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Lehigh Valley

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Lehigh Valley
Greatvalley-map.png
The Great Appalachian Valley includes the Lehigh Valley (5) depicted south of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians and between the Lebanon (6) and Kittatinny (4) valleys.
Lehigh Valley is located in Pennsylvania
Lehigh Valley
Location of Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania
Area726 sq mi (1,880 km2)
Geography
LocationLehigh County
Northampton County
Population centersAllentown, Bethlehem, Easton
Borders onRidge-and-Valley Appalachians Blue Mountain (north)
South Mountain (south)
Delaware River (east)
Lebanon Valley (west)
This article is about the Eastern Pennsylvania region. For the county, see Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. For other uses, see Lehigh Valley (disambiguation).

The Lehigh Valley (/ˈliːhaɪ/), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic and metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County 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.[1] The Valley is about 40 miles (64 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide.[2] 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.[3]

The Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton metropolitan area, which includes the Lehigh Valley, is currently Pennsylvania's third most populous metropolitan area after those of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the nation's 68th largest metropolitan area with a population of 861,889 residents as of 2020. Lehigh County is among Pennsylvania's fastest-growing counties, and the Lehigh Valley leads Pennsylvania in terms of population growth in the 18- to 34-year old demographic, which constitutes a significant portion of the labor workforce.[4] The region's core population centers are located in southern and central Lehigh and Northampton counties along Interstate 78, Interstate 476, Pennsylvania Route 309, and U.S. Route 22.

The Lehigh Valley has historically been a global leader in steel and other heavy manufacturing industries, which represented a considerable portion of its employment and economic production for most of the 20th century. Beginning in the early 1980s, however, the region's heavy manufacturing sector experienced a rapid downfall, highlighted by the downsizing and ultimate closure of Bethlehem Steel, once the world's second largest steel manufacturer, and other Valley-based manufacturing companies. The Valley's economy struggled considerably before ultimately rebounding and since emerging in the 21st century as one of Pennsylvania's largest and fastest-growing economies. As of 2020, the Lehigh Valley's total gross domestic product (GDP) is $42.9 billion, driven by diverse industry sector contributions from its finance, manufacturing, health care and education, and information sectors. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, the Lehigh Valley experienced 5% GDP growth.[5] The Lehigh Valley has also emerged as an epicenter for the U.S. logistics industry, including warehousing and intermodal transport.[6][7]

The region's primary commercial airport is Lehigh Valley International Airport in Hanover Township; the airport's air traffic has grown considerably in the 21st century, largely as a result of considerable growth in its commercial air cargo traffic, which exceeded 210 million pounds in 2016.[8][9]

The Lehigh Valley is located within the U.S. Northeast megalopolis with ease of access and close proximity to many of the nation's largest population centers, airports, terminals, railways, and seaports, including New York City, the nation's largest city, which is 90 miles (140 km) to its east, and Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most-populous city, which is 60 miles (97 km) to its southeast. The region is located geographically within a one-day drive to over a third of the U.S. population and over half of Canada's population, which has been a factor in its 21st century emergence as a North American leader in light manufacturing and commercial distribution. Gains in these and other industries have helped offset the significant losses the region had experienced from its late 20th century decline in heavy manufacturing.

Since its settlement in the 1700s, the Lehigh Valley has been the birthplace or home to several notable Americans who have proven influential across a broad range of fields, including academia, art and music, business, government and politics, the military, professional and Olympic-level athletics, and other fields.

Discover more about Lehigh Valley related topics

Geography

Geography

Geography is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. The first recorded use of the word γεωγραφία was as a title of a book by Greek scholar Eratosthenes. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. While geography is specific to Earth, many concepts can be applied more broadly to other celestial bodies in the field of planetary science. One such concept, the first law of geography, proposed by Waldo Tobler, is "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things." Geography has been called "the world discipline" and "the bridge between the human and the physical sciences."

Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania)

Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania)

Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain Ridge, or the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania, is a ridge of the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Pennsylvania. Forming the southern and eastern edge of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians physiographic province in Pennsylvania, Blue Mountain extends 150 miles (240 km) from the Delaware Water Gap on the New Jersey border in the east to Big Gap in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania at its southwestern end.

Delaware River

Delaware River

The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for 282 miles (454 km) along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before emptying into Delaware Bay. It is the longest free-flowing river in the Eastern United States.

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown is a city in Lehigh County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 125,845 at the 2020 census. Allentown is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania and the state's third-largest city after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It is the largest city in both Lehigh County and the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the United States as of 2020. Allentown was founded in 1762 and is the county seat of Lehigh County.

County seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US state of Vermont and in some other English-speaking jurisdictions. County towns have a similar function in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as historically in Jamaica.

2020 United States census

2020 United States census

The United States census of 2020 was the 24th decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to offer options to respond online or by phone, in addition to the paper response form used for previous censuses. The census was taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected its administration. The census recorded a resident population of 331,449,281 in the fifty states and the District of Columbia, an increase of 7.4 percent, or 22,703,743, over the preceding decade. The growth rate was the second-lowest ever recorded, and the net increase was the sixth highest in history. This was the first census where the 10 most-populous states each surpassed 10 million residents, and the first census where the 10 most-populous cities each surpassed 1 million residents.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,343 were in Lehigh County. It is Pennsylvania's eighth most populous city. The city is located along the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River.

Easton, Pennsylvania

Easton, Pennsylvania

Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) river that joins the Delaware River in Easton and serves as the city's eastern geographic boundary with Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Delaware Valley

Delaware Valley

The Delaware Valley, sometimes referred to as Greater Philadelphia or the Philadelphia metropolitan area, is a metropolitan region in the Northeast on the East Coast of the United States that centers on Philadelphia and spans four U.S. states: Southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, northern Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland. According to the 2020 census, the core metropolitan statistical area of the Delaware Valley had a total population of 6.288 million, making it the nation's seventh largest and world's 35th largest metropolitan area, while the combined statistical area of the Delaware Valley contains a total population of 7.366 million.

Bethlehem Steel

Bethlehem Steel

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success and productivity, the company was a symbol of American manufacturing leadership in the world, and its decline and ultimate liquidation in the late 20th century is similarly cited as an example of America's diminished manufacturing leadership. From its founding in 1857 through its 2003 dissolution, Bethlehem Steel's headquarters and primary steel mill manufacturing facilities were based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States.

Air cargo

Air cargo

Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail.

Distribution (marketing)

Distribution (marketing)

Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for the consumer or business user who needs it, and a distributor is a business involved in the distribution stage of the value chain. This can be done directly by the producer or service provider or using indirect channels with distributors or intermediaries. Distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix: the other three elements being product, pricing, and promotion.

History

See also: History of Pennsylvania
Shelter House in Emmaus, constructed in 1734 by Pennsylvania German settlers, is the Lehigh Valley's oldest continuously occupied building structure and one of the oldest in the state.
Shelter House in Emmaus, constructed in 1734 by Pennsylvania German settlers, is the Lehigh Valley's oldest continuously occupied building structure and one of the oldest in the state.
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, erected in 1899 at Seventh and Hamilton Streets in Center City Allentown, where it still stands, honors men from Allentown and its suburbs killed in their volunteer service in the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment and other Union Army units during the American Civil War
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, erected in 1899 at Seventh and Hamilton Streets in Center City Allentown, where it still stands, honors men from Allentown and its suburbs killed in their volunteer service in the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment and other Union Army units during the American Civil War

The Lehigh Valley was settled in the first half of the 1700s by predominantly German immigrants fleeing war and religious persecution. Prior to their arrival, the region was inhabited by Lenape Indian tribes who hunted, fished, and quarried jasper in the region. Sons of provincial Pennsylvania founder William Penn acquired much of the Lehigh Valley in the Walking Purchase in 1737 during the colonial period. Lenape Indians subsequently retaliated with raids against European settlers throughout the 1750s and early 1760s but were moved out of the region by the mid-1760s. The region was initially established in 1682 as part of Bucks County. In 1752, the region became part of Northampton County, and Lehigh County was later separated from Northampton County and formally established in 1812.[10] Shelter House in Emmaus, constructed in 1734 by Pennsylvania German settlers, is the oldest still-standing building structure in the Lehigh Valley and believed to be one of the oldest in the state.[11]

American Revolutionary War

See also: Liberty Bell Museum
Further information: Pennsylvania in the American Revolution

Allentown and its surrounding communities played an important and historic role in the emergence of the American Revolution. Some of the first resistance to British colonialism began in Allentown and surrounding Lehigh County communities in the Lehigh Valley. As early as June 21, 1774, patriot forces in Allentown began meeting to formulate resistance plans to British colonial governance. On December 21, 1774, a Committee of Observation was formally established by Allentown-area patriot militias.[12]

Following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Colonial British government in Allentown began dissolving and these patriot militias seized control, pressuring Tories out of the region. Washington and his Continental Army staff passed through Allentown following their victory at the Battle of Trenton, traveling up Lehigh Street, which was then called Water Street. Washington and his staff stopped at the foot of Lehigh Street at a large spring on what today is the property occupied by Wire Mill. They rested there, watered their horses, and then proceeded to their post of duty.[13] Allentown supported the Revolution, establishing the first hospitals for treatment of wounded Continental Army troops at various city locations, including at the current location of the Farr Building at 739 Hamilton Street.

Washington and his commanders also chose to establish two POW camps in Allentown, one at 8th and Hamilton Streets and another on Gordon Street, to house Hessian mercenaries captured at the Battle of Trenton.[14] In addition to visiting Allentown after his victory at the Battle of Trenton, Washington returned to the city and region several additional times during and following the Revolution.[15]

Allentown also played a historical role in protecting the Liberty Bell from British capture following the September 26, 1777 fall of Philadelphia to the British Army, concealing the Liberty Bell for nine months from September 1777 to June 1778 under floor boards in Allentown's Zion Reformed Church. After Washington and the Continental Army's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was left defenseless and Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council, anticipating Philadelphia's fall, ordered that eleven Philadelphia bells, including the Liberty Bell (then known as the State House Bell), be taken down and moved to present day Allentown (then called Northampton Towne). Once arriving in Allentown, the Liberty Bell and other bells were hidden under floor boards at Zion Reformed Church on West Hamilton Street to protect them from being seized and melted down by the British Army for use as munitions.

In 1962, inside this still-standing church at 622 West Hamilton Street in Allentown, the Liberty Bell Museum was opened to commemorate this successful concealment of the Liberty Bell in Allentown during the American Revolution.

American Civil War

See also: 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment and Pennsylvania in the American Civil War

The region again proved influential in the American Civil War. Following the Union Army's defeat at the Battle of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's April 15, 1861 proclamation calling for state militia to provide 75,000 volunteers to defend the national capital in Washington, D.C., Allentown immediately deployed its Allen Infantry, which defended Washington, D.C. from Confederate attack following Fort Sumter's fall. Also known as the Allen Guards, the Allen Infantry mustered in for duty on April 18, 1861. During the late summer and early fall of 1861, members of this unit and other volunteers from within and beyond the Lehigh Valley came together to form the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, which was established on August 5 and later proved influential in expanding the Union Army's reach into the Deep South, permitting it to launch successful attacks against Confederate positions in the Battle of St. Johns Bluff in 1862 and throughout the Red River campaign in the Trans-Mississippi theater and Sheridan's Shenadoah Valley campaign across Virginia in 1864. These victories helped to tip the Civil War in the Union's favor.[16] On October 19, 1899, a monument in honor of the Lehigh Valley men killed in their volunteer service to the Union's preservation, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, was erected at Seventh and Hamilton Streets in Center City Allentown, where it still stands.[17]

Industrial Revolution

Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem was one of the world's leading steel manufacturers for most of the 19th and 20th century and played an influential role in building many of the nation's most prominent buildings and bridges and in manufacturing ships and military equipment that contributed to the rise of America's defense strength
Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem was one of the world's leading steel manufacturers for most of the 19th and 20th century and played an influential role in building many of the nation's most prominent buildings and bridges and in manufacturing ships and military equipment that contributed to the rise of America's defense strength

The opening of the Lehigh Canal in 1827 contributed significantly to transforming Allentown and the Lehigh Valley from a rural agricultural area dominated by German-speaking people into one of the nation's first urbanized industrialized areas. The Lehigh Valley underwent significant industrialization throughout the 19th and most of the 20th centuries and was a major manufacturing hub in the American Industrial Revolution.

