The Guerber Engineering Co. was a civil engineering firm that served most of the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic 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 bound to the no ...

during the first half of the 20th century, erecting many of the steel elements of most notable buildings in the valley during this time period.

History

The company was established in 1901 by Paul A. E. Guerber, a mechanical engineer and graduate of the

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely dedicated to mechanical ...

operating originally out of

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

before moving to West

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

. In 1913, William B. M. Hutchinson was named president and chairman of Guerber Engineering. Hutchinson would transform the company into Bethlehem Fabricators, Inc. in the early 1930s, no longer offering structural engineering services nor structural steel elements, instead focusing on the production of gas‐fired heaters and other metal products. The company, both under Guerber and Hutchinson's tenure had a close connection with

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 Epis ...

, with Hutchinson being an alumnus. As such many recent Lehigh graduates in the early 20th century were employed upon graduation by the firm. Morris J. Dimmick served as the company's vice president from the 1930s to his retirement in 1960. Bethlehem Fabricators would be purchased and merged into Lewis Industries, Inc. in 1981. Lewis Industries is a local industrial conglomerate that at the time began to move into the steel fabrication industry. However, by 1984, the former Bethlehem Fabricators plant would be shuttered as part of the wider

Rust Belt The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions and ...

with 335 people losing their jobs.

Notable projects

's Fritz Lab erecting their structural steel in 1909, the lab would be the future home of the school's civil engineering department and Guerber was commemorated with a plaque. *Glendon Hill Road Canal Bridge constructed in 1910. The historic bridge spans the

Lehigh Canal The Lehigh Canal, or the Lehigh Navigation Canal, is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of twenty years, beginning in 1818. The low ...

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 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river tha ...

. *

Allentown National Bank The Allentown National Bank, originally named the Allentown Bank, is an historic bank building located on Centre Square in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Built in 1905, the building is a large eight-story, steel frame and masonry-clad stru ...

constructed in 1905, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

References

{{reflist American companies established in 1901 Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1901 Design companies established in 1901 Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States Companies based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania