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Zollinger-Harned Company Building, now known as The Sovereign Building, is a historic
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
building located at
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: *Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California *Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County *Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
,
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Lehigh County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Lechaa Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 374,557.
.


History

Allentown's third department store, Zollinger-Harned, has its origins in the dry goods firm of Lawfer & Steckel, founded by William R. Lawfer and W. R. Steckel in 1866 at 626 Hamilton Street (Corner of Church & Hamilton Streets). The store carried a large stock of dry goods, notions and groceries. The business was continued by the original partners until 1874, when Steckel disposed of his interest to George W. Hartzell. Hartzell retired in 1876 and the firm was re-constituted as W.R. Lawfer & Company.Manufacturing and Mercantile Resources of the Leigh Valley, 1881 W.R. Lawfer expanded the business and purchased the larger buildings at 611 and 613 Hamilton Street. He combined the structures into one large building which opened in March, 1882. The firm sold a wide number of women's dresses, and coats. As the firm grew it expanded with books, toys, jewellery, kitchen crockery, carpets as well as men's and children's clothing. To accommodate this expansion, W.R. Lawfer expanded the store by first purchasing two properties at 12 and 16 North Sixth Street. All of these buildings were merged, forming an "T" shape, with the Hamilton Street buildings extending north to Court Street, the Sixth Street buildings merging into the Hamilton Street building on the right side of the property.1901 photo of the 600 Block of Hamilton Street looking west
/ref> The present-day Sovereign Building retains this basic design. A second expansion added the stores at 607 and 609 Hamilton Street to the store, with Lawfer advertising the store as "Allentown's Big Department Store". Lawfer and John Wanamaker of
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
were friends, as Lawfer had worked for Wanamaker in the 1850s and 1860s prior to opening his own store in Allentown. It was from Wanamaker's Department store that Lawfer began decorating his store, as early as 1904 at Christmas. Lawfer's was the first local department store to feature a separate toy department that it called “Toyland.” At the center of the toy display that Christmas was a 24-foot-tall, one ton figure it called “Santa Claus’ Father.” It is not known if this was an attempt to combine the English figure known as “Father Christmas” with Nast's character. On December 9, 1905 local newspapers ran the first announcement of Lawfer's live Santa Claus. “Visit Santa Claus at his Cave in Toyland,” it read. “If you haven’t paid Santa a visit in his pretty Toyland, you had better come soon. Santa remembers every little face, you know, and he says there are some chubby little folks on his list he hasn’t seen yet. Bring your letters and put them in the letter box in his cave.” W. R. Lawfer died suddenly on September 11, 1900 and the store was taken over by his sons, J. Harry Lawfer, John N. Lawfer, and Alvin W. Lawfer. They ran the business for the next several years until 1903 when J. Harry Lawfer retired from the firm, turning his share of the business to John N. Lawfer. John N Lawfer subsequently sold his share to Alvan Lawfer and he started his own carpet and drapery store at 709 Hamilton Street. In 1906, due to ill health, Alvin Lawfer sold a major interest in the store to Clarence J. Early, and the name was changed to Lawfer-Early. However, the following year, in 1907, with his health further failing Lawfer sold his interests to William C. Harned and the ownership was totally reorganized and the name changed to Harned-Early. In a further reorganization in 1909, William R. Zollinger purchased Early's interests with the store again being renamed the Zollinger-Harned Company. William Zollinger, who lived in
Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio, Erie County, Ohio, United States. Situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( wes ...
, operated the Zollinger Department store the 1880s. The new owners tore down the amalgamation of separate storefronts and erected a single large three-story building at 607-613 Hamilton that wrapped around to the right with a double storefront at 14-16 North Sixth Street. In 1922, William Zollinger died, and his interests were purchased by the Vollmer family. In 1926, the store expanded again by purchasing 605 Hamilton Street, which it incorporated into its existing building. As part of the expansion, the store was remodeled into a seven bay wide building with
Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
style influences. It featured architectural
terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
panels and richly detailed bronze display window surrounds. ''Note:'' This includes This remodeling was completed in 1926.1945 photo of the Zollinger-Harned Department Store building
/ref> The store operated successfully for decades, and was the first of the Allentown department stores to open a branch at the suburban
Whitehall Mall Whitehall Mall is a shopping mall located in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. It is anchored by Kohl's. Whitehall Mall was one of the Lehigh Valley's first malls and is located across from the Lehigh Valley Mall. History 1966-1997 Land for the mall () w ...
in 1966. In 1970, Donald Vollmer, then president of the store, purchased Bears Department Store in
York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...
and renamed it Zollinger-Harned, making it the third store in the then Zollinger-Harned chain. A fourth store in the
Wyoming Valley Mall Wyoming Valley Mall is a shopping mall located in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania. It is anchored by JCPenney and Macy's. History Work began on the mall in April 1968, when the land was purchased from the Blue Coal Corporation. Illegally du ...
near
Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...
was opened in 1971.Zollinger Bankruptcy Nears The End June 11, 1986, by TOM MOYLAN, The Morning Call
/ref> However, like many other major department stores in the 1970s,
suburbanization Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...
and the growth of shopping malls led to declining sales of large department stores in Central Business Districts. In 1975, Zollinger's was still profitable, but in 1976 the losses began to mount. In February 1977, Vollmer sold his interest to Allentown clothier Sigmund Levin for $1 and other considerations. A month later, Levin filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection from creditors while the company reorganized. Over the next 11 months, the company went through a variety of efforts to return to financial health. The slide continued, however. A few months after the petition was filed, the company abandoned its York store and its merchandise was eventually sold and the store closed. In October 1977, the Wyoming Valley Mall store was sold to
Hess's Hess's was a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company started in 1897 with one store, originally known as Hess Brothers, and grew to nearly 80 stores by its peak in the late 1980s. The chain's stores were closed or sold ...
. Lastly, the Allentown flagship and the
Whitehall Mall Whitehall Mall is a shopping mall located in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. It is anchored by Kohl's. Whitehall Mall was one of the Lehigh Valley's first malls and is located across from the Lehigh Valley Mall. History 1966-1997 Land for the mall () w ...
stores lasted through the Christmas shopping season of 1977. However, Zollinger-Harned filed for complete
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
on January 30, 1978, and closed its doors for the last time.