The Lehigh Valley is named for the Lehigh River, which runs through the region. It owes much of its development and history to anthracite coal, timber, and ore that was only commercially possible with the development of the Lehigh Canal and the Lehigh Valley's extensive railway infrastructure that permitted these minerals and later the region's manufactured steel to be transported for sale in major national and overseas markets. The Lehigh Canal operated into the Great Depression, feeding ports up and down the Delaware River, the Pennsylvania Canal, and transoceanic demand, and was integral to the industrialization of the greater Delaware Valley region. The Morris Canal, the 22–23 miles (35–37 km) anthracite coal feeder of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. and locks at New Hope on the Delaware Canal were built to fuel anthracite energy needs of Trenton, Newark, Jersey City, and New York City.

In 1899, Bethlehem Steel was formed in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley. The company developed into the nation's second largest manufacturer of steel, and its steel was used in developing many of the nation's earliest and largest infrastructure and building projects, including the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, and Rockefeller Center in New York City, Merchandise Mart in Chicago, the George Washington, Verrazzano, and Golden Gate Bridges, and warships and other military equipment that proved essential in American-led victories in both World Wars.[18] The company's ascent during the 20th century was very prominently associated with the emergence of the U.S. as both a world leader in global manufacturing and as the world's largest economy, and its demise has sometimes been pointed to as one of the nation's most prominent first stumbling points in the face of foreign competition and other economic challenges that emerged in the late 20th century and contributed to the nation's emergence of its Rust Belt.

Following nearly a century of global leadership, growth, and profitability in steel manufacturing, Bethlehem Steel abruptly reported operating losses of $1.5 billion in 1982, citing foreign competition from Asian economies and costly U.S. governmental regulations and labor costs for the losses. The company abruptly reduced operations, resulting in considerable Lehigh Valley layoffs and a dramatic related economic downturn in the region.[19] The company continued functioning on a vastly reduced scale for a period, but ultimately ceased steel manufacturing entirely at its primary Bethlehem manufacturing plant in 1995. In 2001, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and, in 2003, the company was dissolved. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the downturn and ultimate demise of Bethlehem Steel, once one of the most iconic and prominent symbols of American global economic power and leadership, emerged as an example cited by those who believe American global economic leadership is now in either gradual or even rapid descent.[20]

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History of Pennsylvania

History of Pennsylvania

The history of Pennsylvania stems back thousands of years when the first indigenous peoples occupied the area of what is now Pennsylvania. In 1681, Pennsylvania became an English colony when William Penn received a royal deed from King Charles II of England. Although European activity in the region precedes that date. The area was home to the Lenape, Susquehannocks, Iroquois, Erie, Shawnee, Arandiqiouia, and other American Indian tribes. Most of these tribes were driven off or reduced to remnants as a result of diseases, such as smallpox.

Emmaus, Pennsylvania

Emmaus, Pennsylvania

Emmaus is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 11,652. Emmaus is located in the Lehigh Valley, the third largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania and 68th largest metropolitan area in the nation.

Pennsylvania Dutch

Pennsylvania Dutch

The Pennsylvania Dutch, also known as Pennsylvania Germans, are a German cultural group native to Pennsylvania and other American states. They descend from Germans who settled during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, primarily from the Palatinate, but also from other German-speaking areas, such as Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Saxony, and Rhineland in Germany as well as the Netherlands, Switzerland, and France's Alsace-Lorraine region.

Center City, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Center City, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Center City 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.

47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment

47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment

The 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, which was officially known as the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, or more simply as the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and the early months of the Reconstruction era. It was formed by adults and teenagers from small towns and larger metropolitan areas in the central, northeastern and southeastern parts of the state.

American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union and the Confederacy, the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction.

Germans

Germans

Germans are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, and sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany defines a German as a German citizen. During the 19th and much of the 20th century, discussions on German identity were dominated by concepts of a common language, culture, descent, and history. Today, the German language is widely seen as the primary, though not exclusive, criterion of German identity. Estimates on the total number of Germans in the world range from 100 to 150 million, and most of them live in Germany.

Lenape

Lenape

The Lenape also called the Lenni Lenape, and Delaware people, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada.

Jasper

Jasper

Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to iron(III) inclusions. Jasper breaks with a smooth surface and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for items such as vases, seals, and snuff boxes. The specific gravity of jasper is typically 2.5 to 2.9. Jaspillite is a banded-iron-formation rock that often has distinctive bands of jasper.

Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English county of Buckinghamshire.

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Northampton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,951. Its county seat is Easton. The county was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Its namesake was the county of Northamptonshire in England, and the county seat of Easton was named for the country house Easton Neston in Northamptonshire.

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

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.

Geography

See also: Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania), Lehigh River, and South Mountain (eastern Pennsylvania)

The Lehigh Valley is geologically and geographically part of the Great Appalachian Valley, a geographic region made up of limestone that stretches along the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains. The Lehigh Valley is so named because it is located geographically within an actual valley formed by the Lehigh River that lies between two mountain ridges, Blue Mountain in the Valley's north and South Mountain in the Valley's south.[2] The Lehigh Valley is the lower part of the drainage basin of the Lehigh River.[21]

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Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania)

Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania)

Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain Ridge, or the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania, is a ridge of the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Pennsylvania. Forming the southern and eastern edge of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians physiographic province in Pennsylvania, Blue Mountain extends 150 miles (240 km) from the Delaware Water Gap on the New Jersey border in the east to Big Gap in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania at its southwestern end.

Lehigh River

Lehigh River

The Lehigh River is a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The river flows in a generally southward pattern from the Pocono Mountains in Northeastern Pennsylvania through Allentown and much of the Lehigh Valley before enjoining the Delaware River in Easton.

South Mountain (eastern Pennsylvania)

South Mountain (eastern Pennsylvania)

South Mountain is a colloquial name applied to an Appalachian Mountain range extending north and northeast along the south side of Lebanon Valley to the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. South Mountain includes the southernmost cluster of peaks that straddle Berks, Lancaster, and Lebanon counties and the northernmost end of the ridge in the on which Lehigh University in Bethlehem is built in the Lehigh Valley.

Geology

Geology

Geology is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth sciences, including hydrology. It is integrated with Earth system science and planetary science.

Geography

Geography

Geography is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. The first recorded use of the word γεωγραφία was as a title of a book by Greek scholar Eratosthenes. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. While geography is specific to Earth, many concepts can be applied more broadly to other celestial bodies in the field of planetary science. One such concept, the first law of geography, proposed by Waldo Tobler, is "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things." Geography has been called "the world discipline" and "the bridge between the human and the physical sciences."

Great Appalachian Valley

Great Appalachian Valley

The Great Appalachian Valley, also called The Great Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough—a chain of valley lowlands—and the central feature of the Appalachian Mountains system. The trough stretches about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from Quebec in the north to Alabama in the south and has been an important north–south route of travel since prehistoric times.

Limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of CaCO3. Limestone forms when these minerals precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils which provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the evolution of life.

Appalachian Mountains

Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before experiencing natural erosion. The Appalachian chain is a barrier to east–west travel, as it forms a series of alternating ridgelines and valleys oriented in opposition to most highways and railroads running east–west.

Valley

Valley

A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a very long period. Some valleys are formed through erosion by glacial ice. These glaciers may remain present in valleys in high mountains or polar areas.

Drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the drainage divide, made up of a succession of elevated features, such as ridges and hills. A basin may consist of smaller basins that merge at river confluences, forming a hierarchical pattern.

Cities and location

The city skyline of Allentown, the largest city in the Lehigh Valley and third largest city in Pennsylvania, Christmas 2017
The city skyline of Allentown, the largest city in the Lehigh Valley and third largest city in Pennsylvania, Christmas 2017
The Easton–Phillipsburg Toll Bridge, connecting Easton, Pennsylvania and Phillipsburg, New Jersey in the Lehigh Valley, October 2009
The Easton–Phillipsburg Toll Bridge, connecting Easton, Pennsylvania and Phillipsburg, New Jersey in the Lehigh Valley, October 2009
Christmas lights at Lehigh Valley Zoo in Schnecksville, December 2020
Christmas lights at Lehigh Valley Zoo in Schnecksville, December 2020

The Lehigh Valley has three principal cities: Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton. The region is located between two of the nation's largest population centers, 90 miles (140 km) west of New York City, the nation's largest and world's 11th largest city, and 60 miles (97 km) north of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth largest and world's 67th largest city. The region borders Carbon County and the Coal Region to its north, the Delaware River and Warren County, New Jersey to its east, Bucks and Montgomery Counties in suburban Philadelphia to its south, and Berks and Schuylkill Counties to its west.

Cities

Municipalities with more than 10,000 people

Municipalities with fewer than 10,000 but more than 5,000 people

Municipalities with fewer than 5,000 people

Census-designated places and villages

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Easton–Phillipsburg Toll Bridge

Easton–Phillipsburg Toll Bridge

The Easton–Phillipsburg Toll Bridge is a modified Pennsylvania (Petit) through truss bridge that carries U.S. Route 22 over the Delaware River. The bridge is located between Easton, Pennsylvania and Phillipsburg, New Jersey in the Lehigh Valley.

Lehigh Valley Zoo

Lehigh Valley Zoo

The Lehigh Valley Zoo is a 29-acre (11.7 ha) zoo located in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is located inside the 1,100-acre (445 ha) Trexler Nature Preserve. The zoo is open year round.

List of United States cities by population

List of United States cities by population

This is a list of the most populous incorporated places of the United States. As defined by the United States Census Bureau, an incorporated place includes cities, towns, villages, boroughs, and municipalities. A few exceptional census-designated places (CDPs) are also included in the Census Bureau's listing of incorporated places. Consolidated city-counties represent a distinct type of government that includes the entire population of a county, or county equivalent. Some consolidated city-counties, however, include multiple incorporated places. This list presents only that portion of such consolidated city-counties that are not a part of another incorporated place.

Carbon County, Pennsylvania

Carbon County, Pennsylvania

Carbon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,749. The county is also part of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Coal Region

Coal Region

The Coal Region is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is known for being home to the largest known deposits of anthracite coal in the world with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons.

Delaware River

Delaware River

The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for 282 miles (454 km) along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before emptying into Delaware Bay. It is the longest free-flowing river in the Eastern United States.

Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English county of Buckinghamshire.

Berks County, Pennsylvania

Berks County, Pennsylvania

Berks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading.

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown is a city in Lehigh County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 125,845 at the 2020 census. Allentown is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania and the state's third-largest city after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It is the largest city in both Lehigh County and the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the United States as of 2020. Allentown was founded in 1762 and is the county seat of Lehigh County.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,343 were in Lehigh County. It is Pennsylvania's eighth most populous city. The city is located along the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River.

