My Grandfather's Horse

My grandfather lived on the corner of Chew and Jordan Streets. He butchered in a barn behind the house. The house is still there, 301 Jordan, but the barn is gone. He would deliver the meat with a horse and wagon. On the weekends, when the family wanted to visit friends, the horse insisted on doing the meat market route first. Only after he stopped in front of the last market on the route, would he permit my grandfather to direct him.
I managed rental properties between 4th and 12th Streets. I developed a route between the buildings, utilizing many alleys because of the one way streets. While on my route, I got to know many people living in Allentown, and the circumstances of the different neighborhoods. I would often take pictures of people and things I considered photographic. Although I no longer have the managing job, like my grandfather's horse, I continue on the route. But things have changed. Doing street photography has gotten difficult, people are defensive and paranoid. The streets are meaner and the people are harder. Just making eye contact can be uncomfortable.

Don't blame me, as a rental agent I always put the neighbor's comfort ahead of finding tenants. Don't blame me, as a citizen I ran for office and bluntly said what needed to be said.

reprinted from May of 2008

 

ADDENDUM JULY 12, 2023: Don't blame me, as a blogger I continue to say what needs to be said.

Inclusivity Can Be All Wet

Prior to the current administration, the parking lot along Cedar Creek behind the swimming pool was closed off when flooding was anticipated.  The new administration felt that gates sent a  message of unwelcomeness, and they were ordered removed from various locations throughout the park system.  These gates had been installed over the years to prevent damage from flooding, or to allow for proper snow removal during winter storms. 

When I first learned of their removal last year, I was offended by the waste of infrastructure.  Now I realize that it is actually a public safety issue.

This blog in the past has been critical of the Tuerk Administration's wokeness and obsession with being inclusive.  While I have become less critical about the mayor's agenda,  I will not hesitate to speak out when appropriate. 

The flooded car shown above belonged to a couple who decided to take a long stroll in the rain. Unfortunately the creek rose faster than their return walk, but at least they didn't feel unwelcome.

Gems Of Hamilton Street

Philmore and Rose Tucker opened their first yarn store on N. 7th St. in 1949. The Tucker Yarn Company has been at it's current location at 950 Hamilton Street for over 50 years. For knitting enthusiasts the endless inventory is legendary. Phil recalls 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 are elderly, the business is much more than a time capsule. His daughter Mae, nationally known in the trade, gives classes and operates a large mail order web site, TuckerYarn.Com 

reprinted from May 4, 2008 

ADDENDUM JULY 10, 2023: No businesses of Hamilton Street past, including Tucker Yarn, still exist. There are several new businesses, mostly clothing, that constitute Hamilton Street current curtailed retail.

Grant Us Some Wisdom With The Grant Money

Lehigh County inter-governmental agencies are so awash in leftover Covid Funds, their elaborate websites are chocked full o'nutty ideas.

Becky Bradley of  the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission is so excited about landscaping the right of way along route 22.  That right of way was supposed to be new lanes to abate the congestion, until Pat Browne redirected the funding into a new exit for a new Jaindl industrial park just west of Allentown.  So now as you sit in the 4:30 crawl, you'll see new bushes between the road shoulder and fence.

Here in Allentown itself, we're trying to create a bottleneck around the statue in Center Square, by reducing the lanes on both Hamilton and 7th Streets. However, prance for joy at the new pollination garden to be installed in the former traffic lane.  Other genius plans are center city bike lanes.... As if the predators who cannot afford low loud cars will use them. You don't see a lot of spandex and bicycle helmets downtown.

Not The NIZ

7th and Turner is a block away from the NIZ, actually now only half a block, with the lines redrawn to include his latest apartment project, The Hive. That monstrosity faces the infamous 7-Eleven at 7th and Linden, and the hapless Lanta transfer terminal behind it. 

Back at 7th and Turner, it's symbolically the longest half block you can imagine...no delusions of sharing the wealth. I've been photographing Allentown for over fifty years, and the gap has never been more apparent.

It's not because money hasn't been spent outside of the NIZ,  because $millions have.  Grants have been given, and facades have been renovated.  People have been made store owners, complete with inventory, yet poverty permeates. The dispersing agencies have grown large and influential... We have succeeded in building a growing  poverty industry.

