Transportation In 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 north by Blue Mountain, to the south by South Mountain, to the west by Lebanon Valley, and to the east by the Delaware River on Pennsylvania's eastern border with Warren County, New Jersey. The Valley is about long and wide. The Lehigh Valley's largest city is Allentown, the third largest city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, with a population of 125,845 residents as of the 2020 census.

The Allentown- Bethlehem- Easton metropolitan area, which includes the Lehigh Valley, is currently Pennsylvania's third most populous metropolitan area after those of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the nation's 68th largest metropolitan area with a population of 861,889 residents as of 2020. Lehigh County is among Pennsylvania's fastest-growing counties, and the Lehigh Valley leads Pennsylvania in terms of population growth in the 18-to-34 year old demographic. The region's core population centers are located in southern and central Lehigh and Northampton counties along Interstate 78, Interstate 476, Pennsylvania Route 309, and U.S. Route 22.

The Lehigh Valley has played a sizable and influential role in the country's founding and history. On June 21, 1774, patriots in the region were among the first to organize in opposition to British colonial governance, demanding formation of the First Continental Congress and establishing one of the colonies' first patriot militias that drove Loyalists out of the region and provided early resistance to British colonial governance."Revolution roused Valley"
''The Morning Call'', July 3, 2001 The Lehigh Valley helped inspire and then supported the Revolutionary War, establishing one of the first hospitals for treatment of wounded Continental Army troops at the Allentown location now occupied by the Farr Building. Washington and his commanders established two POW camps in Allentown, one at 8th and Hamilton Streets and another on Gordon Street, to house Hessian mercenaries captured at the Battle of Trenton,"History's headlines: Allentown's POW camps,"
WFMZ, September 1, 2015 and Washington visited the region following the Battle of Trenton and several additional times during and following the Revolution.
WFMZ, February 21, 2012 Allentown also played a historical role in protecting the Liberty Bell from British capture following the September 26, 1777 fall of Philadelphia to the British Army, concealing the bell for nine months from September 1777 to June 1778 under floor boards in Allentown's Zion Reformed Church, an act that was later commemorated in 1962 with the establishment of the Liberty Bell Museum inside this Allentown church.

In the 19th century, significant numbers of Lehigh Valley volunteers contributed to the Union's preservation during the American Civil War. In the war's first days, following the April 13, 1861 fall of Fort Sumpter, the Allen Infantry, a militia of volunteers from Allentown and its surrounding communities, responded to Lincoln's April 15, 1861 proclamation by deploying in defense of the national capital of Washington, D.C."Snyder, Laurie. ''47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment's Story'', 2014."
/ref> Four months later, in August 1861, the Allen Infantry and other large numbers of Allentown-area volunteers played a key role in the formation of the Pennsylvania's 47th Regiment, which bolstered the Union Army's strength, helping lead the Union's military victories in the Battle of St. Johns Bluff, and later participated in daring raids against Confederate positions in the Deep South, including in the 1864 Red River campaign in the Trans-Mississippi theater.

Throughout the 19th and most of the 20th centuries, the Lehigh Valley's leadership in coal and iron mining and then in its 20th century leadership in steel and other heavy manufacturing proved central to the nation's industrialisation, contributing sizably to the American Industrial Revolution and the nation's rise as a global manufacturing and economic superpower. Lehigh Canal, whose construction began in 1818, permitted the Lehigh Valley to begin transporting mined coal and iron and ultimately steel components and products through the Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River for which the Valley is named, to the nation's largest markets in New York City, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and elsewhere. Many Lehigh Valley companies contributed to the region's development as a global industrial leader, including Bethlehem Steel, which grew to become one of the world's largest and most prominent manufacturers of steel in the 20th century. But the company later experienced a rapid downfall beginning in the early 1980s that included major layoffs and production cutbacks that worsened steadily, forcing the company into bankruptcy protection in 2001 and dissolution in 2003.

As of 2020, the Lehigh Valley's total gross domestic product (GDP) is $42.9 billion, driven by diverse industry sector contributions, including from its finance, manufacturing, health care and education, and information industry sectors, compared to its heavy manufacturing focus of the 20th century. The Valley is one of Pennsylvania's largest and fastest growing economies, experiencing 5% GDP growth between 2016 and 2017 alone. The region's primary commercial airport is Lehigh Valley International Airport; the airport's air traffic has grown considerably in the 21st century fueled by considerable increases in air cargo traffic, which exceeded 210 million pounds in 2016.

The Lehigh Valley is located within the U.S. Northeast megalopolis with ease of access and close proximity to many of the nation's largest population centers, airports, terminals, railways, and seaports, including New York City, which is to its east, and Philadelphia, which is to its southeast. The region is located geographically within a one-day drive to over a third of the U.S. population and over half of Canada's population, which has proven a helpful factor behind the region's 21st emergence as a national leader in warehousing, logistics, manufacturing, and distribution. Gains in these and other industry sectors in the Valley have helped offset the significant losses the region experienced from its late 20th century decline in heavy manufacturing. Since its settlement in the 1700s, the Lehigh Valley has been the birthplace or home to several notable Americans who have proven influential across a broad range of fields, including academia, art and music, business, government and politics, the military, professional and Olympic-level athletics, and other fields.

