ALLENTOWN, a city of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the Lehigh river, 56 m. N.N.W. of Philadelphia; the county seat of Lehigh county. It is on the William Penn highway, and is served by the Reading system, the Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and the Lehigh and New England (for freight only) . The area of the city is 9.75 sq. miles. Its population increased from 35,416 in 1900 to 73,502 in 1920, of whom 8,612 were foreign-born (4,219 Slays) ; and was 92,563 by the census of 1930.
The city is situated on high ground sloping gently towards the river and commanding diversified views of the surrounding country. Its main streets are crowded with traffic. There were 257 factories in 1927, and the aggregate value of their output was $98,047,989, which was over five times as much as the value of the manufactured products in 1905. The silk industry, introduced in 188r, developed into the dominating interest, until in 1905 Allentown ranked sixth in the manufacture of silk and silk goods in the U.S.A. Silk is still its leading industry, but there are also extensive iron furnaces, rolling mills, forges and foundries; planing mills and furniture factories; and factories making shoes, cigars, linen thread, barbed wire, cement, firebrick, auto-trucks and mining machinery.
Allentown is the seat of Muhlenberg college for men and Cedar Crest college for women. The former in 1926-27 had an enrol ment of 455 in the college; 362 in the summer school, to which women are admitted ; 869 in the extension schools, also co-educa tional; and 200 in the preparatory school affiliated with it.
Allentown was settled in 1751. In 1762 it was laid out as a town by James Allen, the son of a chief justice of the province, after whose family the city is named. In 1811 it was incorporated as a borough, and the name was changed to Northampton; in 1812 it was made the county seat; in 1838 the original name was re sumed; and in 1867 it was incorporated as a city. The Lehigh county Historical Society occupies Trout Hall, a home built by William Allen, who settled here in 1702. During the Revolution the Liberty Bell was brought to Allentown from Philadelphia for safe-keeping and for a time was placed in the basement of one of the churches.
Trexler Park, r o m. N. of the city, is a game preserve contain ing large herds of buffalo, elk and deer.