Downhill On Lehigh Street

During the early 1970's, Allentown demolished the entire neighborhood between Union and Lawrence Streets. It was, in a large part, home to the black community. How ironic that we destroyed the cohesion of a neighborhood, but renamed Lawrence Street after Martin Luther King. The only remnant of the neighborhood is the St. James A.M.E. Church. Going up the hill today we now have a vacant bank call center on the east, and the Housing Authority Project on the west. A whole neighborhood existed in from both sides of Lehigh Street, including black owned shops. The houses were old and humble, but people owned them, many for generations. Some blacks at the time wondered if the project was Urban Renewal or Negro Removal?

above reprinted from May 2011 

UPDATE MARCH 2, 2022: The housing authority now plans on demolishing their project on the west side of the hill, and replacing them with new units. They contend that the existing units are too old, althought the average row house in Allentown is at least twice as old. The new units will cost over half a $million dollars each.