The buildings and architecture of Allentown, Pennsylvania reflect the city's history from its founding in 1762 through to the present.
Allentown is characterized by historic homes, churches, commercial structures, and century-old industrial buildings, some of which played a role in the American Revolution of the 18th century, or were centerpieces in the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Many of the city's homes and building structures rank among the oldest in the United States.
Allentown was founded in 1762. There are three historic districts in Allentown: Old Allentown, the Old Fairgrounds, and West Park neighborhoods. Old Allentown and Old Fairgrounds are Center City neighborhoods that hold a joint house tour organized by Old Allentown Preservation Association annually in September. West Park neighborhood also offers a tour of this district's larger Victorian and American Craftsman-style homes. [1]
The oldest standing structure in Allentown is Trout Hall, built in 1770 by James Hamilton, son-in-law of William Allen, the city's founder. Located at South 4th and Walnut streets, the home was later renamed several times. It was known as Livingston Mansion. In 1848, it became Allentown Seminary. In 1867, it housed the newly-established Muhlenberg College prior to the college's move to its present location off Cedar Crest Boulevard. In 1905, it was restored and is currently administered as Trout Hall by the Lehigh County Historical Society.
Miller Symphony Hall, at 23 North Sixth Street in Center City, was constructed in 1896.
Zion's Reformed United Church of Christ, founded in 1762, is located at 620 West Hamilton Street. The church's original structure was a log cabin Union Church it shared with the congregation of St. Paul's Lutheran. Zion's current building, a neo-gothic [2] structure built in the 1880s, hosts a sanctuary representing a high point in 19th-century church architecture, with stained glass art windows on all four walls interweaving biblical symbols with a floral motif, symbolizing the flowering of the new out of the old. [3]
Until 2023, Zion's Church also hosted the Liberty Bell Museum, due to the special role the church played in protecting the Liberty Bell from capture by British during the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1777. The Liberty Bell was hidden under the floor boards in the church's basement.
In the 20th century, rowhouses, many built in the Victorian or Federal style, became popular in Allentown. The West End neighborhood, which runs roughly from 15th Street to Cedar Crest Boulevard, is famous for both its brick twin styles closer to center city and large homes, including the Hess Mansion, which is located in the city's west-end.
The PPL Building, constructed between 1926 and 1928, is Allentown's tallest building at 322 feet (98 m). It is 23 stories high and is located at the northwest corner of 9th and Hamilton streets. A Lehigh Valley icon, the building's Art Deco tower is visible throughout the Lehigh Valley; in clear weather, the building's tower is visible as far north as Blue Mountain. The building was designed by architect and skyscraper pioneer Harvey Wiley Corbett, who later helped design Rockefeller Center in Manhattan and was supervised by his assistant, Wallace Harrison, who later designed Lincoln Center, LaGuardia Airport, and the U.N. Headquarters Building in New York City. The building exterior features bas reliefs by Alexander Archipenko.
In 1930, the PPL Building was named the "best example of a modern office building" by Encyclopædia Britannica and was featured as having the world's fastest elevator. Exterior shots of Allentown's PPL Building are featured in the 1954 movie Executive Suite . [4]
At the beginning of the 21st century, much of Allentown's office and retail space was vacant.
In December 2011, J.B. Reilly, [5] Alvin H. Butz [6] and other developers announced a series of new plans designed to bring service-based companies and white-collar workers back to the city while taking advantage of a special tax zone created for the construction of the new PPL Center at 7th and Hamilton streets.
In the early 21st century, some historic industrial buildings have been converted to loft-style rental apartments, including the Farr Lofts in Center City, the P&P Mill Building in the 1st Ward ,and Auburn Station near the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Center.
The tallest buildings and structures in the Lehigh Valley, (metropolitan Allentown) are: [7] [8]
Rank | Building Name | Height feet/meters | Floors | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | PPL Building | 321.6 ft (98.0 m) | 24 | 1928 |
2 | Episcopal House | 235 | 19 | 1968 |
3 | Five City Center [9] | 200 | 13 | 2019 |
4 | Moravian House I | 188 | 15 | 1974 |
5 | Packer Memorial Church | 183 / 56 | 1885 | |
6 | Tower 6 [10] | 180 | 12 | 2018 |
7 (tie) | Wind Creek Bethlehem | 175 | 14 | 2011 |
7 (tie) | The Fred B. Rooney Building | 175 | 14 | 1979 |
9 (tie) | First United Church of Christ | 173 / 53 | 1776 | |
9 (tie) | Regency Towers | 173 | 14 | 1973 |
11 | Two City Center [11] | 165 | 11 | 2014 |
12 (tie) | Towne House Apartments | 161 | 13 | 1976 |
12 (tie) | Towers East | 161 | 13 | 1967 |
14 | Americus Center | 150 | 13 | 1927 |
15 | Bethlehem Steel Building | 140 | 13 | 1916 |
16 (tie) | Lutheran Manor Apartments | 138 | 11 | 1977 |
16 (tie) | One Bethlehem Plaza | 138 | 11 | 1974 |
16 (tie) | Monocacy Tower | 138 | 11 | 1973 |
19 (tie) | B'nai B'rith West Apartments | 136 | 11 | 1979 |
19 (tie) | Little Lehigh Manor | 136 | 11 | 1979 |
21 | Walter House | 134 | 11 | 1963 |
22 | Allentown Center Square | 130 | 11 | 1911 |
23 (tie) | Tower 65 | 125 | 10 | 1967 |
23 (tie) | Moravian House 2 | 125 | 10 | 1979 |
25 (tie) | Lehigh County Prison | 124 | 10 | 1992 |
25 (tie) | Hamilton Financial Center | 124 | 10 | 1983 |
27 | Renaissance Allentown Hotel | 123 | 10 | 2015 |
28 | The Eastonian | 121 / 37 | 10 | 1926 |
29 | Alpha Building | 115 | 10 | 1901 |
30 | Tower Apartments | 112.73 | 9 | 1966 |
31 | Soldiers and Sailors Monument of Allentown | 112 / 34 | 1899 | |
32 | Lehigh County Courthouse [12] | 111 | 9 | 1965 |
33 | Hotel Bethlehem | 104 | 11 | 1922 |
34 (tie) | The Andrew W. Litzenberger House | 100 | 8 | 1967 |
34 (tie) | Lehigh Valley Hospital - Muhlenberg | 100 | 8 | 2005 |
34 (tie) | No. 2 Machine Shop | 100 | 8 | 1890 |
34 (tie) | Iacocca Hall at Lehigh University [13] | 100 | 8 | 1961 |
38 | Lehigh Valley Hospital - 17th Street | 79 / 24 | 6 | 1952 |
39 | Allentown Masonic Temple | 77 / 24 | 6 | 1925 |
40 | Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument of Easton | 75 / 23 | 1900 |
Allentown is the county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the third-most populous city in Pennsylvania with a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census and the most populous city in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation as of 2020.
Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781, making it the second-largest city in the Lehigh Valley after Allentown and the seventh-largest city in the state. Among its total population as of 2020, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,343 were in Lehigh County. The city is located along the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River.
The Lehigh Valley is a geographic and metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bounded to its north by Blue Mountain, to its south by South Mountain, to its west by Lebanon Valley, and to its east by the Delaware River and Warren County, New Jersey. The Lehigh Valley is about 40 miles (64 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide. The Lehigh Valley's largest city is Allentown, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, with a population of 125,845 residents as of the 2020 census.
PPL Corporation is an energy company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as NYSE: PPL and is part of the S&P 500. As of 2022, the company had $7.9 billion in revenue, 6,500 employees, over $37 billion in assets, and serves 3.6 million customers.
Pennsylvania Route 145 is a 20.89 mi (33.62 km) long north–south state highway in the Lehigh Valley area of eastern Pennsylvania. It connects Interstate 78 (I-78) and PA 309 in Lanark, Lehigh County, north to PA 248 in Lehigh Gap, Northampton County.
Hess's, originally known as Hess Brothers, was a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company was founded a single store in 1897, and grew to nearly 80 stores by its commercial peak in the late 1980s. The chains stores were closed or sold off in a series of deals in the early to mid-1990s.
The architecture of Philadelphia is a mix of historic and modern styles that reflect the city's history. The first European settlements appeared within the present day borders of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 17th century with most structures being built from logs. By the 18th century, brick structures had become common. Georgian and later Federal style buildings dominated much of the cityscape. In the first half of the 19th century, Greek revival appeared and flourished with architects such as William Strickland, John Haviland, and Thomas U. Walter. In the second half of the 19th century, Victorian architecture became popular with the city's most notable Victorian architect being Frank Furness.
The PPL Building, formerly the Pennsylvania Power and Light Building, is a 24-story office building in Allentown, Pennsylvania. At 321.6 ft (98.0 m) in height, it is the tallest building in the city and the surrounding Lehigh Valley metropolitan area. The building is the headquarters for PPL Corporation, the main electricity provider for the Lehigh Valley, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and other regions of Pennsylvania and the United States.
Hamilton Street is a major thoroughfare and historic street in the Center City section of Allentown, Pennsylvania. The street dates back to 1762, when Allentown's founder, William Allen, included it as one of the first of several streets to be constructed in the city.
Allentown, Pennsylvania is the home for the global and U.S. corporate headquarters of several companies, including Air Products, PPL Corporation, and others. The largest employer in the Lehigh Valley is Lehigh Valley Health Network with almost 8,000 employees.
The culture of Allentown, Pennsylvania dates back to the early 18th century settlement of the city and the surrounding Lehigh Valley, which was then part of the Province of Pennsylvania, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, by German immigrants almost exclusively affiliated the Lutheran, Moravian, and Reformed faiths, three of the most prominent Protestant denominations.
Center City Allentown is the downtown and central business district of Allentown, Pennsylvania, the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It has a dense population and is currently undergoing an urban revitalization process.
The High German Evangelical Reformed Church, also known as Zion Reformed and Zion United Church of Christ, is an historic Evangelical and Reformed church, located at 622 West Hamilton Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.
H. Leh & Co., typically referred to simply as Leh's, was a department store located at 626 West Hamilton Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was of what was an outside mall structure called the Hamilton Mall in the Center City portion of the city. Like many other downtown department stores of the time, however, it ultimately closed as suburban shopping malls gained market share at the expense of inner-city stores.
The PPL Center is an 8,500-seat capacity indoor sports arena in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It opened on September 10, 2014. It is the home arena for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League, the primary development hockey team for the Philadelphia Flyers. The arena also hosts major concerts, sports, and entertainment events throughout the year.
The Farr Building is a historic office building in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The building, which opened in 1907, is currently used as retail and residential space.