Easton, Pennsylvania

Easton, Pennsylvania

Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) river that joins the Delaware River in Easton and serves as the city's eastern geographic boundary with Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Bethlehem Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem Township is a township in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population of Bethlehem Township was 23,730 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of Bethlehem and is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan statistical area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

Metropolitan and Combined Statistical Areas

The Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area is a Metropolitan Statistical Area that includes Carbon County in the Coal Region, Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania, and Warren County in the Skylands region of northwest New Jersey.[22][24] As of the 2020 census, it is the 68th largest metropolitan area in the nation with a population of 861,889.[25]

Discover more about Metropolitan and Combined Statistical Areas related topics

Metropolitan statistical area

Metropolitan statistical area

In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or town would be, nor are they legal administrative divisions like counties or separate entities such as states; because of this, the precise definition of any given metropolitan area can vary with the source. The statistical criteria for a standard metropolitan area were defined in 1949 and redefined as metropolitan statistical area in 1983.

Carbon County, Pennsylvania

Carbon County, Pennsylvania

Carbon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,749. The county is also part of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Coal Region

Coal Region

The Coal Region is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is known for being home to the largest known deposits of anthracite coal in the world with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons.

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

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.

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Northampton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,951. Its county seat is Easton. The county was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Its namesake was the county of Northamptonshire in England, and the county seat of Easton was named for the country house Easton Neston in Northamptonshire.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. Pennsylvania borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio to its west, Lake Erie and the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest, New York state to its north, and the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east.

Warren County, New Jersey

Warren County, New Jersey

Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. According to the 2020 census, the county was the state's 19th-most populous county, with a population of 109,632, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 940 (+0.9%) from the 2010 census count of 108,692, which in turn reflected an increase of 6,255 (+6.1%) from 102,437 counted at the 2000 census. The county borders the Delaware River and Easton, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley to its west, the New York City metropolitan area to its east, and The Poconos to its northwest. Warren County constitutes part of the Lehigh Valley/Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area and is the only county in New Jersey which is not part of the combined statistical areas of New York City or Philadelphia.

Skylands Region

Skylands Region

The Skylands Region is a region of New Jersey located in the Northern and Central part of the state. It is one of six tourism regions established by the New Jersey State Department of Tourism; the others are Gateway Region, Greater Atlantic City Region, the Southern Shore Region, the Delaware River Region, and the Shore Region.

New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is the most densely populated U.S. state. A coastal state, New Jersey is situated at the center of the Northeast megalopolis, the most populous American urban agglomeration. The state lies within both the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. New Jersey is bordered on its north and east by the state of New York; on its east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on its west by the Delaware River and Pennsylvania; and on its southwest by Delaware Bay and the state of Delaware. At 7,354 square miles (19,050 km2), New Jersey is the fifth-smallest state in land area, but with close to 9.3 million residents as of the 2020 United States census, its highest decennial count ever, ranks 11th in population. The state capital is Trenton, and the most populous city is Newark. New Jersey is the only U.S. state in which every county is deemed urban by the U.S. Census Bureau, with 13 counties included in the New York metropolitan area, seven counties in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, and with Warren County constituting part of the rapidly industrializing Lehigh Valley metropolitan area.

Climate

See also: Climate of Allentown, Pennsylvania

The Lehigh Valley has four distinct seasons, which typically include hot and humid summers, cold winters, and short and mild springs and falls. It has a humid continental climate (Dfa/Dfb) and the hardiness zone ranges from 5b in higher elevation locations in northern Carbon County to 6b (the principal zone in Lehigh, Northampton, and southern Warren Counties).[26] The 1991-2020 hardiness zone for the airport and lower elevations is 7a.

Climate data for Allentown, Pennsylvania at Lehigh Valley International Airport, 1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1922–present[b]
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 72
(22) 		81
(27) 		87
(31) 		93
(34) 		97
(36) 		100
(38) 		105
(41) 		100
(38) 		99
(37) 		93
(34) 		81
(27) 		72
(22) 		105
(41)
Mean maximum °F (°C) 60.2
(15.7) 		60.6
(15.9) 		70.6
(21.4) 		83.2
(28.4) 		89.3
(31.8) 		92.6
(33.7) 		94.8
(34.9) 		92.8
(33.8) 		89.2
(31.8) 		80.4
(26.9) 		70.9
(21.6) 		61.7
(16.5) 		95.9
(35.5)
Average high °F (°C) 38.4
(3.6) 		41.6
(5.3) 		50.8
(10.4) 		63.4
(17.4) 		73.5
(23.1) 		81.9
(27.7) 		86.4
(30.2) 		84.3
(29.1) 		77.4
(25.2) 		65.5
(18.6) 		53.8
(12.1) 		43.1
(6.2) 		63.3
(17.4)
Daily mean °F (°C) 30.1
(−1.1) 		32.4
(0.2) 		40.7
(4.8) 		51.8
(11.0) 		62.0
(16.7) 		70.9
(21.6) 		75.6
(24.2) 		73.6
(23.1) 		66.3
(19.1) 		54.6
(12.6) 		43.9
(6.6) 		35.0
(1.7) 		53.1
(11.7)
Average low °F (°C) 21.8
(−5.7) 		23.2
(−4.9) 		30.5
(−0.8) 		40.3
(4.6) 		50.6
(10.3) 		59.9
(15.5) 		64.7
(18.2) 		62.8
(17.1) 		55.2
(12.9) 		43.8
(6.6) 		34.1
(1.2) 		26.8
(−2.9) 		42.8
(6.0)
Mean minimum °F (°C) 4.2
(−15.4) 		5.9
(−14.5) 		14.1
(−9.9) 		25.9
(−3.4) 		35.3
(1.8) 		46.5
(8.1) 		53.7
(12.1) 		51.1
(10.6) 		39.9
(4.4) 		28.7
(−1.8) 		19.1
(−7.2) 		11.7
(−11.3) 		1.8
(−16.8)
Record low °F (°C) −15
(−26) 		−12
(−24) 		−5
(−21) 		12
(−11) 		28
(−2) 		39
(4) 		46
(8) 		41
(5) 		30
(−1) 		21
(−6) 		3
(−16) 		−8
(−22) 		−15
(−26)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.30
(84) 		2.77
(70) 		3.63
(92) 		3.67
(93) 		3.65
(93) 		4.40
(112) 		5.30
(135) 		4.56
(116) 		4.84
(123) 		4.14
(105) 		3.24
(82) 		3.86
(98) 		47.36
(1,203)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 9.8
(25) 		10.8
(27) 		6.3
(16) 		0.5
(1.3) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.2
(0.51) 		0.9
(2.3) 		4.6
(12) 		33.1
(84)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 11.4 10.1 10.9 11.8 12.4 11.4 11.0 10.2 9.6 9.9 8.9 11.5 129.1
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 5.1 4.3 2.6 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 2.9 15.7
Average relative humidity (%) 70 66 62 61 66 68 70 72 74 72 70 71 69
Percent possible sunshine 43 48 53 47 54 63 57 56 54 53 45 42 51
Source: NOAA (relative humidity 1981–2010)[27][28][29]

Discover more about Climate related topics

Climate of Allentown, Pennsylvania

Climate of Allentown, Pennsylvania

The climate of Allentown, Pennsylvania is classified as a humid continental climate. Allentown's warmest month is July with a daily average temperature of 73.4 °F (23.0 °C) and the coldest month being January with a daily average of 27.8 °F (−2.3 °C). The average precipitation of Allentown is 45.35 inches (1,152 mm) per year.

Humid continental climate

Humid continental climate

A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is usually distributed throughout the year but often does have dry seasons. The definition of this climate regarding temperature is as follows: the mean temperature of the coldest month must be below 0 °C (32.0 °F) or −3 °C (26.6 °F) depending on the isotherm, and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C (50 °F). In addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid. The cooler Dfb, Dwb, and Dsb subtypes are also known as hemiboreal climates.

Hardiness zone

Hardiness zone

A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely used system, developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a rough guide for landscaping and gardening, defines 13 zones by long-term average annual extreme minimum temperatures. It has been adapted by and to other countries in various forms.

Carbon County, Pennsylvania

Carbon County, Pennsylvania

Carbon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,749. The county is also part of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

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.

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Northampton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,951. Its county seat is Easton. The county was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Its namesake was the county of Northamptonshire in England, and the county seat of Easton was named for the country house Easton Neston in Northamptonshire.

Warren County, New Jersey

Warren County, New Jersey

Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. According to the 2020 census, the county was the state's 19th-most populous county, with a population of 109,632, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 940 (+0.9%) from the 2010 census count of 108,692, which in turn reflected an increase of 6,255 (+6.1%) from 102,437 counted at the 2000 census. The county borders the Delaware River and Easton, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley to its west, the New York City metropolitan area to its east, and The Poconos to its northwest. Warren County constitutes part of the Lehigh Valley/Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area and is the only county in New Jersey which is not part of the combined statistical areas of New York City or Philadelphia.

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown is a city in Lehigh County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 125,845 at the 2020 census. Allentown is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania and the state's third-largest city after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It is the largest city in both Lehigh County and the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the United States as of 2020. Allentown was founded in 1762 and is the county seat of Lehigh County.

Lehigh Valley International Airport

Lehigh Valley International Airport

Lehigh Valley International Airport, formerly Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton International Airport, is a domestic airport located in Hanover Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Lehigh Valley International Airport is located in the center of the Lehigh Valley, roughly 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Allentown, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Bethlehem, and 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Easton.

Precipitation

Precipitation

In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and "precipitates" or falls. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but colloids, because the water vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated: cooling the air or adding water vapor to the air. Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers.

Sunshine duration

Sunshine duration

Sunshine duration or sunshine hours is a climatological indicator, measuring duration of sunshine in given period for a given location on Earth, typically expressed as an averaged value over several years. It is a general indicator of cloudiness of a location, and thus differs from insolation, which measures the total energy delivered by sunlight over a given period.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1900231,341—
1910289,68625.2%
1920346,66419.7%
1930391,51612.9%
1940396,6731.3%
1950437,82410.4%
1960545,05724.5%
1970594,1249.0%
1980635,4817.0%
1990686,6888.1%
2000740,3957.8%
2010821,62311.0%
2020861,8894.9%

The Lehigh Valley has a total population of 861,889 residents as of the 2020 U.S. census, making it the third largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania and 68th largest metropolitan area in the nation.[30]

A 2018 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau found that 87.1% of the Lehigh Valley's population was White American, 4.6% was Black or African American, 0.1% was American Indian, 2.3% was Asian American, 0.1% was Native Hawaiian, 0.1% were Pacific Islander Americans, 4.3% were of some other race, and 1.5% belonged to two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race made up 11.3% of the population and represent the Lehigh Valley's fastest-growing demographic. Lehigh County is in the top 1% of all U.S. counties for inward migration from international locations, according to Select USA, a U.S. Department of Commerce program.[4] The Lehigh Valley as a whole leads Pennsylvania in terms of population growth in the 18-to-34 year old demographic, according to 2020 census data.[4]

The Lehigh Valley's population growth is partly a result of a growing influx of residents from New Jersey and New York drawn to the Lehigh Valley's lower cost of living, its employment opportunities, and its close proximity to Philadelphia and New York City, the nation's sixth and largest cities, respectively. The Valley's population is expected to increase by 227,000 people by 2040, making it one of the fastest-growing areas in the state and nation.[31]

County 2021 Estimate 2020 Census Change Area Density
Lehigh County 375,539 374,557 +0.26% 345 sq mi (890 km2) 1,089/sq mi (420/km2)
Northampton County 313,628 312,951 +0.22% 370 sq mi (960 km2) 848/sq mi (327/km2)
Warren County 110,731 109,632 +1.00% 356.92 sq mi (924.4 km2) 310/sq mi (120/km2)
Carbon County 65,412 64,749 +1.02% 381 sq mi (990 km2) 172/sq mi (66/km2)
Total MSA Population 865,310 861,889 +0.40% 1,452.92 sq mi (3,763.0 km2) 596/sq mi (230/km2)

Median household income for the region increased from $57,288 to $62,507 between 2015 and 2019.[32]

Discover more about Demographics related topics

1900 United States census

1900 United States census

The United States census of 1900, conducted by the Census Office on June 1, 1900, determined the resident population of the United States to be 76,212,168, an increase of 21.01% from the 62,979,766 persons enumerated during the 1890 census.

