Allentown
is home to several hospitals and health networks, including St.
Luke's Health Network, Sacred Heart Hospital, the Lehigh Valley
Health Network, the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and
the Allentown State Hospital.
Electricity
in Eastern Pennsylvania is provided by PPL, also known as
PP&L. UGI provides natural gas for homes. Two
cable systems, RCN Corporation (originally Twin County
Cable) and Service Electric Cable TV, Inc., have served the city
since the 1960s. The area's only landfill, IESI Bethlehem,
is located in nearby Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Water, sewer,
waste, recycling, and yard waste are controlled by the city.
The City of Allentown has
one of the best park systems in the country. Much of the city's park
system can be attributed to the efforts of industrialist Harry
Clay Trexler. Inspired by the City Beautiful movement in
the early 20th century, Trexler helped create West Park, a 6.59-acre
(26,700 m2) park in what was then a community trash pit and sandlot
baseball field[66] in an upscale area of the city. The park,
which opened in 1909, features a bandshell, designed by
noted Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer, which
has long been home to the Allentown Band and other
community bands. Trexler also facilitated the development of
Trexler Park, Cedar Parkway, Allentown Municipal Golf Course and the
Trout Nursery in Lehigh Parkway. Trexler was also responsible for the
development of the Trexler Trust, which to this day continues to
provide private funding for the maintenance and development of
Allentown's park system.
City
parks in Allentown include Bicentennial Park (4,600 seat
mini-stadium built for sporting events), Cedar Creek Parkway
(127 acres, includingLake Muhlenberg, Cedar Beach and the
Malcolm W. Gross Memorial Rose Garden), East Side Reservoir
(15 acres), Kimmets Lock Park (5 acres), Lehigh Canal Park
(55 acres), Lehigh Parkway (999 acres), Old
Allentown Cemetery (4 acres), Jordan Park, South Mountain
Reservoir (157 acres), Trexler Memorial Park (134 acres),
Trout Creek Parkway (100 acres), Joe Daddona Park (19 acres)
and West Park (6.59 acres).
Mayfair Festival of the
Arts, an arts and crafts festival established in 1986, is held each
May at Cedar Beach Park in Allentown. The Great Allentown
Fair runs annually, in early September, on the grounds of the
Allentown Fairgrounds, where it has been held since 1889. The first
Allentown Fair was held in 1852, and between 1852 and 1899 it was
held at the "Old Allentown Fairgrounds," which was located
north of Liberty Street between 5th and 6th streets. The J. Birney
Crum Stadium plays host to the Collegiate Marching Band
Festival, held annually since 1995, as well as other marching band
festivals and competitions.
The
city has two large capacity outdoor stadiums. Coca-Cola Park,
with an overall capacity of 10,000, was constructed in 2007
and is the home field for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the
AAA-level minor league team affiliated with the Philadelphia
Phillies of Major League Baseball. J. Birney Crum
Stadium, used for Lehigh Valley Conference football and
other purposes, has a seating capacity in excess of 15,000. The city
has no large indoor stadium, but major indoor sporting and concert
events are held at Stabler Arena, in neighboring Bethlehem.
Other recreational sites in
Allentown include Allentown Municipal Golf Course, Cedar Beach
Pool, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, Fountain Pool, Irving
Pool, Jordan Pool and Mack Pool.
Allentown is the birthplace
of, or home to, several notable Americans, including:
Thom Browne, fashion
designer
Frank N. D. Buchman,
founder of the Oxford Group and Moral
Re-Armament religious movements
Leon
Carr, Broadway composer and television advertising
songwriter
Michaela Conlin,
actress, Fox's Bones
Gloria Ehret, professional
golfer, winner of the 1966 LPGA Championship
Peter Gruner, professional
wrestler known as Billy Kidman
Tim Heidecker, star
of Adult Swim show Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great
Job!
Lee Iacocca, former
chairman of Chrysler Corporation
Keith
Jarrett, jazz musician
Michael Johns, health care
executive and former White House speechwriter
Brian Knobbs, former
professional wrestler
William Marchant,
playwright and screenwriter
Ed McCaffrey, former
professional football player, Denver Broncos, New York
Giants and San Francisco 49ers
Lara Jill Miller, voice
actress, Cartoon Network's The Life and Times of Juniper
Lee
Andre Reed, former
professional football player, Buffalo Bills and Washington
Redskins
Matthew Riddle,
professional UFC mixed martial fighter
Jerry Sags, former
professional wrestler
Amanda Seyfried, model and
actress, The CW's Veronica Mars, HBO's Big
Love and the films Mamma Mia! and Dear John
Andrea Tantaros, political
analyst and commentator
Christine Taylor, actress
and wife of actor Ben Stiller
Donald
Voorhees, Emmy-nominated orchestral conductor
Lauren Weisberger,
author, The Devil Wears Prada
Allentown's reputation as a
rugged blue collar city has led to many references to the
city in popular culture:
Allentown is mentioned in
the 2011 movie The Hangover Part II when Ed
Helms sings a cover of Billy Joel's song "Allentown".
