The area now known as Joe Daddona Park has a rich history. The stone arch bridge dates back to 1828. If Lehigh County had it's way, it would already be gone. I'm proud to have played a part in its reprieve. Today I start a series of posts which will eventually lead to another Walk In The Park, this time in the area known for most of my life as Union Terrace. The park consists of the former city ice skating pond and the WPA amphitheater. This blog previously featured the train of Union Terrace, which was near the end of the former Barber Quarry Branch line. Talking of trains, shown above is the Joe Daddona house, which was originally the freight station of the Allentown and Reading Traction Company. reprinted from April of 2013
ADDENDUM DECEMBER 18, 2023:As it turned out I never gave a tour of Union Terrace. Just last week Ann Daddona, Joe's widow, passed away. In addition to the short train tressle being removed long ago, the walking bridge over to the pond from Walnut Street was also removed about four years ago. Come this spring I hope to encourage the new administration to restore some lost features of our traditional park system.
They really need to replace the walking bridge to the pond. Without it, the pond is totally inaccessible from Walnut.
ReplyDeleteNo idea why it was removed completely, as it could have been easily redone had they left the steel girders in place. Now it will likely cost much more, which seems to be the way of city government.
On another topic, it seems that little to nothing has changed with the out-of-control parking authority, as evidenced by the APA booting a UPS van making deliveries.
The APA chair says it’s inexcusable , but that the city needs a legislative fix to accommodate delivery vehicles. That’s funny, I don’t remember UPS vehicles getting booted in the past (under current laws).
Maybe the problem is that the Parking Authority needs to be abolished. WAKE UP, CITY HALL!
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/ups-truck-booted-by-allentown-parking-authority-chair-says-its-inexcusable/article_c4da1b26-9d1e-11ee-9e91-5f8a78b26972.html#tncms-source=Homepage-Top-Stories
The area was once a swamp and it was and probably still is filled with Indian artifacts. Also, the original structure in that area is the little stone house at 1910, just a block east of the freight station.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in that "little stone house." My parents purchased it around 1940 and owned for a least 60 years!! It was small but it was a castle to me!
ReplyDeleteWell I grew up at 1928 which is the old Peanuts and Ann’s market We grew up with an awesome time
DeleteAround 1959 -1962 My grandparents Still lived at 1918 Hamilton St. Sometimes my Grandmother would take me into the white store near the pond. I still remember animal crackers in cardboard boxes that were in the form of buses.
DeleteIs this where you grew up? Was the name of the store called Whitey's at that time?
As fate would have it, Union Terrace Elementary School dismissed early today due to flooding in the area, with Union Street completely covered by the overflowing pond.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I believe the cause of this periodic flooding is the short bridge that carries Union Street over the Mill Race/Mill Run(?) creek which is the small branch of Cedar Creek that flows on the eastern side of the pond. That "bridge" is only about ten feet long, and most people driving in their car wouldn't even know they were on a bridge. However, if you get out and walk the area, you'd notice that on a sunny day there is only about 12 inches of clearance between the Mill Race (creek) and the bottom of the bridge. In addition, the low clearance results in branches and other debris accumulating on the top of the water there, and blocking the little room there is for more flow during high water events.
[Note: I am not talking about the much larger Union Street Bridge over Cedar Creek, which is to the west of the pond and flows between the amphitheater stage and seating area.]
Why is what's happening at the small "bridge" over the Mill Race Creek important? On stormy days there is more water flowing in the Cedar Creek, which normally branches off into the Mill Race Creek just south of the Reading Road Bridge. It doesn't take much (as far as increased water-flow) for the Mill Race creek to hit the top of the bridge at Union Street. This starts water backing up (within the Mill Race banks) from Union Street back to the Reading Road Bridge, which then causes the Cedar Creek to swamp the pond in the process. In the past, this has also sometimes resulted in the pond/creek then back-flowing onto Walnut Street, and then onto Hamilton Street.
The historic Reading Road Bridge had previously been blamed for the overflows onto Hamilton Street, and was almost replaced on that incorrect basis. Thankfully, improvements to the Hamilton Street Bridge over the Cedar Creek, combined with improved storm sewers near that area seems to have solved the flooding problems for Hamilton Street.
In addition, efforts by the LCA to periodically clean the debris that builds up against the Union Street "bridge" over the Mill Race creek has helped prevent water from backing up there as often as it used to and lessens the backflow onto Walnut Street.
Still, that "bridge" remains an issue for the city to hopefully fix in the future.
anon@3:38: Thank you for such a detailed explanation, with which I agree. Years ago I posted about the debris under the low Mill Race bridge. I don't believe that it could be made higher at this point, because that would create a hump right before the new Union Street Bridge. I would think that becoming wider would be the only option at this point.
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