1910 United States census

1910 United States census

The United States census of 1910, conducted by the Census Bureau on April 15, 1910, determined the resident population of the United States to be 92,228,496, an increase of 21 percent over the 76,212,168 persons enumerated during the 1900 census. The 1910 census switched from a portrait page orientation to a landscape orientation.

1920 United States census

1920 United States census

The United States census of 1920, conducted by the Census Bureau during one month from January 5, 1920, determined the resident population of the United States to be 106,021,537, an increase of 15.0 percent over the 92,228,496 persons enumerated during the 1910 census.

1930 United States census

1930 United States census

The United States census of 1930, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during the 1920 census.

1940 United States census

1940 United States census

The United States census of 1940, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 132,164,569, an increase of 7.6 percent over the 1930 population of 122,775,046 people. The census date of record was April 1, 1940.

1950 United States census

1950 United States census

The United States census of 1950, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 150,697,361, an increase of 14.5 percent over the 131,669,275 persons enumerated during the 1940 census.

1960 United States census

1960 United States census

The United States census of 1960, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 179,323,175, an increase of 19 percent over the 151,325,798 persons enumerated during the 1950 census. This was the first census in which all states recorded a population of over 200,000. This census's data determined the electoral votes for the 1964 and 1968 presidential elections. This was also the last census in which New York was the most populous state.

1970 United States census

1970 United States census

The United States census of 1970, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 203,392,031, an increase of 13.4 percent over the 179,323,175 persons enumerated during the 1960 census.

1980 United States census

1980 United States census

The United States census of 1980, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was the first census in which a state—California—recorded a population of 20 million people, as well as the first in which all states recorded populations of over 400,000.

1990 United States census

1990 United States census

The United States census of 1990, conducted by the Census Bureau, was the first census to be directed by a woman, Barbara Everitt Bryant. It determined the resident population of the United States to be 248,709,873, an increase of 9.8 percent over the 226,545,805 persons enumerated during the 1980 census.

2000 United States census

2000 United States census

The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 census. This was the twenty-second federal census and was at the time the largest civilly administered peacetime effort in the United States.

2010 United States census

2010 United States census

The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving to spot-check randomly selected neighborhoods and communities. As part of a drive to increase the count's accuracy, 635,000 temporary enumerators were hired. The population of the United States was counted as 308,745,538, a 9.7% increase from the 2000 census. This was the first census in which all states recorded a population of over half a million people as well as the first in which all 100 largest cities recorded populations of over 200,000.

Economy

Further information: Economy of Allentown, Pennsylvania
The now dormant but still standing steel stacks of Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, once the second-largest steel manufacturer in the nation. The company ceased most of its operations in 1982, declared bankruptcy in 2001, and was dissolved in 2003.
The now dormant but still standing steel stacks of Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, once the second-largest steel manufacturer in the nation. The company ceased most of its operations in 1982, declared bankruptcy in 2001, and was dissolved in 2003.
The Lehigh Valley's tallest building, the 24-story PPL Building in Allentown, January 2007
The Lehigh Valley's tallest building, the 24-story PPL Building in Allentown, January 2007
Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest on Cedar Crest Boulevard in Allentown, the largest current employer in the Lehigh Valley and third largest hospital in Pennsylvania with 877 beds and 46 operating rooms, July 2008
Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest on Cedar Crest Boulevard in Allentown, the largest current employer in the Lehigh Valley and third largest hospital in Pennsylvania with 877 beds and 46 operating rooms, July 2008
Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township, the Lehigh Valley's largest indoor shopping mall with 146 stores, October 2011
Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township, the Lehigh Valley's largest indoor shopping mall with 146 stores, October 2011

The Lehigh Valley's economy has been known historically and globally for its leadership throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in heavy manufacturing. Beginning in the 1980s, however, the region's manufacturing sector declined rapidly as a result of foreign competition, trade practices, operational costs, regulations, and other factors. The most prominent example was the plight of Bethlehem Steel, once the nation's second largest manufacturer of steel. Headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Bethlehem Steel suspended most of its operations in the early 1980s and ultimately declared bankruptcy in 2001 and was dissolved in 2003.

Since the late 20th century, the Lehigh Valley has begun to recover from the loss of its once powerful manufacturing base and other industry sectors have emerged in the region, providing a more diversified regional economy. As of 2020, the Valley's top five industries were: 1.) finance, 2.) manufacturing, 3.) health care and education, 4.) professional and business services, and 5.) information. Other major industry sectors in the area include transportation, retail trade, and restaurants and hospitality. As of 2020, the Lehigh Valley's total gross domestic product was $42.9 billion.[33]

Bethlehem Steel

Main article: Bethlehem Steel

The Lehigh Valley is known historically for its production of steel, Portland cement, silk, and apparel. Bethlehem Steel, founded in 1899 and based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was a foundation of the Lehigh Valley's economy for nearly a century from 1899 through the early 1980s. At the pinnacle of its success, Bethlehem Steel was the nation's second largest and one of the world's largest steel manufacturers. Bethlehem Steel was instrumental in the development of many of the nation's most prominent 20th century infrastructure projects. Its steel was used to build 28 Liberty Street, Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Rockefeller Center, and the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City and Merchandise Mart in Chicago. Among major bridges, the company's steel was used to construct the George Washington Bridge and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and the Peace Bridge between Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario. The Roosevelt administration relied heavily on Bethlehem Steel during World War II, utilizing the company to produce the steel necessary for shipbuilding, ammunition, and other military equipment that proved essential to the Allies' ability to prevail in these conflicts.

In the late 20th century, however, a variety of factors, including the practices of foreign competitors, began eroding Bethlehem Steel's once historical global leadership in steelmaking. In 1982, the company announced it was discontinuing most of its operations. In 2001, the company declared bankruptcy. In 2003, it was dissolved. Throughout the late 20th century, other heavy manufacturing companies in the Lehigh Valley that once served as backbones for the region's economy suffered similarly, either downsizing significantly or dissolving, which destabilized the region considerably.

In the early 2000s, seeking to replace the heavy manufacturing companies that had been the region's foundation for decades, the Lehigh Valley began developing other economic sectors, including financial services, health care, life sciences, and technology. The Lehigh Valley also began emerging as a national warehouse and distribution hub, largely due to its proximity to many of the largest U.S. markets and relatively lower operating costs compared to other Northeast U.S. regions.[34] More recently, a movement to reestablish manufacturing activities in the U.S., driven by customer demand for American-made products, faster product delivery, increased overseas wages, and inflated costs and extended timeframes for shipping has led to some renewed growth in the Valley's manufacturing sector.[35] Several large companies from China and Germany have invested tens of millions of dollars into developing significant operations in the Lehigh Valley, which has generated thousands of new jobs in the region.[36]

Largest employers

As of 2019, the Lehigh Valley's top five employers are: 1.) Lehigh Valley Health Network, 2.) St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network, 3.) Amazon, 4.) Lehigh Valley Physician Group, and 5.) Mack Trucks.[37]

Business and economic environment

The Lehigh Valley is one of the fastest-growing and largest economies in Pennsylvania with a total GDP of $43.8 billion that saw a five percent increase between 2016 and 2017 alone driven by strong manufacturing, financial, health care, and professional services industry segments.[38] It is centrally located in the Northeast megalopolis with ease of access and close proximity to several of the largest U.S. markets, population centers, airports, terminals, railways, and seaports, including the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. The Lehigh Valley is within a one-day drive to over a third of the U.S. population and to over half the population of Canada.[39][40] The Valley has a lower cost of living, more affordable real estate, lower taxes, and a larger and more affordable labor pool than many other Northeastern U.S. metropolitan regions.[41] These attributes and others, including sizable investments in business development incentive programs and a friendlier regulatory environment, provide the area with a comparatively favorable business climate compared to surrounding metropolitan areas.[42][40][43][44][45][46]

Due in large part to this comparably favorable business climate and mature business support programs,[47] the Lehigh Valley has been very successful in luring established businesses as well as new startup companies from higher cost areas such as New York and New Jersey, generating thousands of new jobs and significant new investments in the region.[42][48] Large companies such as Amazon.com have praised the Lehigh Valley for its commitment to business support, infrastructure investment, and incentive programs, citing these as major reasons for their continuing expansions and increased hiring in the region[49][50] and Allegiant Air, a low-cost budget airline, opened a new flight base at the Lehigh Valley International Airport in February 2020, noting the area's rapid growth, lower operational business costs, and its proximity to popular destinations as significant reasons for expanding their Lehigh Valley International Airport flights.[51]

Other large national and international companies either based in the Lehigh Valley or with significant operations there include Broadcom Corporation (in Allentown), Avantor Performance Materials (in Allentown), Air Products (in Trexlertown), Crayola (in Easton), Buckeye Partners (in Emmaus), HeidelbergCement (in Fogelsville), Just Born (in Bethlehem, maker of Peeps candies), Mack Trucks (in Allentown), Martin Guitar (in Nazareth), Olympus Corporation (in Center Valley), OraSure Technologies (in Bethlehem), PPL Corporation (in Allentown), Wind Creek Bethlehem (in Bethlehem), Dun & Bradstreet (in Center Valley), Victaulic (in Easton), and others.

The Lehigh Valley was recognized by business publication Site Selection Magazine in 2014, 2017, 2018, and again in 2019 as being the second-best performing region of its size for economic development in the nation and the best performing region in the entire Northeast U.S..[52] It was ranked by Fortune in 2015 as one of the top 10 best places in the U.S. to locate corporate finance and information technology operations, including call and IT support centers.[53][54] Allentown, the Lehigh Valley's largest city, was cited as a "national success story" in April 2016 by the Urban Land Institute for its downtown redevelopment and transformation that has led to $1 billion worth of new development projects there between 2015 and 2019, one of only six communities nationally to achieve this distinction.[55][56]

The Lehigh Valley is one of the leading areas on the East Coast for warehouses and distribution centers. Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as the nation's "second Inland Empire" for freight.[57] Large national companies that own and operate warehouses and distribution centers in the Lehigh Valley include Amazon.com, B. Braun, Boston Beer Company (brewer of Samuel Adams brand beer), BMW, Bridgestone, FedEx SmartPost, FedEx Ground, Home Depot, J. C. Penney, Nestlé Purina, ShopRite, Stitch Fix, The Coca-Cola Company, Ocean Spray, Phillips Pet Food and Supplies, True Value, Uline, Zulily, and others. Most of these warehouses and distribution centers are located along the Valley's southern U.S. Route 22, Interstate 78, and Interstate 476 corridors, which provide direct access to numerous major markets throughout the Northeast U.S. and beyond.

In 2018, due to this direct access and proximity to major markets, FedEx Ground constructed their largest distribution hub in the country in the Lehigh Valley near Lehigh Valley International Airport. This new hub can process up to 45,000 packages per hour and currently employs over 2,000 people. By 2030, it is expected to have a total size of 1,100,000 square feet (100,000 m2) square feet and employ over 3,000 people.[58] It opened in September 2018 at a cost of $335 million to build.[59]

The Boston Beer Company operates its largest U.S. production brewery facility in Breinigsville in the Lehigh Valley, which produces over 2/3rds of all Samuel Adams beer globally. The company continues to upgrade and expand operations at this facility and has cited the location as central to its overall corporate success.[60] Additionally, Ocean Spray, a popular maker of juice drinks and other fruit products, produces 40 percent of its total national beverage volume at its Lehigh Valley plant in Breinigsville.[61] Due to Pennsylvania's lack of an excise tax on cigars and the Lehigh Valley's close proximity to major markets, the region is home to some of the nation's largest cigar distributors and retailers.[62]

Retail shopping

The largest retail shopping area in the Lehigh Valley is the PA Route 145/MacArthur Road corridor, just north of Allentown in Whitehall Township, which is anchored by Lehigh Valley Mall and Whitehall Mall.

