40°42′N 75°30′W / 40.700°N 75.500°W / 40.700; -75.500

Lehigh Valley
The Great Appalachian Valley with the Lehigh Valley (5) south of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians between Kittatinny Valley (4) to the north and Lebanon Valley (6) to the south
Location of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania
Area	726 sq mi (1,880 km2)
Geography
Location	Lehigh County Northampton County
Population centers	Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton
Borders on	Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians Blue Mountain (north) South Mountain (south) Delaware River (east) Lebanon Valley (west)

The Lehigh Valley (/ˈliːhaɪ/) is a geographic and metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bounded to its north by Blue Mountain, to its south by South Mountain, to its west by Lebanon Valley, and to its east by the Delaware River and Warren County, New Jersey.^[1] The Lehigh Valley is about 40 miles (64 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide.^[2] The Lehigh Valley's largest city is Allentown, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, with a population of 125,845 residents as of the 2020 census.^[3]

The Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton metropolitan area, which includes the Lehigh Valley, is currently Pennsylvania's third-most populous metropolitan area after those of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the nation's 67th-largest metropolitan area with a population of 873,555 as of 2023. Lehigh County is among Pennsylvania's fastest-growing counties, and the Lehigh Valley leads Pennsylvania in terms of population growth in the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, which constitutes a significant portion of the labor workforce.^[4] The region's core population centers are located in southern and central Lehigh and Northampton counties along Interstate 78, Interstate 476, Pennsylvania Route 309, and U.S. Route 22.

The Lehigh Valley has historically been a global leader in steel and other heavy manufacturing industries, which represented a considerable portion of its employment and economic production for most of the 20th century. Beginning in the early 1980s, however, the region's heavy manufacturing sector experienced a rapid downfall, highlighted by the downsizing and ultimate closure of Bethlehem Steel, the world's second-largest steel manufacturer for much of the 20th century, and other Lehigh Valley-based manufacturing companies. The Lehigh Valley's economy struggled considerably before ultimately rebounding and since emerging in the 21st century as one of Pennsylvania's largest and fastest-growing economies. As of 2021, the Lehigh Valley's gross domestic product (GDP) is $50.960 billion, driven by diverse industry sector contributions from its finance, manufacturing, health care, and education, and information sectors.^[5] In the 21st century, the region also has emerged as a national center for the U.S. logistics industry, especially in warehousing and intermodal transport.^[6][7]

The region's primary commercial airport is Lehigh Valley International Airport in Hanover Township; the airport's air traffic has grown considerably in the 21st century, largely as a result of considerable growth in its commercial air cargo traffic, which exceeded 210 million pounds in 2016.^[8][9]

The Lehigh Valley is located within the U.S. Northeast megalopolis with ease of access and close proximity to many of the nation's largest population centers, airports, terminals, railways, and seaports, including New York City, the nation's largest city, which is 90 miles (140 km) to its east, and Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-most populous city, which is 60 miles (97 km) to its southeast. The region is located geographically within a one-day drive to over a third of the U.S. population and over half of Canada's population, which has been a factor in its 21st century emergence as a North American leader in light manufacturing and commercial distribution. Gains in these and other industries have helped offset the significant losses the region had experienced from its late 20th century decline in heavy manufacturing.

Since its settlement in the 18th century, the Lehigh Valley has been the birthplace or home to several notable Americans who have proven influential across a broad range of fields, including academia, art and music, business, government and politics, the military, professional and Olympic-level athletics, and other fields.