Allentown is mentioned in
the song "Fed to Death" by indie rock band Say
Anything. It is the opening song on their 2009 album Say
Anything.
Allentown is mentioned in
the 2008 movie The Wrestler as a location where Mickey
Rourke (playing Randy "The Ram" Robinson) had
wrestled leading up to his comeback.
On August 10,
2003, CNN broadcast Achieving the Perfect 10, a
critical documentary about the Parkettes National Gymnastics
Training Center, located in Allentown.
The TV production
company Medstar Television, which produced the series Medical
Detectives from 1996 to 2000, and the series Forensic
Files from 2000 on, is headquartered in Allentown. Locations
throughout the city have been used as settings for dramatic
reenactments of crimes profiled by the shows.
The 1990 dark
comedy film, I Love You to Death, directed by Lawrence
Kasdan, is based on an attempted murder that happened in 1984 in
Allentown.
Allentown's Dorney
Park was a film location for John Waters' Hairspray,
released in 1988.
The city is the subject of
the popular Billy Joel song, "Allentown",
originally released on The Nylon Curtain album in 1982.
Joel's song uses Allentown as a metaphor for the resilience
of working class Americans in distressed industrial cities
during the recession of the early 1980s.
Allentown is the hometown
of up and coming showgirl Peggy Sawyer in the long-running, Tony
Award-winning Broadway musical 42nd Street, released
in 1980, and its associated Academy Award-nominated movie.
When Sawyer expresses her desire to leave Broadway to return to
Allentown, the show's director and entire cast successfully dissuade
her by singing the famed musical number "The Lullaby of
Broadway."
Allentown is mentioned
twice in the 1970 Frank Sinatra song "The Train,"
which appears as the first song on his album Watertown.
Allentown was the film
location for much of James Neilson's film Where Angels Go,
Trouble Follows, released in 1969.
Hiding
The Bell, a 1968 historical fiction novel by Ruth Nulton Moore,
chronicles the events surrounding the hiding of the Liberty
Bell in Allentown in 1777.
Allentown was the subject
of the 1963 Irving Gordon song "Allentown Jail",
which was subsequently recorded by several other artists,
including The Kingston Trio, The Lettermen, The
Seekers andJo Stafford.
In the 1960 musical Bye
Bye Birdie, character Rosie Alvarez is from Allentown. In the song
"Spanish Rose," she sings: "I'm just a Spanish Tamale
according to Mae/ Right off the boat from the tropics, far, far
away/ Which is kinda funny, since where I come from is Allentown,
PA."
Allentown is mentioned in
the 1957 book, On the Road, by Jack Kerouac.
Main articles: List of
sites of interest in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Buildings and
architecture of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and National Register
of Historic Places listings in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
19th
Street Theatre (opened 1928), 527 N. 19th St. Home of Civic
Theatre of Allentown, which stages plays and hosts fine arts film
series.
Albertus
L. Meyers Bridge (built 1913), 8th & Union Sts. Also known
as the Eighth Street Bridge, once the longest and highest concrete
bridge in the world.
Allentown Art
Museum (built 1934), 31 N. 5th St. Collection of over 13,000
works of art, along with an associated library.
Allentown
Cemetery Park (established 1765), 10th & Linden Sts. Burial
site of the city's earliest residents, including American
Revolutionary Warand War of 1812 veterans.
Allentown
Fairgrounds (established 1889), 400 N. 17th St. Home of
the Allentown Fair (started 1852), Allentown Farmers
Market, Agri-Plex exhibit hall and The Ritz restaurant.
Allentown
Post Office (built 1933–34), 5th & Hamilton Sts.
Classical Moderne-style building with Art Deco ornamentation.
Interior murals of local historical scenes by New York
artist Gifford Reynolds Beal.
Allentown
Symphony Hall (built 1896), 23 N. 6th St. Owned by the
Allentown Symphony Association, a 1200-seat performing arts facility
that is home to the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, as well as
Pennsylvania Sinfonia, Community Concerts of Allentown, Allentown
Band and Community Music School of the Lehigh Valley.