Other Lehigh Valley malls include Palmer Park Mall in Easton, Pennsylvania, South Mall in Salisbury Township, and Westgate Mall in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In October 2006, The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, located off Route 309 in Upper Saucon Township in the Lehigh Valley, opened. The Promenade is roughly half the size of the Lehigh Valley Mall but features higher end stores not available in Lehigh Valley Mall. In 2011, The Outlets at Wind Creek Bethlehem opened at Wind Creek Bethlehem in Bethlehem, becoming the Lehigh Valley's first outlet mall.[63]

Yocco's Hot Dogs, the regionally famous fast food establishment founded in 1922 and known for their hot dogs and cheesesteaks, maintains four Lehigh Valley locations, including two in Allentown, one in Fogelsville, and one in Trexlertown.

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Economy of Allentown, Pennsylvania

Economy of Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown, Pennsylvania is the home for the global and U.S. corporate headquarters of several companies, such as Air Products, PPL Corporation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and others. The largest employer in the Lehigh Valley is Lehigh Valley Health Network with almost 8,000 employees.

Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest

Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest

Lehigh Valley Hospital, also known as Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, is a hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Cedar Crest Boulevard

Cedar Crest Boulevard

Cedar Crest Boulevard, colloquially known as Cedar Crest and The Boulevard, is a major north-south highway in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. South of Interstate 78 (I-78), the road is part of Pennsylvania Route 29. North of it, the road becomes State Route 1019.

Lehigh Valley Mall

Lehigh Valley Mall

Lehigh Valley Mall is an enclosed super-regional shopping mall located in Fullerton in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. With 146 stores, it is the largest shopping mall in the Lehigh Valley and the ninth largest mall in Pennsylvania.

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold in a specific time period by a country or countries, generally "without double counting the intermediate goods and services used up to produce them". GDP is most often used by the government of a single country to measure its economic health. Due to its complex and subjective nature, this measure is often revised before being considered a reliable indicator. GDP (nominal) per capita does not, however, reflect differences in the cost of living and the inflation rates of the countries; therefore, using a basis of GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) may be more useful when comparing living standards between nations, while nominal GDP is more useful comparing national economies on the international market. Total GDP can also be broken down into the contribution of each industry or sector of the economy. The ratio of GDP to the total population of the region is the per capita GDP.

Bethlehem Steel

Bethlehem Steel

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success and productivity, the company was a symbol of American manufacturing leadership in the world, and its decline and ultimate liquidation in the late 20th century is similarly cited as an example of America's diminished manufacturing leadership. From its founding in 1857 through its 2003 dissolution, Bethlehem Steel's headquarters and primary steel mill manufacturing facilities were based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States.

Clothing

Clothing

Clothing is any item worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural products found in the environment, put together. The wearing of clothing is mostly restricted to human beings and is a feature of all human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn depends on gender, body type, social factors, and geographic considerations. Garments cover the body, footwear covers the feet, gloves cover the hands, while hats and headgear cover the head. Eyewear and jewelry are not generally considered items of clothing, but play an important role in fashion and clothing as costume.

28 Liberty Street

28 Liberty Street

28 Liberty Street, formerly known as One Chase Manhattan Plaza, is a 60-story International style skyscraper in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, between Nassau, Liberty, William, and Pine Streets. The building was designed by Gordon Bunshaft of the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Opened in 1961, it is 813 feet (248 m) tall.

Chrysler Building

Chrysler Building

The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At 1,046 ft (319 m), it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel framework, and it was the world's tallest building for 11 months after its completion in 1930. As of 2019, the Chrysler is the 11th-tallest building in the city, tied with The New York Times Building.

Empire State Building

Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the state of New York. The building has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m) and stands a total of 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall, including its antenna. The Empire State Building was the world's tallest building until the first tower of the World Trade Center was topped out in 1970; following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Empire State Building was New York City's tallest building until it was surpassed in 2012. As of 2022, the building is the seventh-tallest building in New York City, the ninth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, the 54th-tallest in the world, and the sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas.

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylvania Station. It is the fourth venue to bear the name "Madison Square Garden"; the first two were located on Madison Square, on East 26th Street and Madison Avenue, with the third Madison Square Garden (1925) farther uptown at Eighth Avenue and 50th Street.

Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the third most populous in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. With a population of 2,746,388 in the 2020 census, it is also the most populous city in the Midwest. As the seat of Cook County, the city is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area, one of the largest in the world.

Media

Main article: Media in the Lehigh Valley

Television

The Lehigh Valley is part of the Philadelphia television market, the nation's fourth largest television market, and also receives television stations from the New York City and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre television markets. Lehigh Valley-based stations include WBPH-TV (a Christian television licensed to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania with studios in Allentown), WFMZ-TV (an independent commercial television station on South Mountain in Allentown), and WLVT-TV (the PBS station licensed to Allentown with studios in Bethlehem).

Radio

The Lehigh Valley is home to over 35 radio stations, including both English and Spanish-language stations and a range of formats, including all-news, sports radio, talk radio, and NPR. Lehigh Valley station music formats include Top 40, hip hop, rhythmic, country, oldies, polka, soft rock, classic rock, hard rock, and several campus radio stations.

Newspapers

Lehigh Valley-based daily newspapers include The Morning Call and The Express-Times, both of which have been media sources in the Lehigh Valley dating back to the mid-1800s. Two magazines cover the region: Lehigh Valley Style is a regional lifestyle publication based in Easton. Lehigh Valley Magazine, based in Harrisburg, is the region's oldest lifestyle publication.

Film

Main article: List of films shot in the Lehigh Valley

Multiple movies have been fully or partially filmed in the Lehigh Valley, including M. Night Shyamalan's Glass in 2019, indie dark-comedy Getting Grace starring Daniel Roebuck, Taylor A. Purdee's folk rock musical Killian & the Comeback Kids, and others.[64]

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Media in the Lehigh Valley

Media in the Lehigh Valley

This is a list of media in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania:

List of United States television markets

List of United States television markets

This is a list of television media markets in the United States, with a total of 107,007,910 households. Network owned-and-operated stations and major PBS stations are highlighted in bold. Markets are ranked by the number of TV households in the Contiguous United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Territories of the United States are included on this list, but are not ranked.

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 562,037 as of 2020. It is the seventh largest city or borough in Pennsylvania. The contiguous network of five cities and more than 40 boroughs all built in a straight line in Northeastern Pennsylvania's urban area act culturally and logistically as one continuous city, so while the city of Scranton itself is a mid-sized city, the larger Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Area contains nearly half a million residents in roughly 200 square miles. Scranton is the cultural and economic center of a region called Northeastern Pennsylvania, which is home to over 1.3 million residents.

Delaware Valley

Delaware Valley

The Delaware Valley, sometimes referred to as Greater Philadelphia or the Philadelphia metropolitan area, is a metropolitan region in the Northeast on the East Coast of the United States that centers on Philadelphia and spans four U.S. states: Southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, northern Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland. According to the 2020 census, the core metropolitan statistical area of the Delaware Valley had a total population of 6.288 million, making it the nation's seventh largest and world's 35th largest metropolitan area, while the combined statistical area of the Delaware Valley contains a total population of 7.366 million.

New Castle County, Delaware

New Castle County, Delaware

New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the state's population of 989,948. The county seat is Wilmington, which is also the state's most populous city.

Kent County, Delaware

Kent County, Delaware

Kent County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851, making it the least populous county in Delaware. The county seat is Dover, the state capital of Delaware. It is named for Kent, an English county.

Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Delaware Bay, in turn named after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia

Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. It is one of the most historically significant cities in the United States and served as the nation's capital city until 1800. Philadelphia is the nation's sixth-largest city with a population of 1,603,797 as of the 2020 census. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Delaware Valley, the nation's seventh-largest and one of the world's largest metropolitan regions with 6.245 million residents in 2020. Philadelphia is known for its extensive contributions to American history and for its role in the life sciences, business and industry, art, literature, and music.

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown is a city in Lehigh County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 125,845 at the 2020 census. Allentown is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania and the state's third-largest city after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It is the largest city in both Lehigh County and the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the United States as of 2020. Allentown was founded in 1762 and is the county seat of Lehigh County.

Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown. Reading is located in the southeastern part of the state and is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area, which had 420,152 residents in 2020.

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. Atlantic City inspired the U.S. version of the board game Monopoly, which uses various Atlantic City street names and destinations in the game. Since 1921, Atlantic City has been the home of the Miss America pageant. In 1976, New Jersey voters legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City, and the first casino opened in 1978.

Camden, New Jersey

Camden, New Jersey

Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city. At the 2020 United States census, Camden was the 14th-most populous municipality in the state, with a population of 71,791, a decrease of 5,553 (−7.2%) from the 2010 census count of 77,344, which in turn reflected a decline of 1,984 (-2.5%) from the 79,318 counted at the 2000 census. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the population was 71,773 in 2021, making it the 513th-most-populous in the country. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828. Camden has been the county seat of Camden County since the county was formed on March 13, 1844. The city derives its name from Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. Camden is made up of over 20 neighborhoods. The city is part of the South Jersey region of the state.

Education

Muhlenberg College in Allentown, March 2014
Muhlenberg College in Allentown, March 2014

Colleges and universities

Seven colleges and universities are based in the Lehigh Valley:

The Lehigh Valley has two two-year colleges:

High school education

Allen High School, one of Allentown's two large public high schools, July 2008
Allen High School, one of Allentown's two large public high schools, July 2008
Liberty High School in Bethlehem, February 2020
Liberty High School in Bethlehem, February 2020

The Lehigh Valley is the third most populous metropolitan region in Pennsylvania and served by multiple large school districts, public and private high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools, including:

The largest high schools in the Lehigh Valley and The Poconos (18 in all) compete athletically in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. Smaller Lehigh Valley high schools compete in the Colonial League.

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Cedar Crest College

Cedar Crest College

Cedar Crest College is a private liberal arts women's college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. At the start of the 2015-2016 academic year, the college had 1,301 undergraduate and 203 graduate students. Men may pursue any master's degree, bachelor's degree, certification, and certificate program offered through evening and weekend study and are welcome to study nursing and nuclear medicine by day.

DeSales University

DeSales University

DeSales University (DSU) is a private Catholic university in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. The university offers traditional, online, and hybrid courses and programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Named for St. Francis de Sales, the university was founded in 1964 as "Allentown College of Saint Francis de Sales" by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.

Center Valley, Pennsylvania

Center Valley, Pennsylvania

Center Valley is an unincorporated community located one mile north of Coopersburg, at the intersection of Pennsylvania State Routes 309 and 378 in Upper Saucon Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

Lafayette College

Lafayette College

Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution.

Lehigh University

Lehigh University

Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Episcopal Church.

Lehigh Carbon Community College

Lehigh Carbon Community College

Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC), often pronounced "L-tri-C," is a public community college in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The school serves as the primary granter of associate degrees in the Allentown area.

Carbon County, Pennsylvania

Carbon County, Pennsylvania

Carbon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,749. The county is also part of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Bethlehem Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem Township is a township in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population of Bethlehem Township was 23,730 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of Bethlehem and is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan statistical area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

Monroe County, Pennsylvania

Monroe County, Pennsylvania

Monroe County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,327. Its county seat is Stroudsburg. The county was formed from sections of Northampton and Pike counties on April 1, 1836.