History

Colonial era

The Lehigh Valley was settled over the first half of the 18th century largely by German immigrants fleeing war and religious persecution. Prior to their arrival, the region was inhabited by Lenape Indian tribes, who hunted, fished, and quarried jasper in the region. The region was initially established in 1682 as part of Bucks County. Shelter House in Emmaus, constructed in 1734 by Pennsylvania German settlers, is the oldest still-standing building structure in the Lehigh Valley and believed to be one of the oldest in the state.^[10]

In 1737, sons of provincial Pennsylvania founder William Penn acquired much of the Lehigh Valley in the Walking Purchase during the colonial period. Lenape Indians subsequently retaliated with raids against European settlers in the region throughout the 1750s and early 1760s, but were moved out of the region by the mid-1760s. In 1752, the region became part of Northampton County, and Lehigh County was later separated from Northampton County and formally established in 1812.^[11]

American Revolutionary War

Allentown and its surrounding communities played an important and historic role in the emergence of the American Revolution. Some of the first resistance to British colonialism began in Allentown and its surrounding Lehigh County communities in the Lehigh Valley. As early as June 21, 1774, patriot forces in Allentown began meeting to formulate resistance plans to British colonial governance. On December 21, 1774, a Committee of Observation was formally established by Allentown-area patriot militias.^[12] Following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Colonial British government in Allentown began dissolving and these patriot militias seized control, pressuring Tories out of the region.

In recognition of the strong pro-revolutionary sentiment in the region, Easton was one of only three designated locations, along with Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey, where the Declaration was read aloud in public for the first time on July 8, 1776 at noon.^[13]

Following their victory at the Battle of Trenton several months later, Washington and his Continental Army staff traveled through the present-day Lehigh Valley, proceeding up Lehigh Street, which was then called Water Street. Washington and his staff stopped at the foot of Lehigh Street at a large spring on what is the present-day Wire Mill Arboretum in Allentown. They rested there, watered their horses, and then proceeded to their post of duty.^[14] Allentown supported the Revolution, establishing the first hospitals for treatment of wounded Continental Army troops at various city locations, including at the current location of the Farr Building at 739 Hamilton Street.

As the Revolutionary War progressed, Washington and his commanders also established two POW camps in Allentown, one at 8th and Hamilton streets and another on Gordon Street, to house captured Hessian mercenaries.^[15] In addition to visiting Allentown after his victory at the Battle of Trenton, Washington returned to the city and region several additional times during and following the Revolution.^[16]

Allentown also played a historical role in protecting the Liberty Bell from British capture following the September 26, 1777 fall of Philadelphia to the British Army, concealing the Liberty Bell for nine months from September 1777 to June 1778 under floor boards in Allentown's Zion Reformed Church. After Washington and the Continental Army's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was left defenseless and Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council, anticipating Philadelphia's fall, ordered that eleven Philadelphia bells, including the Liberty Bell, then known as the State House Bell, be taken down and moved to present-day Allentown, which was then called Northampton Towne. In Allentown, the Liberty Bell and other bells were hidden under floorboards at Zion Reformed Church on West Hamilton Street to protect them from being seized and melted down by the British Army for use as munitions.

American Civil War

The region again proved influential in the American Civil War. Following the Union Army's defeat at the Battle of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's April 15, 1861 proclamation calling for state militia to provide 75,000 volunteers to defend the national capital in Washington, D.C., Allentown immediately deployed its Allen Infantry, which defended Washington, D.C. from Confederate attack following Fort Sumter's fall. Also known as the Allen Guards, the Allen Infantry mustered in for duty on April 18, 1861. During the late summer and early fall of 1861, members of this unit and other volunteers from within and beyond the Lehigh Valley came together to form the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, which was established on August 5 and later proved influential in expanding the Union Army's reach into the Deep South, permitting it to launch successful attacks against Confederate positions in the Battle of St. Johns Bluff in 1862 and throughout the Red River campaign in the Trans-Mississippi theater and Sheridan's Shenadoah Valley campaign across Virginia in 1864. These victories helped to tip the Civil War in the Union's favor.^[17]

On October 19, 1899, a monument in honor of the Lehigh Valley men killed in their volunteer service to the Union's preservation, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, was erected at Seventh and Hamilton streets in Center City Allentown, where it still stands.^[18]

Industrial Revolution

The opening of the Lehigh Canal in 1827 contributed significantly to transforming Allentown and the Lehigh Valley from a rural agricultural area dominated by German-speaking people into one of the nation's first urbanized industrialized areas. The Lehigh Valley underwent significant industrialization throughout the 19th and most of the 20th centuries and was a major manufacturing hub in the American Industrial Revolution.

