the continued development of the street,  and I will learn more about that hammer.

reprinted from May of 2020