High German Evangelical Reformed Church | |
Location of the church in Pennsylvania | |
Location | 622 West Hamilton Street, Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
---|---|
Area | 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) |
Built | 1762 |
Architect | Lewis Jacoby |
Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 83002259 [1] |
Added to NRHP | July 28, 1983 |
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.
During the American Revolutionary War, the church was selected as the site to hide and protect the Liberty Bell from seizure as British troops prepared the Philadelphia campaign, designed to attack and occupy the revolutionary capital in Philadelphia. The Liberty Bell was hidden beneath floor boards in the church for nine months, from September 1777 until the British ultimately departed Philadelphia in June 1778.
The church how houses the Liberty Bell Museum, which was established to honor the role that Allentown and Lehigh Valley-area American patriots played in successfully guarding America's national symbol of freedom.
Initially built as a log structure on its present-day site at 622 Hamilton Street in Center City Allentown in 1762, the original High German Evangelical Reformed Church building was replaced in 1773 with a simple brick structure, which was designed in a vernacular federal style and erected a few yards north of the first log church's location.
In September 1777, as American patriots prepared for a British Army attack on the colonial-era capital of Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell and other bells in Philadelphia were ordered taken down and then hastily transported to present-day Allentown, which was then called Northampton Towne, where they were successfully hidden under the church's floor boards until June 1778 when the British abandoned Philadelphia. [2]
In 1838, when Zion Reformed was enlarged, contractors may have incorporated the 1762 structure into the walls of the current building's boiler room. The building was then enlarged further between 1886 and 1888 via gothic revival-style improvements made by architect Lewis Jacoby. [3]
In 1983, in recognition of the church's valuable contribution to the nation's early history, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. [1]
The Liberty Bell Museum, which commemorates the Liberty Bell's hiding in 1777, is located in the church's basement and is open to visitors.
Lehigh County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 374,557. Its county seat is Allentown, the state's third-largest city after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Allentown is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, in the United States. It is the third-most-populous city in Pennsylvania with a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census and the largest 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.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles on people, places, and things related to Pennsylvania in the United States.
The Lehigh Valley, known colloquially as The 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 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.
Thomas Wharton Jr. was a Pennsylvania merchant and politician of the Revolutionary era. He served as the first president of Pennsylvania following the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain.
The Albertus L. Meyers Bridge, also known as the Eighth Street Bridge, the South Eighth Street Viaduct, and unsigned as SR 2055, is a reinforced concrete open-spandrel arch bridge located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The bridge is "one of the earliest surviving examples of monumental, reinforced concrete construction," according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The George Taylor House, also known as George Taylor Mansion, was the home of Founding Father George Taylor, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The home was built by Taylor in 1768 and designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1971.
The Liberty Bell Museum, also the Liberty Bell Shrine Museum was a non-profit organization and museum located in Zion's United Church of Christ, formerly Zion's Reformed Church, in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The museum was located in the basement of the church, where the Liberty Bell, an iconic and globally-recognized symbol of America's independence, was hidden from the British Army by Allentown-area American patriots during the American Revolutionary War from September 1777 to June 1778.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the United States Commonwealth of Pennsylvania:
The buildings and architecture of Allentown, Pennsylvania reflect the city's history and settlement from its original settlement in the 1700s through the present. Allentown is characterized by its abundant historic homes, churches, commercial structures, and century-old industrial buildings, some of which 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 nation's oldest.
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.
Trout Hall is an historic home located at Allentown in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. One of the older homes in Allentown, it was built between 1768 and 1770, and is a two-and-one-half-story, stone dwelling in the Georgian style.
The Frederick and Catherine Leaser Farm, also known as the Frederick Leaser Farm, is an historic home and farm located in Lynn Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It was built by Frederick Leaser, who was one of the men involved in transporting the Liberty Bell to the Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, thereby preventing British attempts to capture the symbol of American independence during the American Revolutionary War.
Zion Lutheran Church, also known as the Zion Church of the City of Baltimore, is a historic Evangelical Lutheran church located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, United States, founded 1755.
Liberty Hall is an historic, American building that is located in Quakertown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Purchased by the borough of Quakertown in 1977, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Leaser Lake is a man-made lake located near the village of Jacksonville in Lynn Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The lake is owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and managed by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC).
Frederick Leaser (1738–1810) was a Pennsylvanian German farmer, patriot and soldier from Lynn in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. During the American Revolutionary War, he transported the Liberty Bell to the Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where it was successfully hidden and protected from the British for nine months during the British occupation of Philadelphia, then the revolutionary capital of the Thirteen Colonies.
Jacksonville is an unincorporated community that is located in Lynn Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which has a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
John Jacob Mickley (1697–1769) was an early settler of Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
John Jacob Mickley (1737–1808) was a farmer and soldier from Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, known for transporting the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia in September, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War.