There were hundreds of us, we were the baby boomers. The neighborhood was built for returning GI's, and the streets were named after the planes of WW2; Liberator, Catalina, and Coronado. The twin homes were wedged between Jefferson Street and the southern ridge above Lehigh Parkway. Now called Little Lehigh Manor, we knew it simply as Lehigh Parkway, and we had our own school.
Historical Fact:
The original part of the school building contained four classrooms, a teacher's room, and a health room. It replaced the Catalina Avenue School which existed in a home near the present site. Lehigh Parkway received national publicity because it was being build as a result of the new neighborhood. Thus, the "Neighborhood School Concept" was born.
Because of the school and the park, the neighborhood was really self contained. The Lehigh SuperMarket on Lehigh Street was within walking distance. Soon, FoodFair would build their first large Supermarket, also on Lehigh Street, which was even closer. Today it has developed into The Parkway Shopping Center. We kids enjoyed our own Halloween Parade and Easter Egg hunt.
Because there were so many of us, Parkway Elementary only went through 2nd. grade. We would take the bus to Jefferson Elementary for grades 3 through 6.
Historical Fact:
Jefferson Elementary used to be a high school, and for years, it had separate girls' and boys' entrances. These entrances were turned into windows at some point, but the exterior of the building still has the two entrances marked.
These were some of my friends from 3th grade. They all lived in the Parkway. Not only were they all boys, only yesterday, 56 years later, I learned the name of the girl I'm holding hands with in the May Day picture above.
Historical Facts from Allentown School District Website
ADDENDUM: other Parkway Neighborhood Posts,
Time Capsule
Allentown On My Mind
reprinted from January 2010
I was a Playground Instructor for Lehigh Parkway school around 70/71. Jack Ellis was the male playground instructor.
ReplyDeleteMy wife grew up on Catalina Avenue, it was a safer, tidier little neighborhood back then. Kids would walk to the school as well as walk, bike or sled in Lehigh Parkway. They could easily/carefully walk over to the Parkway Shopping Center and ride LANTA over to William Allen HS. Seems to me that a whole new generation of middle class Latino/Hispanic homeowners are using this little neighborhood in the same way.
ReplyDeletetsear@12:35, I return to the neighborhood often, and agree that it has remained a wonderful place to raise children.
DeleteMy wife's father walked to work at Mack Trucks many mornings, it really was a nice was/is a nice place to live.
DeleteI could almost see the Lehigh Parkway school from my house but because it was across busy Jefferson Street, I had to walk nearly a mile to Jefferson School. Great days back in the 60s.
ReplyDeleteI bought a home in this neighborhood in the early 80s and I loved it. The house was all original from 1946 with beautiful red oak floors. It was a great neighborhood. People knew each other and chatted. I thought I was in a little Norman Rockwell cliche, a nice mix of older original owners and younger people, some with kids who attended the neighborhood school. Neighbors shoveled sidewalks for the old folks, but it changed. When 78 opened Jefferson Street became the major access to downtown so trucks and speeding traffic became an issue. By 2000 renters and transients became an issue. The new residents were cramming large families into tiny houses and the neat yards were neglected and the neighborhood standards declined. Then residents with 3 or 4 cars and nowhere to put them became an issue. The loud music late at night, the noise, somebody shooting their girlfriend down the street-- yeah, it changed. I sold.
ReplyDelete