The History of Allentown, PA

The city of Allentown is located on the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, approximately 60 miles north of Philadelphia and 90 miles west of New York City. Allentown was founded in 1762 as a small rural village named Northamptontown by Chief Justice of Colonial Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court, William Allen. When planning Northamptontown, Allen had a vision of a bustling commercial center on the river, but unfortunately, the water level was too low most of the year for river trade to be possible. Leading up to the Revolutionary War, the village consisted of a small, nondescript Pennsylvania Dutch community of farmers and tradesmen, which is why it was chosen as the hiding place for the Liberty Bell in 1777 when Philadelphia was left defenseless after Washington’s defeat at the Battle of Brandywine. The British were known to melt down bells to cast them into cannons, and so the Liberty Bell and two other bells were safely tucked away in the basement of the Old Zion Reformed Church of Northamptontown until the war was over.

Although Northamptontown was the official name of the settlement, it was colloquially referred to as “Allen’s Town,” and in 1838, residents officially replaced the town’s more formal name with “Allentown.” America’s Industrial Revolution, which largely began in the Lehigh Valley, helped Allentown to prosper in ways that were more in line with William Allen’s original intent, especially with the construction of the Lehigh Canal and the railroads. At first, Allentown was a center for the iron industry, and then by the turn of the 20th century, its economy diversified to include silk mills (the Adelaide Silk Mill established in 1881 was one of the largest in the world at that time), as well as a variety of small manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, and trades. The atmosphere in Allentown during this intense industrial period from the 1850s to WWII earned it a lasting reputation for being a city full of hard-working Americans—a reputation that was globally reiterated by pop icon Billy Joel who, in 1982, released a hit song entitled “Allentown,” which spoke for the city’s struggling working class at the demise of manufacturing.

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