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The Allentown Band, Marine Band of Allentown, Municipal Band of Allentown, and the Pioneer Band of Allentown all regularly perform at the bandshell in the city's West Park. Youth Education in the Arts, the sponsoring organization of The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps, is headquartered in Allentown. Allentown's J. Birney Crum Stadium, the second largest high school football field in the state, hosts the annual Drum Corps International Eastern Classic, which brings together the world's top junior drum and bugle corps for a two-day event.
Allentown State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Allentown, was closed in 2010 as part of the statewide closing of psychiatric hospitals by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. The last Allentown rail service was provided by SEPTA; it ceased operating in 1979 though one of SEPTA's two main train stations in Allentown remains standing. In September 2020, Amtrak, in its Amtrak 2035 expansion plan, proposed restoring this rail service between Allentown and New York City by 2035. Use of this mostly single-track route by Amtrak has consistently been opposed by Norfolk Southern Railway, which acquired ownership of the Lehigh Line when it purchased the federally-founded Conrail Corporation in 1999. Allentown's three large high schools, Allen, Dieruff, and Central Catholic, each compete in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, one of the premier high school athletic divisions in the nation.
Notable people
The area's only landfill, Waste Connections of Canada, is locally headquartered in Bethlehem. Water and sewage, prior to 2013, were controlled by the city and are now managed by Lehigh County following the end of a 50-year lease agreement. Due in part to Allentown's proximity to Philadelphia, cheesesteaks are immensely popular. Yocco's Hot Dogs, a regionally well-known hot dog and cheesesteak establishment with four area locations , was founded in 1922 by Theodore Iacocca, uncle of former Chrysler chairman and president Lee Iacocca. A-Treat Bottling Company, a regionally-popular soft drink beverage company, has been based in Allentown since its 1918 founding. The PPL Building, at 2 North 9th Street, is Allentown's tallest high rise building at 322 feet .
The company's boilers and kilns were used nationally and abroad in Canada, Cuba, and the Philippines. Allentown holds historical significance as the location where the Liberty Bell was successfully hidden by American patriots to avoid its capture by the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. After Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine in Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was left defenseless and American patriots began preparing for what they saw as an imminent British attack on the city. The bells were transported north to Northampton Towne by two farmers and wagon masters, John Snyder and Henry Bartholomew, and then hidden under floorboards in the basement of Zion Reformed Church in what is now Center City Allentown. Allentown is located 48 miles north of Philadelphia and 78 miles west of New York City.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms ice hockey
The variety is hot-summer except in the county's higher elevation areas, where it is warm-summer . Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, erected in 1899 at Seventh and Hamilton Streets in Center City Allentown, 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 four major Philadelphia-based network stations serving Lehigh County are KYW-TV , WCAU , WPVI , and WTXF . The four major New York City-based network stations serving Lehigh County are WABC , WCBS-TV , WNBC , and WNYW . The four major Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-based network stations serving Lehigh County are WNEP-TV , WBRE-TV , WYOU , and WOLF-TV . Most of the county is drained by the Lehigh River and its tributaries, though the Schuylkill River also drains regions in the county's south through Perkiomen Creek and (in the county's northwest) through Maiden Creek.
Amusement parks
The Allentown Fire Department, established in 1870, operates out of six fire stations in the city. Electricity in Allentown is provided by PPL Corporation, which is also headquartered in Allentown. Two cable companies, RCN Corporation and Service Electric , have provided cable service to Allentown since the 1960s.
The building was designed by the New York City architectural firm Helme, Corbett, and Harrison. Wallace Harrison came to Allentown to design the building, which later served as a prototype for the Art Deco architecture of Rockefeller Center in New York City. The decorative friezes on the exterior of the building were designed by Alexander Archipenko. The building has been illuminated at night since its 1928 opening and, in clear weather, can be seen from as far north as the Blue Mountain Ski Area. Exterior shots of the PPL Building appear in the 1954 motion picture Executive Suite.
Allentown is legally classified as a Pennsylvania third-class city and has operated with the "strong-mayor" version of the mayor-council form of government since 1970. The mayor serves as chief executive and administrative officer for the municipality, and the city council serves as the legislative and oversight body. Elected "at-large," the mayor serves a four-year term under the city's home rule charter. The legislative branch, the Allentown City Council, consists of seven council members elected at large for four-year staggered terms. City Council holds regular public meetings in order to enact city legislation, including ordinances and resolutions.
In 1863–64, the Second National Bank of Allentown was formed, and Ainey was elected its first president, a position he held until the time of his death. Ainey contributed to Allentown's industrial and retail growth, helping finance The Iowa Barb Wire Company, which was later absorbed by American Steel & Wire, Pioneer Silk Factory, Palace Silk Mill, and Allentown Spinning Company. The company was headquartered in Allentown from 1905 until 2008, when it relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina. Some of the first resistance to British colonialism, which led ultimately to the American Revolutionary War, began in and around present day Allentown.
The 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 home to the Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center, which has been the training ground for numerous Olympians and U.S. national gymnastics champions. The program was the subject of an immensely critical 2003 CNN documentary, Achieving the Perfect 10, which depicted the program as a hugely demanding and competitive gymnastics training center.
Trexler Nature Preserve in North Whitehall Township, a 1,108 acres (4.48 km2) county-owned park along Jordan Creek, which includes the Lehigh Valley Zoo. The county has several museums, including Allentown Art Museum, America on Wheels, Da Vinci Science Center, George Taylor House, Jacob Ehrenhardt Jr. House, Lehigh County Historical Society at Trout Hall, Liberty Bell Museum, Museum of Indian Culture, and others. The Great Allentown Fair, one of the nation's largest and longest ongoing city fairs, is held annually at Allentown Fairgrounds on North 17th Street in Allentown the end of August and beginning of September. Mayfair, an arts and festival fair, is held annually in May on the campus of Cedar Crest College in Allentown.
From 1947 until 1994, Lehigh County was served exclusively by the 215 area code. With the county's growing population, area code 610 was also allocated to the county in 1994. A plan to introduce area code 835 as an additional overlay was rescinded in 2001. It has since been reintroduced and will begin use once 610 and 484 extensions are exhausted, possibly as early as September 2022. Lehigh County-area radio stations include WAEB-AM in Allentown , B104 in Allentown , WZZO in Bethlehem , WHOL in Allentown , and others.
