Lehigh County Historical Society facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Lehigh County Historical Society Headquarters

Established	1904
Location	432 West Walnut Street Allentown, Pennsylvania 18102
Type	Historical/Museum
Public transit access	LANTA bus: 102, 107, 210, 220, 324 (at 5th and Hamilton/Linden streets)

Lehigh County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1904, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting the history of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley. The Historical Society and Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum are located at 432 West Walnut Street in Allentown.

Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum

The Lehigh County Historical Society is headquartered in the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, a state-of-the-art 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m²) museum facility with four galleries and more than 10,000 square feet (930 m²) of exhibition space. Recent exhibits have included exhibits on General Harry C. Trexler, Native Americans, and American Presidents. The Museum maintains an exhibit on the Lehigh Valley and an extensive collection of local and regional historical materials, with more than 30,000 historical artifacts in its collection.

Scott Andrew Trexler II Research Library & Archive

Now one of the sites administered by the Lehigh County Historical Society, Trout Hall served as the organization's home for many years.

The Lehigh County Historical Society's library, the Scott Andrew Trexler II Research Library and Archive, houses 200,000 vintage photographs and nearly three million historical documents. Included in its collections are more than 800 volumes of church and cemetery records for Lehigh and neighboring counties, early county records (tax rolls, wills and land deeds), indexed marriage records and announcements, 800 volumes of family genealogical histories, city directories (1860 onwards), maps, census records and published histories. The library also maintains microfiche versions of several of Allentown's early German and English-language newspapers. Access to the library is free for Society members; a small fee applies for non-members.

Historic Sites

Built in 1756, the Troxell-Steckel House is one of the oldest buildings in Lehigh County. The house is administered by the Lehigh County Historical Society and is open to the public.

The Lehigh County Historical Society administers several historical sites in the region:

• Claussville One-Room Schoolhouse (1893) – This brick One-room schoolhouse was the last in Lehigh County. 2917 Route 100, north of Fogelsville.
• Haines Mill Museum (ca. 1850, rebuilt 1909) – Working grist mill. 3600 Dorney Park Road, Cetronia, South Whitehall Township.
• Lockridge Furnace Museum (1868) – 19th century ironworks, now a museum and park dedicated to the anthracite iron industry. 525 Franklin Street, Alburtis.
• Saylor Cement Industry Museum (1893) – Cement kilns built by David O. Saylor, father of the American Portland cement industry. North Second Street, Coplay.
• Trout Hall (1770) – Colonial stone mansion. Home of James Allen, son of Allentown's founder, William Allen. 4th & Walnut Streets, Allentown.
• Troxell-Steckel Farm Museum (1756) – Pennsylvania German stone farmhouse, one of Lehigh County's oldest structures. 4229 Reliance Street, off Route 329, Village of Egypt, Whitehall Township.