Liberty High School (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)

Liberty High School (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)

Liberty High School is a large urban, public high school located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Liberty is the larger of two public high schools in the Bethlehem Area School District; Freedom High School is the other. Liberty's current attendance area includes students from the City of Bethlehem, Fountain Hill, Freemansburg, and Hanover Township. As of the 2021-22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,702 students, according to National Center for Education Statistics data.

Allentown Central Catholic High School

Allentown Central Catholic High School

Allentown Central Catholic High School (ACCHS) is a private, parochial school located at 301 North Fourth Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown, ACCHS predominantly serves students from the Lehigh Valley region of the state.

Bangor Area High School

Bangor Area High School

Bangor Area High School is a four-year public high school located in Bangor, Pennsylvania in Northampton County, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is the only high school in the Bangor Area School District.

Sports

Coca-Cola Park in East Allentown, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, April 2009
Coca-Cola Park in East Allentown, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, April 2009
Fisher Stadium's scoreboard in Easton, Pennsylvania following Lafayette College's victory over Lehigh University in the 142nd edition of "The Rivalry" in 2006. The series between the two colleges, which are 17 miles (27 km) away from each other in the Lehigh Valley, is the most-played rivalry in college football history with 158 meetings since 1884.
Fisher Stadium's scoreboard in Easton, Pennsylvania following Lafayette College's victory over Lehigh University in the 142nd edition of "The Rivalry" in 2006. The series between the two colleges, which are 17 miles (27 km) away from each other in the Lehigh Valley, is the most-played rivalry in college football history with 158 meetings since 1884.
J. Birney Crum Stadium, a 15,000 capacity high school stadium in Allentown, is the second largest high school stadium in Pennsylvania and the home field of three Eastern Pennsylvania Conference high school football teams, Allen, Central Catholic, and Dieruff high schools.
J. Birney Crum Stadium, a 15,000 capacity high school stadium in Allentown, is the second largest high school stadium in Pennsylvania and the home field of three Eastern Pennsylvania Conference high school football teams, Allen, Central Catholic, and Dieruff high schools.
PPL Center in Allentown, the home arena of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League and the primary development team of the Philadelphia Flyers
PPL Center in Allentown, the home arena of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League and the primary development team of the Philadelphia Flyers
Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Breinigsville, April 2014
Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Breinigsville, April 2014
See also: Sports in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Club League Sport Venue Established Championships
Lehigh Valley IronPigs IL Baseball Coca-Cola Park 2008 0
Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL Ice hockey PPL Center 1996 2 1997-98 and 2004-05
Lehigh Valley Roller Derby WFTDA Roller Derby Bethlehem Municipal Ice Rink 2006 0
Lehigh Valley United USL League Two Soccer Rocco Calvo Field 2009 1 2012 (conference)

Football

College football

See also: Lafayette Leopards football, Lehigh Mountain Hawks football, Muhlenberg Mules, and The Rivalry (Lafayette–Lehigh)

The Lehigh Valley is home to the nation's longest-standing college football rivalry in the nation. Known simply as "The Rivalry," Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania have played each other 157 times since 1884, making it the most-played rivalry in college football history.[65] Two other Lehigh Valley colleges, Moravian University in Bethlehem and Muhlenberg College in Allentown, have competitive collegiate football programs; Muhlenberg plays their home football games at Scotty Wood Stadium on the Muhlenberg campus in Allentown.

National Football League

From 1996 until 2012, the Lehigh Valley hosted the pre-season training camp for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, which was held each summer on Goodman Stadium and other the football fields at Lehigh University in Bethlehem. On August 5, 2012, Garrett Reid, the 29-year-old son of then Eagles head coach Andy Reid, was found dead in his Lehigh University dorm room during training camp from a heroin overdose.[66] The following year, in 2013, following the Garrett Reid overdose and the hiring of new head coach Chip Kelly, the Eagles chose to move their training camp to the NovaCare Complex in South Philadelphia.

Gymnastics

Main article: Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center

Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center in Allentown has been the training ground for numerous Olympic and U.S. national gymnastics champions. In 2003, CNN aired a highly critical documentary on the center, Achieving the Perfect 10, which depicted its as a hugely demanding and excessively competitive training program.

High school athletics

See also: Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and The Streak (Easton High School Wrestling)

The 18 largest high schools in the Lehigh Valley and Pocono Mountain regions compete athletically in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC), one of the nation's premier athletic divisions. An additional 14 Lehigh Valley high schools too small to compete in the EPC belong to the Colonial League.

The EPC has produced numerous professional and Olympic athletes, including MLB, the NBA, and the NFL professional athletes. The EPC's football, basketball, field hockey, and wrestling teams are often ranked among the nation's best.[67] In high school field hockey, Emmaus High School in Emmaus has won 33 consecutive EPC championships as of 2021.[68]

The Lehigh Valley's high school wrestling programs have been described as "among the nation’s best in the sport for nearly three decades"[69] and WIN magazine has ranked the region's wrestling programs best in the nation.[70]

Professional baseball

Main article: Lehigh Valley IronPigs

In 2008, Coca-Cola Park, an 8,278-seat Minor League baseball stadium, opened in east-side Allentown.[71] The stadium is the home field for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. The team previously played as the Ottawa Lynx from 1993 until moving to Allentown in 2008.[72] The club's move to the Lehigh Valley brought the franchise closer to Philadelphia and the Phillies' large Lehigh Valley fan base. The team's name is a reference to pig iron, which is used in steelmaking for which the Lehigh Valley area is known worldwide. Groundbreaking ceremonies for Coca-Cola Park were held September 6, 2006, and construction was completed in December 2007. The stadium's first game was March 30, 2008, featuring the Phillies major league team playing the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Professional ice hockey

Main article: Lehigh Valley Phantoms

On September 10, 2014, the PPL Center, an 8,500-seat arena in Center City Allentown, was opened as the new home arena for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, and for other sporting and entertainment events. The Phantoms began play at PPL Center with their 2014–15 season. The arena takes up the entire block between Seventh and Eighth Streets and Hamilton Boulevard and Linden Street.[73]

Roller derby

Main article: Lehigh Valley Roller Derby

Lehigh Valley Roller Derby (LVRG) is a Women's Flat Track Derby Association league based at Bethlehem Municipal Ice Rink in Bethlehem in the Lehigh Valley. The league's teams compete nationally and internationally.

Running events

The Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon, sponsored by Lehigh Valley Health Network, features a certified marathon, five-person team relay, a 20-mile (32 km) training run, and 5K walk annually in September. The 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) course follows the Lehigh River Canal Towpath from Allentown to Easton. The marathon came under scrutiny in 2015 when Mike Rossi achieved viral fame after allegedly cheating in the marathon to qualify for the Boston Marathon. In response, Via Marathon organizers added timing mats and video surveillance on the course.[74] Lehigh University's Paul Short Run is held annually at the Goodman Cross Country Course; participation has climbed to over 5,000 runners spread throughout 14 college and high school races. The Emmaus 5K race is held annually in mid-October, coinciding with Emmaus' annual Halloween parade.[75]

Track cycling

Main article: Valley Preferred Cycling Center

The Lehigh Valley is home to the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, a cycling velodrome in Breinigsville that hosts professional and amateur cycling competitions, including Union Cycliste Internationale-sponsored competitions. Valley Preferred Cycling Center has given rise to several Olympian cycling medal winners.

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Coca-Cola Park

Coca-Cola Park

Coca-Cola Park is an 8,278-seat baseball park in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is the home field for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A level Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Lehigh Valley IronPigs

Lehigh Valley IronPigs

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and are named in reference to pig iron, used in the manufacturing of steel, for which the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania is well known. The IronPigs play their home games at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.

Fisher Stadium

Fisher Stadium

Fisher Stadium is a 13,132-seat multi-purpose stadium in Easton, Pennsylvania. The stadium is home to the Lafayette College Leopards football team. It opened in 1926 as Fisher Field.

Lafayette Leopards football

Lafayette Leopards football

The Lafayette Leopards football program represents Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania in college football. One of the oldest college football programs in the United States, Lafayette currently plays in the Patriot League at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks football

Lehigh Mountain Hawks football

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks football program represents Lehigh University in college football. Lehigh competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level as members of the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks play their home games at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Tom Gilmore was the team's head coach from 2019 to 2022; he resigned following the 2022 season with a cumulative Lehigh coaching record of 9–27.

List of NCAA college football rivalry games

List of NCAA college football rivalry games

This is a list of rivalry games in college football in the United States. The list also shows any trophy awarded to the winner of the rivalry between the teams.

College football

College football

College football refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.

J. Birney Crum Stadium

J. Birney Crum Stadium

J. Birney Crum Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is the largest high school stadium in Pennsylvania and the 14th largest in the nation with a capacity of 15,000. The stadium serves as the home football field for each of Allentown's three high schools: William Allen High School, Louis E. Dieruff High School, and Allentown Central Catholic High School, each of which compete in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, one of the premiere high school athletic conferences in the nation.

Eastern Pennsylvania Conference

Eastern Pennsylvania Conference

The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, known informally as EPC, EPC18, and East Penn Conference, is an athletic conference consisting of 18 large high schools from Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Pike counties in the Lehigh Valley and Pocono Mountain regions of eastern and northeastern Pennsylvania. The conference is a part of District XI of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA).

Allentown Central Catholic High School

Allentown Central Catholic High School

Allentown Central Catholic High School (ACCHS) is a private, parochial school located at 301 North Fourth Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown, ACCHS predominantly serves students from the Lehigh Valley region of the state.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Lehigh Valley Phantoms

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The team competes in the American Hockey League (AHL) and serves as the primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League.

American Hockey League

American Hockey League

The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the league has an affiliation agreement with one NHL team. When NHL teams do not have an AHL affiliate, players are assigned to AHL teams affiliated with other NHL teams. Twenty-six AHL teams are located in the United States and the remaining six are in Canada. The league offices are located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and its current president is Scott Howson.

Culture

See also: Culture of Allentown, Pennsylvania and List of films shot in the Lehigh Valley

The Allentown Art Museum, located in Center City Allentown, is the Lehigh Valley's largest museum with over 11,000 works of art. Lehigh University's Zoellner Arts Center and Lafayette College's smaller Williams Center for the Arts host a variety of plays, concerts, and performances throughout the year. The Allentown Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Diane Wittry since 1995, performs at Allentown's historic Miller Symphony Hall. The Banana Factory, located in South Bethlehem, has several art studios and galleries open to the public.[76]

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Culture of Allentown, Pennsylvania

Culture of Allentown, Pennsylvania

The culture of Allentown, Pennsylvania dates back to the settlement of the city and the surrounding Lehigh Valley in the early 1700s by Germans of the Protestant Lutheran, Moravian, and Reformed faith, who fled religious persecution and war in Europe to settle in Allentown and its surrounding towns and communities. Before their arrival, the region had been historically inhabited by Lenape Native American tribes.

List of films shot in the Lehigh Valley

List of films shot in the Lehigh Valley

A list of films shot wholly or partly in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania:

Allentown Art Museum

Allentown Art Museum

The Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley is an art museum located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1934 by a group organized by Walter Emerson Baum, a Pennsylvania impressionist painter. The museum maintains a collection of over 19,000 works of art and is a major regional art institution. The museum also maintains a library and archives containing over 16,000 titles and 40 current periodicals.

Center City, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Center City, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Center City 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.

Zoellner Arts Center

Zoellner Arts Center

Zoellner Arts Center is an arts center located on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It opened in 1997, having been endowed by a $6 million gift from Robert Zoellner ('54) and his wife Victoria.

Lafayette College

Lafayette College

Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution.

Allentown Symphony Orchestra

Allentown Symphony Orchestra

The Allentown Symphony Orchestra is a major regional symphony orchestra based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1951, the orchestra's current home is the historic, 1200-seat Miller Symphony Hall, located in downtown Allentown. The orchestra has the distinction of being the smallest symphony in the United States to own its own performance hall.