History

The Lehigh Valley was settled in the first half of the 1700s by predominantly German immigrants fleeing war and religious oppression. Prior to their arrival, the region was inhabited by Lenape Indian tribes who hunted, fished, and quarried jasper in the region. Sons of provincial Pennsylvania founder William Penn acquired much of the Lehigh Valley in the Walking Purchase in 1737 during the colonial period. Lenape Indians subsequently retaliated with raids against European settlers throughout the 1750s and early 1760s but were moved out of the region by the mid-1760s. The region was initially established in 1682 as part of Bucks County. In 1752, the region became part of Northampton County, and Lehigh County was later separated from Northampton County and formally established in 1812. Shelter House in Emmaus, constructed in 1734 by Pennsylvania German settlers, is the oldest still-standing building structure in the Lehigh Valley and believed to be one of the oldest in the state.

American Revolutionary War

Allentown and its surrounding communities played an important and historic role in the emergence of the American Revolution. Some of the first resistance to British colonialism began in Allentown and surrounding Lehigh County communities in the Lehigh Valley. As early as June 21, 1774, patriot forces in Allentown began meeting to formulate resistance plans to British colonial governance. On December 21, 1774, a Committee of Observation was formally established by Allentown-area patriot militias.

Following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Colonial British government in Allentown began dissolving and these patriot militias ceased control, pressuring Tories out of the region. Washington and his Continental Army staff passed through Allentown following their victory at the Battle of Trenton, traveling up Lehigh Street, which was then called Water Street. Washington and his staff stopped at the foot of Lehigh Street at a large spring on what today is the property occupied by Wire Mill. They rested there, watered their horses, and then proceeded to their post of duty. Allentown supported the Revolution, establishing the first hospitals for treatment of wounded Continental Army troops at various city locations, including at the current location of the Farr Building at 739 Hamilton Street.

Washington and his commanders also chose to establish two POW camps in Allentown, one at 8th and Hamilton Streets and another on Gordon Street, to house Hessian mercenaries captured at the Battle of Trenton. In addition to visiting Allentown after his victory at the Battle of Trenton, Washington returned to the city and region several additional times during and following the Revolution.

Allentown also played a historical role in protecting the Liberty Bell from British capture following the September 26, 1777 fall of Philadelphia to the British Army, concealing the Liberty Bell for nine months from September 1777 to June 1778 under floor boards in Allentown's Zion Reformed Church. After Washington and the Continental Army's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was left defenseless and Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council, anticipating Philadelphia's fall, ordered that eleven Philadelphia bells, including the Liberty Bell (then known as the State House Bell), be taken down and moved to present day Allentown (then called Northampton Towne). Once arriving in Allentown, the Liberty Bell and other bells were hidden under floor boards at Zion Reformed Church on West Hamilton Street to protect them from being seized and melted down by the British Army for use as munitions.

In 1962, inside this still-standing church at 622 West Hamilton Street in Allentown, the Liberty Bell Museum was opened to commemorate this successful concealment of the Liberty Bell in Allentown during the American Revolution.

American Civil War

The region again proved influential in the American Civil War. Following the Union Army's defeat at the Battle of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's April 15, 1861 proclamation calling for state militia to provide 75,000 volunteers to defend the national capital in Washington, D.C., Allentown immediately deployed its Allen Infantry, which defended Washington, D.C. from Confederate attack following Fort Sumter's fall. Also known as the Allen Guards, the Allen Infantry mustered in for duty on April 18, 1861. During the late summer and early fall of 1861, members of this unit and other volunteers from within and beyond the Lehigh Valley came together to form the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, which was established on August 5 and later proved influential in expanding the Union Army's reach into the Deep South, permitting it to launch successful attacks against Confederate positions in the Battle of St. Johns Bluff in 1862 and throughout the Red River campaign in the Trans-Mississippi theater and Sheridan's Shenadoah Valley campaign across Virginia in 1864. These victories helped to tip the Civil War in the Union's favor. On October 19, 1899, a monument in honor of the Lehigh Valley men killed in their volunteer service to the Union's preservation, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, was erected at Seventh and Hamilton Streets in Center City Allentown, where it still stands.

Industrial Revolution

The opening of the Lehigh Canal in 1827 contributed significantly to transforming Allentown and the Lehigh Valley from a rural agricultural area dominated by German-speaking people into one of the nation's first urbanized industrialized areas. The Lehigh Valley underwent significant industrialization throughout the 19th and most of the 20th centuries and was a major manufacturing hub in the American Industrial Revolution.

The Lehigh Valley is named for the Lehigh River, which runs through the region. It owes much of its development and history to anthracite coal, timber, and ore that was only commercially possible with the development of the Lehigh Canal and the Lehigh Valley's extensive railway infrastructure that permitted these minerals and later the region's manufactured steel to be transported for sale in major national and overseas markets. The Lehigh Canal operated into the Great Depression, feeding ports up and down the Delaware River, the Pennsylvania Canal, and transoceanic demand, and was integral to the industrialization of the greater Delaware Valley region. The Morris Canal, the anthracite coal feeder of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. and locks at New Hope on the Delaware Canal were built to fuel anthracite energy needs of Trenton, Newark, Jersey City

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