EASTON, Pa. — Folks can join a free virtual community conversation about the warehouse boom in the Lehigh Valley with curators from the Sigal Museum.
The Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society, or NCHGS, will hold its Conversations with the Curator series to discuss comments around the Sigal Museum's current exhibit, "Warehouse Valley: A Changing Landscape."
The virtual conversation on Zoom will take place at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
'Changing rapidly'
Although the warehouse boom is expected to slow down within the next few years, it has been a hot topic among residents and officials within Northampton and Lehigh counties.
"The Lehigh Valley is changing rapidly and has always been a place of social and industrial change,"Sarah White
In August, LehighValleyNews.com,explored the evolution of warehouses and manufacturing in the region in a five-part series dubbed, "Warehoused."
"The Lehigh Valley is changing rapidly and has always been a place of social and industrial change," Sigal Museum Community Engagement Coordinator Sarah White said via email Friday.
"Populations grow and change. Industries shift, move, and develop. Roads first formed by the Lenape, then grown by European settlers, change and grow: from on-foot travel to horses, wagons, and 18-wheelers. Highways follow paths that footsteps once trod. Warehouses and apartment complexes now stand where farmland once was."
White will be joined on the call by NCHGS' curator Tim Betz.
Betz is the curator of the "Warehouse Valley" exhibit which opened in Sept. 2024. It will run through July 6.
The exhibit explores the changing landscape through paintings and photographs — scenes from around the region from the 1800s to the early 2000s.
Among the artists featured in the exhibit (paired to demonstrate an ever-changing landscape) is an aerial view of Interstate 78 next to a 1940s view of an Easton road taken by Walter Emerson Baum.
On another wall, paintings by Ruben O. Luckenback depict farm homes from the 19th century owned by the Horner family near Bath (those paintings are paired with modern-day pictures that show how one of the Horner's homes is now next to a warehouse).
Registration is not required for the free virtual conversation.
Visit theSigal Museum's websiteto find the Zoom link.