Allentown Memories

click on photo to enlarge
From low income sections of center city, to expensive suburbs, Allentown and the Lehigh Valley is becoming home to more and more outsiders. I'm afraid the time will soon come when local memorabilia will have little appeal. Fortunately, for those interested, some impressive collections still exist. This past year Robert Bungerz published Allentown Remembered, documenting his outstanding collection of historical postcards and other objects. David Bausch, former County Executive and authority on Automobile Art, is also a expert on things Allentown. Then there are the many small collections, home of the hidden treasures. Above is an early aerial photograph of the Allentown Fair. Those interested in the recent commotion concerning the 19TH Street Theater District may find the upper right of the photograph interesting. There is no theater, there are no houses on Saint George Street and most of the buildings seem to be garages and automobile in nature (don't tell Auto-Zone). This gem is probably from the late teens or early 20's, and comes from the Thomas Reed Collection. Thomas is aka Z1pyro, long time expert shooter for Zambelli Firework Company. He retired several years ago, and we who appreciate fireworks, notice his departure.

reprinted from July 9. 2008

ADDENDUM JULY 5, 2023: I've seen this photograph recently on another group page. It is even offered for sale by a stock photo agency. It actually comes from this blog. I photographed the original mural size print, about 4'x5', at Tom Reed's house in 2008. I failed to evenly light the mural, and the lower right side ended up washed out somewhat. He was given the photo-mural by the Fair Association years earlier. There is a later aerial photo with Allentown written on the grandstand roof. Over the years several photos have been borrowed from this blog without attribution, along with numerous story lines on local places.

A Tailor From North Street

The Allentown Housing and Development Corp. recently purchased a home at 421 North St. That block of North Street was destroyed by fire, and the agency has built a block of new houses on the street's south side; it will next develop the other side of the street. The deed transfer caught my attention because Morris Wolf lived in the house in 1903. Wolf signed up with the Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry on July 18, 1861, in Philadelphia, when he was 22 years old. He was a private in Company A, of the 3rd Cavalry. This unit was also known as the 60th Regiment and was later called Young's Kentucky Light Cavalry.It defended Washington, D.C., until March 1862, then participated in many of the war's most famous battles: Williamsburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. Wolf had signed up for three years and was mustered out Aug. 24,1864.

Recently, to commemorate Memorial Day, the local veterans group placed more than 500 flags at Fairview Cemetery. If that wasn't enough of a good deed, the group also set upright more than 300 toppled grave markers. Visiting Fairview recently, I saw they had not overlooked the graves of either Mr. Wolf, or another veteran, Joseph Levine. I have concerned myself with Allentown's Fairview Cemetery for the last few years. I first became interested in the small Jewish section, called Mt. Sinai. This was the first organized Jewish cemetery in Allentown. Currently, all the synagogues have their own cemeteries, and Mt. Sinai has been mostly unused for many decades.

Mr. Wolf lies next to his wife, Julia, who died in 1907. Morris would live on for 30 more years, passing away in 1937, at age 98.
Mr. Levine, a World War II veteran, and his wife, Ethel, were the first and last people to be buried there after almost 25 years of inactivity. When Ethel died at age 93 in 2000, it was the first burial at Mt. Sinai since 1976. Joseph was 103 years old when he passed away in 2006.

The Housing and Development Corp. and North Street are now part of Allentown's new neighborhood initiative called Jordan Heights.Although soon there will be a new house at 421 North St., there is a history that will remain with the parcel. Once a tailor lived there who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg.

reprinted from 2010

949 Hamilton Street

Street number wise, the new hotel and entertainment complex at 10th and Hamilton will be known as 949 Hamilton St... Number wise, it encompasses the the original 947 to 959 Hamilton Street. Over the decades it was mostly known as the Rialto Theater complex, housing an ornate theater and a long lobby, along with various storefronts. The front lobby portion of the theater was the scene of a catastrophic fire in 1946, and then rebuilt. Perhaps the most memorable storefront was the Up-Town Wetherhold & Metzger shoe store. The theater space itself was demolished forty some years ago, to accommodate an expanding PPL. 

The former complex was actually several different buildings from different periods. Architecturally, the new construction will be an upgrade...That's something I never said before about a new NIZ building. Although I don't understand what the market will be for the hotel rooms, and the music venue will compete with Symphony Hall, it's not my investment. Wait, actually it is! Debt service on the NIZ projects is met with our diverted state taxes.