Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown, Pennsylvania is found in Lehigh Valley.  Containing a population of more than 106,000, Allentown looms as the third most populous city in Pennsylvania.  Serving as the county seat to Lehigh County, Allentown is ninety miles west of the glittering metropolis of New York, and sixty miles north of Philadelphia, giving the city access to enormous commercial markets.  The Allentown metropolitan area includes the towns of Easton and Bethlehem.

Situated directly on the Lehigh River , Allentown started out as a small German village that stood as a marketing center for the region's vast agricultural industry.  Lehigh Valley is known as the 'birthplace of America's Industrial Revolution' and after the Pennsylvania Canal System and the railroads were constructed, Allentown flourished as a hub for the silk industry, the iron and steel mills, the coalmines and manufacturing of all sorts.  At one time, Allentown made everything from cigars and beer to furniture.  It held the title 'Truck Capitol of the World.'

The decline in manufacturing and the closing of so many mines and steel mills brought hard times to Allentown's people.  Singer and song-writer, Billy Joel, immortalized the city in his song 'Allentown.'  Verses such as: "Well we're living here in Allentown, and they're closing all the factories down.  Out in Bethlehem they're killing time, filling out forms and standing in line" depict the grim despair the residents faced.  But the tenacity of the people won out and the city changed with the times.  City leaders have brought in state-of-the-art technology with a fiber-optic loop, and have revamped their entire electrical system, insuring new incoming businesses of the finest infrastructure available.  Interstates 78, 476 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike run directly through the Allentown metro area, making it a strategic location for commerce.  The Lehigh Valley International Airport offers non-stop international flights.

Allentown residents enjoy the numerous lovely parks that grace the city.  Four creeks meander through the area, with more trout per water acre than any other streams in the state.  The Allentown Rose Gardens are known as the premier locale for weddings, with their abundance of all types of roses and picturesque lagoons filled with water lilies.  Muhlenburg Lake is a fine place to spend a warm summer evening on a pedal boat, while the Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom keeps the kids thrilled with a wonderful theme park complete with roller coasters and wild water rides.

For history buffs, sixteen museums lie within a twenty-mile radius of Allentown and three are located right downtown.  The city itself played its own role in history when the nation's precious Liberty Bell was hidden here as the British attempted to seize Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War.  An exact replica remains at the Liberty Bell Shrine, housed in Zion's United Church of Christ.  Shoppers are delighted with the rustic Fairground Farmer's Market, an old-fashioned indoor flea market with many independent vendors and marvelous produce.  The Lehigh Valley Mall offers the finest in modern retail.

Allentown, Pennsylvania remains an ideal place to work, live and play as it regains its former status as a commercial and cultural hub for the Lehigh Valley region.

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