The Lehigh Valley is named for the Lehigh River, which runs through the region. It owes much of its development and history to anthracite coal, timber, and ore that was only commercially possible with the development of the Lehigh Canal and the Lehigh Valley's extensive railway infrastructure that permitted these minerals and later the region's manufactured steel to be transported for sale in major national and overseas markets.

The Lehigh Canal operated into the Great Depression, feeding ports up and down the Delaware River, the Pennsylvania Canal, and transoceanic demand, and was integral to the industrialization of the greater Delaware Valley region. The Morris Canal, the 22–23 miles (35–37 km) anthracite coal feeder of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. and locks at New Hope on the Delaware Canal were built to fuel anthracite energy needs of Trenton, Newark, Jersey City, and New York City.

In 1899, Bethlehem Steel was formed in Bethlehem in the Lehigh Valley. The company developed into the nation's second-largest manufacturer of steel, and its steel was used in developing many of the nation's earliest and largest infrastructure and building projects, including the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, and Rockefeller Center in New York City, Merchandise Mart in Chicago, the George Washington, Verrazzano, and Golden Gate Bridges, and warships and other military equipment that proved essential in American-led victories in both World Wars.^[19]

Bethlehem Steel's downfall

Bethlehem Steel's ascent during the 20th century was very prominently associated with the emergence of the U.S. as both a world leader in global manufacturing and as the world's largest economy, and its late 20th century downfall has often been cited as an example of one of the nation's most prominent first stumbling points in the face of growing foreign trade competition and other economic challenges that contributed to the nation's emergence of its Rust Belt.

In 1982, following nearly a century of global leadership, growth, and profitability in steel manufacturing, Bethlehem Steel abruptly reported operating losses of $1.5 billion, citing foreign competition from Asian economies and costly U.S. governmental regulations and labor costs for the losses. The company abruptly reduced operations, resulting in considerable Lehigh Valley layoffs and a dramatic related economic downturn in the region.^[20]

Bethlehem Steel continued functioning on a vastly reduced scale for a period, but ultimately ceased steel manufacturing entirely at its primary Bethlehem-based manufacturing plant in 1995. In 2001, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and, in 2003, the company was dissolved. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the downturn and ultimate demise of Bethlehem Steel, once one of the most iconic and prominent symbols of American global economic power and leadership, emerged as an example cited by those who believe American global economic leadership is now in either gradual or even rapid descent.^[21]

21st century

In 2023, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Lehigh Valley the ninth-best place in the nation to retire.^[22] Also in 2023, realtor.com ranked the Lehigh Valley "the 21st hottest housing market" in the nation.^[23]

Geography

The Lehigh Valley is geologically and geographically part of the Great Appalachian Valley, a geographic region made up of limestone that stretches along the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains. The Lehigh Valley is so named because it is located geographically within an actual valley formed by the Lehigh River that lies between two mountain ridges, Blue Mountain in the Valley's north and South Mountain in the Valley's south.^[2] The Lehigh Valley is the lower part of the drainage basin of the Lehigh River.^[24]

Cities and location

The Lehigh Valley has three principal cities: Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton. The region is located between two of the nation's largest population centers, 90 miles (140 km) west of New York City, the nation's largest and world's 11th-largest city, and 60 miles (97 km) north of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-largest and world's 68th-largest city. The region borders Carbon County and the Coal Region to its north, the Delaware River and Warren County, New Jersey to its east, Bucks and Montgomery Counties in suburban Philadelphia to its south, and Berks and Schuylkill Counties to its west.

Cities

• Allentown (125,845)
• Bethlehem (75,781)
• Easton (28,127)

Municipalities with more than 10,000 people

Municipalities with fewer than 10,000 but more than 5,000 people

Municipalities with fewer than 5,000 people

Census-designated places and villages

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