Allentown holds historical importance as the placement where the Liberty Bell (then known as the Pennsylvania State House bell) was successfully hidden from the British during the American Revolutionary War. After George Washington’s defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless, and that city prepared for British attack. The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ordered that 11 bells, including the State House bell and the bells from St. Peters Church and Philidelphia’s Chirst Church , be taken down and removed from the city to prevent the British, who would melt the bells down to cast into cannons, from taking ownership of them. The bells were transported north to Northampton-Towne, and hidden away in the basement of the Old Zion Reformed Church, in what is now center city Allentown. Today, a shrine and museum in the church’s basement marks the exact spot where the Liberty Bell was hidden. It features a full-size official replica of the Liberty Bell, flanked by the flags of the original thirteen colonies.
On December 26, 1776 after the Battle of Trenton , Hessian prisoners-of-war were kept in the vicinity of present-day Gordon an d Seventh Streets. The Old Zion Reformed Church, and a house near James (now Eighth) and Hamilton Streets, served as hospitals for injured and sick Continental Army troops. In 1777, a mill manufacturing paper cartridges for muskets was relocated here from nearby Bethlehem . That same year, a shop of sixteen armorers was established along the Little Lehigh Creek, and employed in the repair of weapons and the manufacture of saddles and scabbards.
Further information: Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution
Prior to the 1830s, Allentown was a small town with only local markets . The arrival of the Lehigh Canal, however, expanded the city’s commerce and industrial capacity greatly . With this, the town underwent significant industrialization, ultimately becoming a major center for heavy industry and manufacturing. While Allentown was not as large as neighboring Bethlehem at the time, the local iron industry — which included the Allentown Iron Company (established 1846) and the Allentown Rolling Mills (established 1860) — employed the majority of Allentown’s workforce. Railroads, such as the Lehigh Valley Railroad, were vital to the movement of raw materials and finished goods, and employed a significant workforce during this time. This period of rapid economic growth in the region was halted by two events, the Panic of 1873 and the Long Depression.
In addition to the iron and railroad industries, Allentown also had a strong custom in the brewing of beer and was home to several notable breweries, including the Horlacher Brewery (founded 1897, closed 1978), the Neuweiler Brewery (founded 1875, closed 1968) and Schaefer Beer, whose brewery was later sold to Guinness.
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