Allentown

City and administrative headquarters of Lehigh County, east Pennsylvania, USA; population (2000) 106,600. It is situated on the Lehigh River, 64 km/40 mi to the northwest of Philadelphia. It is the leading commercial and industrial centre of the Lehigh Valley. Located in the fertile Pennsylvania Dutch farming region, it serves as a retail and wholesale trading centre for local potatoes, orchard fruits, corn, and wheat. A major producer of cement, it also manufactures Mack trucks, electronic equipment, appliances, machinery, tools, textiles, and other products. It has, however, suffered substantial industrial decline in recent decades.

It was founded in 1762 as Northampton, and renamed Allentown in 1838 (after Chief Justice William Allen); it was incorporated as a city in 1867. During the American Revolution it was a centre for munitions production. The Liberty Bell Shrine in Zion's Reformed Church commemorates the hiding of the Liberty Bell in an old church on the site during the Revolution.

The construction of a bridge across the Lehigh River (1812) and of the Lehigh Canal (1829) led to rapid industrial development. Iron production began in 1847, and the first cement plant opened in 1850. Allentown is home to Cedar Crest College (1867), Muhlenberg College (1848), and several other institutions. Nearby Trexler Memorial Park has a large wildlife refuge.