Sovereign Building

The
Whitehall Mall Whitehall Mall is a shopping mall located in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. It is anchored by Kohl's. Whitehall Mall was one of the Lehigh Valley's first malls and is located across from the Lehigh Valley Mall. History 1966-1997 Land for the mall () w ...
store was sold to
Leh's H. Leh & Co. (or simply Leh's) was a department store located at 626 West Hamilton Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was of what was an outside mall structure called the Hamilton Mall. Like many other downtown department stores of the time, ho ...
. However, for several years the flagship store on Hamilton Street in
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: *Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California *Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County *Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
remained vacant. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1979. In December 1982, the Allentown store was purchased by Sovereign Realty and Development. The building was renovated and reopened as the Sovereign Building in May 1984. Renovations included a glass-arched entrance from a pedestrian plaza between Hamilton and Court streets leading to a "grapefruit-domed" lobby with a decor of antique brass, mirrors, greenery and wing-backed chairs. The main floor and basement were developed into retail spaces, while the upper floors were turned into 42 private office suites. Sovereign later went into financial difficulties and the building was sold at a sheriffs sale on 22 September 1989. Today the building is operated as an office building by an owner who resides in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.


See also

* H. Leh and Company * Hess Brothers *
List of historic places in Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown, Pennsylvania, the third largest city in Pennsylvania and largest city in the Lehigh Valley region of the state, was established in 1762. Allentown is one of the nation's oldest major cities with deep roots in its history. The city wa ...


References


External links

{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Neoclassical architecture in Pennsylvania Commercial buildings completed in 1926 History of Allentown, Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Allentown, Pennsylvania Department stores on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania