Old Allentown Preservation Association Annual House Tour: Celebrating 41 Years of Historic Preservation
The Old Allentown Annual House Tour will be held on Sunday, September 17, 2017 from 12:00 – 5:00 pm. House tour tickets are
$12 in advance, $15 at the event, and $10 for Old Allentown Preservation Association (OAPA) members. Tickets will be available for purchase on the OAPA’s website and at select Lehigh Valley businesses on August 1, 2017. Requests for tickets may also be forwarded to housetour@oldallentown.org. House tour booklets will be available at the Old Allentown Preservation Association Office at 147 N. 10th St. (corner of Turner & 10th) from 11:30 – 4:00 pm on September 17th. Will-call, pre-paid receipts/
certificates must be redeemed at the office for a house tour booklet which will serve as your ticket for the event. Memberships will be available for individuals, families and seniors the day of the event. Visit: www.oldallentown.org for information, tickets, & discounts!
Tickets available for pre-sale at: Albright’s Hardware (South Whitehall), C. Leslie Smith, (South Whitehall), Civic Theater, Liberty Bell Museum (Allentown), Moravian Bookshop (Bethlehem) Syb’s Deli and Weil Antiques (South Allentown).
Old Allentown’s Annual House Tour will feature homes and businesses that have been completely refurbished, homes in the pro- cess of being rebuilt into one, and others in the process of being restored to their historic grandeur. This year the Old Allentown House Tour will also feature the adjacent areas of redevelopment in Allentown. including the Historic Liberty Bell Museum at Zion Reformed Church, Trexler Estate, now the Elias Funeral Home and the Allentown Preservation Association. Two trolleys will offer transportation throughout the district to guide guests directly to the sites on tour. The house tour has been held annually since
the organization was first formed in 1976. During the tour, visitors get to see a variety of interior and gardening styles reflecting the individual tastes of their owners.
The Old Allentown Historic District
The Old Allentown Historic District, which qualifies for historic landmark status, encompasses a nearly 16-squareblock area within the City of Allentown, Pennsylvania, stretching from Hall Street west of 7th Street to 12th Street, east to west and from Liberty Street to Linden Street, north to south. The District was established by special City Ordinance in 1978 to protect the unique late federal to Victorian architecture of the area. It includes the Old Allentown Cemetery, which dates to the American Revolution, as well as the nearly two-square-block Union & West End Historic Cemetery (featured on the tour this year), which dates to 1854 and is the largest resting place for Civil War veterans outside of Gettysburg.
Prominent features of the architecture that are unique to the Old Allentown Historic District include the elaborately chip-carved Eastlake ornamentation over doorways and windows, ornate German-style fretted cornice work, and the bell-shaped porch roofs that were added during the early 1900s as homeowners ventured outside to watch the new-fangled automobiles cruise up and down streets. The Five Sisters on Turner Street are pre-Civil War and were built in 1835 – be sure to look for them on the trolley ride.
The Old Allentown Preservation Association
The Old Allentown Preservation Association, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, with local as well as business members and a per- manent headquarters located at 147 North 10th Street, was founded in 1976, in reaction to an alarming loss in the housing stock in the Historic District. Chief among Old Allentown’s programs is the Acquisition and Rehabilitation Program, which to date has restored 21 rundown, mostly multi-unit properties and converted them into fully restored, single-family, owner-occupied dwell- ings. To date, more than 100 facades have been restored under this program, with the result that whole blocks have now been returned to their near-original appearance. This can best be seen in the 300 and 400 block of North 8th Street.
The Old Allentown Tour will be an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon – come out and join us in celebrating the 41st Anniversary of this annual tradition!
Information provided to TVL on behalf of the Old Allentown Preservation Association by:
Mike Moore
Communications Manager
Mayor’s Office
435 Hamilton Street
Allentown, PA 18101
Mike.Moore@allentownpa.gov
http://www.AllentownPA.gov