Diane Wittry

Diane Wittry

Diane Wittry is an American musical conductor and composer. Since 1995, she has served as the music director and conductor of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and, since 2018, she has been the music director and conductor of the Garden State Philharmonic (GSP) in Toms River, New Jersey.

Miller Symphony Hall

Miller Symphony Hall

Miller Symphony Hall is a 1,100-seat performing arts facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania that hosts the Allentown Symphony Orchestra. The hall was previously known as Central Market (1896), Lyric Theater (1899), and Allentown Symphony Hall (1959). In 2012, it was renamed for the Miller family, longtime owners of the hall and of The Morning Call newspaper.

South Bethlehem Downtown Historic District

South Bethlehem Downtown Historic District

South Bethlehem Downtown Historic District is a national historic district in Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

Recreation

Dorney Park's Steel Force and Thunderhawk roller coasters in South Whitehall Township in the Lehigh Valley. Steel Force is the eighth tallest steel roller coaster in the world with a first drop of 205 feet (62 m) and a top speed of 75 miles per hour (121 km/h).[77]
Dorney Park's Steel Force and Thunderhawk roller coasters in South Whitehall Township in the Lehigh Valley. Steel Force is the eighth tallest steel roller coaster in the world with a first drop of 205 feet (62 m) and a top speed of 75 miles per hour (121 km/h).[77]
Musikfest, the nation's largest free music festival, held annually in Bethlehem, August 2019
Musikfest, the nation's largest free music festival, held annually in Bethlehem, August 2019
The ski lodge at Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Macungie, January 2012
The ski lodge at Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Macungie, January 2012

Amusement park

Main article: Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom

The Lehigh Valley is home to Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, a popular amusement and water park, located in South Whitehall Township. Dorney Park is known nationally for its elaborate roller coasters and water rides.[78]

Casino

Main article: Wind Creek Bethlehem

In 2009, Sands Casino Resort, an $879 million casino, hotel and apartment complex then owned by the Las Vegas Sands opened in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, bringing legalized table and sports gambling to the Lehigh Valley for the first time. In 2018, the casino was renamed Wind Creek Bethlehem following its $1.3 billion sale to Wind Creek Hospitality. Wind Creek Bethlehem is one of only 13 authorized gaming sites in Pennsylvania.

Festivals

See also: Great Allentown Fair, Mayfair (festival), and Musikfest

Several large festivals are held annually in the Lehigh Valley. The Great Allentown Fair, first held in 1852, is held annually in late August through early September at the Allentown Fairgrounds in Allentown.[79] Musikfest, a large, 10-day music festival, is held annually in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania each August.[80] Das Awkscht Fescht, an antique car festival, is held annually the beginning of August in Macungie's Memorial Park.[81] Blues, Brews, and Barbeque, launched in 2014, is held annually in May in Center City Allentown.[82] Mayfair, a three-day arts festival, is held annually the end of May on the campus of Cedar Crest College in Allentown.[83]

Golf and skiing

See also: Saucon Valley Country Club

The Valley's multiple golf courses include Saucon Valley Country Club in Upper Saucon Township, which hosted the 2009 U.S. Women's Open. Others include Allentown Municipal Golf Course, Brookside Country Club in Macungie, Green Pond Country Club in Bethlehem, Lehigh Country Club on Cedar Crest Boulevard in Allentown, Olde Homestead Golf Club in New Tripoli, Riverview Country Club in Easton, Shepherd Hills Golf Club in Wescosville, Steel Club in Hellertown, Southmoore Golf Course in Bath, Wedgewood Golf Course in Coopersburg, Willow Brook Golf Course in Northampton, and others.

Ice sports and skiing

See also: Bear Creek Mountain Resort

The region's primary ski resort is Bear Creek Mountain Resort, a 23 slope resort in Macungie.[84] Three Lehigh Valley locations exist for ice skating, ice hockey, figure skating, and speed skating. Steel Ice Center is on East 1st Street in Bethlehem,[85] The Rink Ice Arena is in Lehigh County,[86] and the City of Bethlehem maintains a covered 23,000-square-foot outdoor ice rink from November through March. Bethlehem Skateplaza on Steel Avenue in Bethlehem is a city park for skateboarding and freestyle BMX.[87]

Parks and zoo

See also: Lehigh Parkway, Lehigh Valley Zoo, and Trexler Nature Preserve

The Lehigh Valley Zoo in Schnecksville is a 29-acre (11.7 ha) zoo open year-round. The Lehigh Valley has a number of public parks, including the 629-acre (254.5 ha) Lehigh Parkway along the Lehigh River in Allentown and the 1,108-acre (448.4 ha) Trexler Nature Preserve in Schnecksville.

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Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an American amusement and water park located between Allentown and Emmaus, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The park features 64 rides, including six roller coasters, other adult and children's rides, and a waterpark, Wildwater Kingdom, with 19 water rides.

Steel Force

Steel Force

Steel Force is a steel roller coaster located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania. As of 2022, Steel Force is tied with Mamba at Worlds of Fun as the eighth longest steel coaster in the world.

Thunderhawk (Dorney Park)

Thunderhawk (Dorney Park)

Thunderhawk is a wooden roller coaster with an out-and-back layout located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Originally opening as The Coaster in 1924, Thunderhawk is the oldest operating roller coaster in the Cedar Fair chain and one of the oldest in the world still in operation. It was manufactured by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters and designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck, who studied under the legendary John A. Miller and went on to mentor another renowned designer, John C. Allen.

South Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

South Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

South Whitehall Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The township's population was 19,180 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of Allentown and is part of the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

Musikfest

Musikfest

Musikfest is an American music festival that has been held annually since 1984 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is the nation's largest non-gated free music festival. The festival begins on the first Friday in August, though it has been preceded since 2015 with a Thursday preview night involving the premium stage and adjacent areas. The festival ends the second Sunday thereafter.

Bear Creek Mountain Resort

Bear Creek Mountain Resort

Bear Creek is a ski resort in Longswamp Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. The resort opened in 1967 and was known as the Doe Mountain until 1999. It is a year-round resort on more than 330 acres (1.3 km2) that features a variety of activities and amenities.

Macungie, Pennsylvania

Macungie, Pennsylvania

Macungie is the second oldest borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Macungie had a population of 3,257. It is a suburb of Allentown, and part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

Roller coaster

Roller coaster

A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are often found in amusement parks and theme parks around the world. LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885, related to the Switchback Railway that opened a year earlier at Coney Island. The track in a coaster design does not necessarily have to be a complete circuit, as shuttle roller coasters demonstrate. Most roller coasters have multiple cars in which passengers sit and are restrained. Two or more cars hooked together are called a train. Some roller coasters, notably Wild Mouse roller coasters, run with single cars.

Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands Corporation is an American casino and resort company with corporate headquarters in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Its corporate mission is to create "Integrated Resorts" which feature a combination of gambling, accommodation, retail, and meeting space.

Great Allentown Fair

Great Allentown Fair

The Great Allentown Fair is an annual fair and agricultural show that is held at the Allentown Fairgrounds in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is operated by the Lehigh County Agricultural Society. It is one of the oldest fairs in the United States, and one of the largest in the state of Pennsylvania.

Mayfair (festival)

Mayfair (festival)

Mayfair Festival of the Arts is a multidisciplinary arts festival held annually in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Allentown Fairgrounds

Allentown Fairgrounds

Allentown Fairgrounds is located at 302 North 17th Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It hosts the Great Allentown Fair annually in late August and early September.

Transportation

Air transportation

See also: Lehigh Valley International Airport, Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport, and Braden Airpark
Main terminal at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Hanover Township, March 2014
Main terminal at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Hanover Township, March 2014

The Lehigh Valley's primary commercial airport is Lehigh Valley International Airport (IATA: ABE, ICAO: KABE) in Hanover Township in the Lehigh Valley, roughly 7 miles (11 km) north-northeast of Allentown, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and 11 miles (18 km) west-southwest of Easton. The airport was utilized by 851,000 passengers in 2020. Allegiant Air recently completed a significant expansion at the airport.[88][89][90][91][92]

The Valley is also served by Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport, a two-runway general aviation facility located off Allentown's Lehigh Street, used predominantly by private aviation. Other general-aviation airports include Braden Airpark (also owned by the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority) in Easton, Pennsylvania, Hackettstown Airport in eastern Warren County, New Jersey, and Jake Arner Memorial Airport in Lehighton.

Bus transportation

A LANta bus in Easton, June 2005
A LANta bus in Easton, June 2005
See also: Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority and Trans-Bridge Lines

Public bus service in Lehigh Valley is available through the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, known as LANta. In New Jersey, bus service is provided by NJ Transit, including to Centre Square in Easton, Pennsylvania.

The Lehigh Valley has several commercial bus services, including Greyhound Lines, Klein Transportation, and Trailways, and others, that provide transportation to and from New York City, Philadelphia, Reading, Harrisburg and other regional destinations throughout the day. Additionally, OurBus provides service to and from Philadelphia, Martz Trailways provides transport from the region to Scranton via Wilkes-Barre. It also provides service to Philadelphia as an Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach route that connects to Amtrak at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Chinatown bus lines operates multiple roundtrip bus lines daily between Manhattan and Wind Creek Bethlehem in Bethlehem; as of 2014, more than 3,000 passengers daily utilized Chinatown bus lines' service from Manhattan to Wind Creek Bethlehem.[93]

Commercial rail

See also: Lehigh Line (Norfolk Southern) and Lehigh Valley Railroad

The Lehigh Valley is a major national thruway for commercial rail transport with roughly 65 commercial trains passing through the Valley daily. The region's largest freight rail operator is Norfolk Southern Railway, which uses two former rail lines, Lehigh Valley Railroad's Lehigh Line and Reading Railroad's Reading Line. Norfolk Southern Railway has major classification rail yards in both Allentown and Bethlehem.

Passenger rail

Passenger train service in the Valley is available just outside the Lehigh Valley at Doylestown (31.2 miles (50.2 km) southeast), at Annandale, New Jersey (roughly 41.8 miles (67.3 km) east), and at Hackettstown station in Hackettstown, New Jersey (49.5 miles (79.7 km) northeast). The Valley's closest Amtrak station is Bryn Mawr SEPTA, 50.4 miles (81.1 km) miles south of the Valley. Two major passenger rail hubs, 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and Newark Penn Station in Newark, New Jersey, are roughly 60 miles (97 km) southeast and 81.9 miles (131.8 km) west, respectively.

Roads

US 22 eastbound in Whitehall Township in the Lehigh Valley, October 2011
US 22 eastbound in Whitehall Township in the Lehigh Valley, October 2011

The Lehigh Valley is accessible from four major highways:

Other major Lehigh Valley roads include:

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Lehigh Valley International Airport

Lehigh Valley International Airport

Lehigh Valley International Airport, formerly Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton International Airport, is a domestic airport located in Hanover Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Lehigh Valley International Airport is located in the center of the Lehigh Valley, roughly 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Allentown, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Bethlehem, and 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Easton.

Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport

Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport

Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport is a public airport in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, on Lehigh Street two miles southwest of Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority. Also known as Queen City Airport, it is home to Civil Air Patrol Squadron 805 and Lehigh Valley Aviation Services, a fixed-base operator (FBO). Queen City Airport is also home to Vertivue Air Charters, a private airplane and helicopter charter service, and FlyGateway Aviation Institute, a multi-location flight school known for their Liberty University affiliation and FlyGateway's exclusive FastTrack Career Pilot Programs.

Braden Airpark

Braden Airpark

Braden Airpark, also known as Easton Airport, is a small airport located about three nautical miles north of the central business district of Easton, Pennsylvania. The airport is owned by the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, which also owns Lehigh Valley International Airport and Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport.

Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Hanover Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the township had a population of 1,571. It is a suburb of Allentown and Bethlehem and part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

IATA airport code

IATA airport code

An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, is a three-character alphanumeric geocode designating many airports and metropolitan areas around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The characters prominently displayed on baggage tags attached at airport check-in desks are an example of a way these codes are used.

ICAO airport code

ICAO airport code

The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published in ICAO Document 7910: Location Indicators, are used by air traffic control and airline operations such as flight planning. ICAO codes are also used to identify other aviation facilities such as weather stations, international flight service stations or area control centers, whether or not they are located at airports. Flight information regions are also identified by a unique ICAO-code.

Allegiant Air

Allegiant Air

Allegiant Air is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America.

Lehigh Street

Lehigh Street

Lehigh Street is a major road that connects Emmaus, Pennsylvania in the west to Allentown, Pennsylvania in the east in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. The road is one of six roads that enter and depart Allentown, the third largest city in eastern Pennsylvania.

Hackettstown Airport

Hackettstown Airport

Hackettstown Airport is a public-use airport located in the Beattystown area of Mansfield Township, Warren County, New Jersey, United States, three nautical miles (5.56 km) southwest of the central business district of Hackettstown. The airport is privately owned. Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, this airport is assigned N05 by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA.

Jake Arner Memorial Airport

Jake Arner Memorial Airport

Jake Arner Memorial Airport is a public non-towered airport that serves Lehighton, Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas. The airport is home to 35 based aircraft as of 2015, and has about 13,000 aircraft movements every calendar year. It was surveyed at an elevation of 534 ft and 163 m above sea level.

Lehighton, Pennsylvania

Lehighton, Pennsylvania

Lehighton is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Lehighton is located 28.9 miles (46.5 km) northwest of Allentown and 77.5 miles (124.7 km) northwest of Philadelphia.

Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority

Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority

The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority is a transit agency that provides public, fixed-route bus service throughout the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, including the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton. In 2021, the system had a ridership of 2,600,800, or about 9,200 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2022.

Telecommunications

Main article: Area codes 610, 484, and 835

The Lehigh Valley area initially was served only by the 215 area code from 1947 (when the North American Numbering Plan of the Bell System went into effect) until 1994. With the region's growing population, the Lehigh Valley was granted area code 610 in 1994. Today, the Lehigh Valley is mainly covered by 610. An overlay area code, 484, was added to the 610 service area in 1999.[94] Area code 835 is expected to become available in the Lehigh Valley in 2022.

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Area codes 610, 484, and 835

Area codes 610, 484, and 835

Area codes 610, 484, and 835 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the eastern and southeastern regions of Pennsylvania. The numbering plan area (NPA) includes regions to the west of Philadelphia and the cities Allentown, Bethlehem, and Reading. It includes much of the Delaware Valley, including almost all of Delaware County, most of the Philadelphia Main Line, and all of the Lehigh Valley.

Area codes 215, 267, and 445

Area codes 215, 267, and 445

Area codes 215, 267, and 445 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for Philadelphia and adjacent portions of Bucks and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Area code 215 was one of the original North American area codes established in 1947, while 267 and 445 are overlay codes for the same numbering plan area (NPA).

North American Numbering Plan

North American Numbering Plan

The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1 and has the international calling code 1. Some North American countries, most notably Mexico, do not participate in the NANP.

Bell System

Bell System

The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America for over one hundred years from its creation in 1877 until its antitrust breakup in 1983. The system of companies was often colloquially called Ma Bell, as it held a vertical monopoly over telecommunication products and services in most areas of the United States and Canada. At the time of the breakup of the Bell System in the early 1980s, it had assets of $150 billion and employed over one million people.

Wine

The Lehigh Valley AVA, which was designated an official American Viticultural Area in March 2008, includes 230 acres (93 ha) of vineyards planted to several Vitis vinifera and French-American hybrid grape varieties. Blue Mountain Vineyards in New Tripoli accounts of over 50 acres (20 ha) of the 230 acres and has won national and international awards. Fifteen to twenty percent of all wine produced commercially in Pennsylvania comes from grapes grown in the Lehigh Valley AVA.[95]

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Lehigh Valley AVA

Lehigh Valley AVA

The Lehigh Valley AVA is an American Viticultural area located in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The AVA includes portions of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Schuylkill, Carbon, and Monroe counties and the towns from Jim Thorpe to Easton, portions of the Schuylkill River Valley, the Brodhead Creek watershed in Monroe County and part of the Swatara Creek watershed to the west.

American Viticultural Area

American Viticultural Area

An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know about the geographic pedigree of their wines, as wines from a particular area can possess distinctive characteristics. Consumers often seek out wines from specific AVAs, and certain wines of particular pedigrees can claim premium prices and loyal customers. If a wine is labeled with an AVA, at least 85% of the grapes that make up the wine must have been grown in the AVA, and the wine must be fully finished within the state where the AVA is located.

Vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards are often characterised by their terroir, a French term loosely translating as "a sense of place" that refers to the specific geographical and geological characteristics of grapevine plantations, which may be imparted to the wine itself.

Vitis vinifera

Vitis vinifera

Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are currently between 5,000 and 10,000 varieties of Vitis vinifera grapes though only a few are of commercial significance for wine and table grape production.

New Tripoli, Pennsylvania

New Tripoli, Pennsylvania

New Tripoli is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lynn Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 840. New Tripoli is part of the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

Notable people from the Lehigh Valley

Main article: List of people from the Lehigh Valley

Since its settlement in the 18th century, the Lehigh Valley has been the birthplace or home to several famous Americans, including:

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List of people from the Lehigh Valley

List of people from the Lehigh Valley

The following is a list of notable people who were born, or have lived a significant portion of their lives, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.

Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti

Mario Gabriele Andretti is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only three drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, the World Sportscar Championship, and NASCAR. He has also won races in midget car racing and sprint car racing.

Michael Andretti

Michael Andretti

Michael Mario Andretti is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series and amassed 42 race victories, the most in the CART era and fourth-most all time. Since his retirement from active racing, Andretti has owned Andretti Autosport, which has won four IndyCar Series championships and five Indianapolis 500 races.

Chuck Bednarik

Chuck Bednarik

Charles Philip Bednarik, nicknamed "Concrete Charlie", was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). He has been ranked one of the hardest hitting tacklers in NFL history and was one of the league's last two-way players. His November 20, 1960, tackle of Frank Gifford in an Eagles game against the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium, known simply as The Hit, is widely considered one of the hardest tackles and most notable plays in NFL history.

Leon Carr

Leon Carr

Leon Carr was an American songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist and conductor. He developed some famed marketing jingles used in advertisements, including for Mounds candy, Chevrolet, and the "Bert the Turtle" theme song for the nuclear public education awareness film Duck and Cover.

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, or Broadway, are the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats, located in the Theater District and the Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world.

Jack Coleman (actor)

Jack Coleman (actor)

John MacDonald Coleman is an American actor who has played the role of Steven Carrington in the 1980s prime time soap opera Dynasty (1982–1988), Noah Bennet in the science-fiction drama series Heroes (2006–2010), State Senator Robert Lipton on The Office (2010–2013), and United States Senator William Bracken on Castle (2012–2015).

Dynasty (1981 TV series)

Dynasty (1981 TV series)

Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981, to May 11, 1989. The series, created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, revolves around the Carringtons, a wealthy family residing in Denver, Colorado. Dynasty stars John Forsythe as oil magnate Blake Carrington, Linda Evans as his new wife Krystle, and later Joan Collins as his former wife Alexis.

Castle (TV series)

Castle (TV series)

Castle is an American crime mystery/comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC for a total of eight seasons from March 9, 2009, to May 16, 2016. The series was produced jointly by Beacon Pictures and ABC Studios.

Bones (TV series)

Bones (TV series)

Bones is an American crime procedural comedy-drama television series created by Hart Hanson for Fox. It premiered on September 13, 2005, and concluded on March 28, 2017, airing for 246 episodes over 12 seasons. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth to Temperance "Bones" Brennan, a forensic anthropologist. It also explores the personal lives of the characters. The rest of the main cast includes Michaela Conlin, T. J. Thyne, Eric Millegan, Jonathan Adams, Tamara Taylor, John Francis Daley, and John Boyd.

H.D.

H.D.

Hilda Doolittle was an American modernist poet, novelist, and memoirist who wrote under the name H.D. throughout her life. Her career began in 1911 after she moved to London and co-founded the avant-garde Imagist group of poets with American expatriate poet and critic Ezra Pound. During this early period, her minimalist free verse poems depicting Classical motifs drew international attention. Eventually distancing herself from the Imagist movement, she experimented with a wider variety of forms, including fiction, memoir, and verse drama. Profoundly affected by her experiences in London during the Blitz, H.D.'s poetic style from World War II until her death pivoted towards complex long poems on esoteric and pacifist themes.

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Jimmy DeGrasso

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County statistics

Geographic area July 1, 2005 Census 2000 1990 Census 1980 Census 1970 Census
Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton, PA–NJ MSA 790,535 740,395 686,688 635,481 594,382
Carbon County, Pennsylvania 61,959 58,802 56,846 53,285 50,573
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania 330,433 312,090 291,130 272,349 255,304
Northampton County, Pennsylvania 287,767 267,066 247,105 225,418 214,368
Warren County, New Jersey 110,376 102,437 91,607 84,429 73,960
Allentown, Pennsylvania 105,231 106,632 105,301 103,758 109,871
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 68,114 71,329 71,428
Easton, Pennsylvania 26,263 26,276 26,234

Discover more about County statistics related topics

Carbon County, Pennsylvania

Carbon County, Pennsylvania

Carbon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,749. The county is also part of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

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.

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Northampton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,951. Its county seat is Easton. The county was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Its namesake was the county of Northamptonshire in England, and the county seat of Easton was named for the country house Easton Neston in Northamptonshire.

Warren County, New Jersey

Warren County, New Jersey

Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. According to the 2020 census, the county was the state's 19th-most populous county, with a population of 109,632, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 940 (+0.9%) from the 2010 census count of 108,692, which in turn reflected an increase of 6,255 (+6.1%) from 102,437 counted at the 2000 census. The county borders the Delaware River and Easton, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley to its west, the New York City metropolitan area to its east, and The Poconos to its northwest. Warren County constitutes part of the Lehigh Valley/Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area and is the only county in New Jersey which is not part of the combined statistical areas of New York City or Philadelphia.

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown is a city in Lehigh County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 125,845 at the 2020 census. Allentown is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania and the state's third-largest city after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It is the largest city in both Lehigh County and the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in the United States as of 2020. Allentown was founded in 1762 and is the county seat of Lehigh County.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,343 were in Lehigh County. It is Pennsylvania's eighth most populous city. The city is located along the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River.

Easton, Pennsylvania

Easton, Pennsylvania

Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) river that joins the Delaware River in Easton and serves as the city's eastern geographic boundary with Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Source: "Lehigh Valley", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 14th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehigh_Valley.

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Further Reading

Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Emmaus, Pennsylvania

Lower Macungie Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Macungie, Pennsylvania

South Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Easton, Pennsylvania

Lower Saucon Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Index of Pennsylvania-related articles

Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority

Economy of Allentown, Pennsylvania

Sports in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Culture of Allentown, Pennsylvania

Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
Notes
  1. ^ Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1981 to 2010.
  2. ^ Official records for Allentown were kept at Allentown Gas Company from March 1922 to December 1943, and at Lehigh Valley Int'l since January 1944. For more information, see ThreadEx.

References

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External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lehigh Valley.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Lehigh Valley.


Coordinates: 40°42′N 75°30′W / 40.700°N 75.500°W / 40.700; -75.500

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