OLD ALLENTOWN PRESERVATION ASSN INC

Description

Since 1976 we have been dedicated to preserving the historic architecture of Old Allentown i n Allentown, PA and to building a sense of community in our neighborhood.

The Old Allentown Historic District

The Old Allentown Historic District, which qualifies for historic landmark status, encompasses a nearly 16-squareblock area within the City of Allentown, Pennsylvania, stretching from Hall Street west of 7th Street to 12th Street, east to west and from Liberty Street to Linden Street, north to south. The District was established by special City Ordinance in 1978 to protect the unique late federal to Victorian architecture of the area. It includes the Old Allentown Cemetery, which dates to the American Revolution, as well as the nearly two-square-block Union & West End Historic Cemetery (featured on the tour this year), which dates to 1854 and is the largest resting place for Civil War veterans outside of Gettysburg.

Prominent features of the architecture that are unique to the Old Allentown Historic District include the elaborately chip-carved Eastlake ornamentation over doorways and windows, ornate German-style fretted cornice work, and the bell-shaped porch roofs that were added during the early 1900s as homeowners ventured outside to watch the new-fangled automobiles cruise up and down streets. The Five Sisters on Turner Street are pre-Civil War and were built in 1835