Bogert's
Covered Bridge (built 1841), S. 24th St. & Fish Hatchery
Rd. One of the region's oldest covered bridges, a 145-foot (44 m)
span over the Little Lehigh Creek in Allentown's Lehigh
Parkway.
Frank Buchman House, 117
N. 11th St. Home of Frank N. D. Buchman (1878–1961),
founder of the Oxford Group and Moral
Re-Armament religious movements.
Butz-Groff
House (built 1872), 111 N. 4th St. Dark stone Victorian home in
what was once the center of Allentown's most fashionable residential
district. Built by attorney Samuel A. Butz and later owned by his
grandson, Joseph C. Groff.
Cedar
Crest College (founded 1867), 100 College Dr. Liberal arts
college with an 84-acre (340,000 m2) campus on the city's western
edge.
Centre
Square and Soldiers & Sailors Monument (built 1899), 7th &
Hamilton Sts. Monument honoring American Civil
War veterans from the 47th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers.
William
F. Curtis Arboretum (started 1915), 100 College Dr. Located at
Cedar Crest College, a collection of 140 species of trees registered
with the American Public Gardens Association.
Earl
F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park (built 1939, renovated 1976),
Lehigh & S. Howard Sts. Originally Fairview Field, home to the
city's Minor League Baseball teams, 1939–47. As
Bicentennial Park, hosted the Allentown Ambassadors,
1997–2003.
Hess's Department
Store (closed 1996 and demolished in 2000).
Homeopathic Healing Art
Plaque, 31 S. Penn St. Marks the location of the world's first
medical college exclusively devoted to the practice of homeopathic
medicine. Established in 1835, the college went bankrupt in 1845 and
relocated to Philadelphia, where it developed into what is
today Hahnemann University Hospital.
J. Birney Crum
Stadium (built 1948), 22nd & Turner Sts. Home football
field of Allentown's three high schools, a 15,000-capacity stadium
once the largest in Pennsylvania.
Muhlenberg
College (founded 1848), 2400 Chew St. Liberal arts college
located on an 81-acre (330,000 m2) campus in Allentown's West
End.
Old
Allentown Cemetery (established 1846), N. Fountain & Linden
Sts. City's second oldest cemetery, located next to Allentown
Cemetery Park. Burial site of Tilghman Good (1830–87), two-term
mayor and commander of the 47th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers
during the American Civil War.
Old Court House County
Museum, 5th & Hamilton Sts.
Old
Zion Reformed Church and Liberty Bell Shrine Museum, 622 Hamilton
St. Located on Hamilton Street in center city Allentown,
the temporary hiding place of the Liberty Bell in 1777–78
during the Revolutionary War.
Portland
Place (built 1902), 718 Hamilton St. Former headquarters of
Lehigh Portland Cement Company, remodeled in the art deco style
in 1939–40. Over the front door was a glass relief by artist
Oronzio Maldarelli, the largest glass mural panel in the world at
the time. When the company (now Lehigh Cement Company) relocated,
the sculpture was installed in the building's new lobby.
PPL
Building (built 1928), 9th & Hamilton Sts. Allentown's
tallest building (23 stories), headquarters to PPL
Corporation.
Revolutionary
War Plaque (erected 1926), 8th & Hamilton Sts. On the side
of the Farr Building, marks the site of a hospital for Revolutionary
War soldiers in 1777–78.
Sterling
Hotel (1890), 343–45 Hamilton St.
Three-story, Romanesque-style brick hotel. Now a
popular bar and music venue. Placed on the National Register of
Historic Places, 1984.
Trout
Hall (built 1770), 414 Walnut St. Oldest house in Allentown,
built by James Allen, son of William Allen, the city's
founder.
Yocco's Hot Dogs (opened
1922). Regionally-popular restaurant chain with six Lehigh
Valley locations, including three in Allentown.
Museums
and cultural organizations
Allentown
Art Museum
Allentown Band
Allentown Public
Library
Allentown Symphony
Orchestra
America On Wheels
Baum School of Art
Chen Arts Group
Civic Theatre of
Allentown
Da
Vinci Science Center
Lehigh
County Historical Society and Lehigh Valley Heritage Center
Museum
Lehigh
Valley Arts Council
Liberty Bell Museum
Marine Band of
Allentown
Municipal Band of
Allentown
MunOpCo Music Theatre
Museum of Indian
Culture
Pioneer Band of
Allentown
The Theatre Outlet
Allentown has three
official sister cities as designated by Sister Cities
International:
