Local History

The Diocese of Allentown envisioned razing the 2 ½-story Queen Anne-style home to construct a four-unit, 4,100-square-foot senior living complex. Officials on Monday only voted against the structure’s demolition, but any further development likely would get its own discussion and vote.

You may recognize the 2 ½-story, Queen Anne-style structure developers have said is on its last leg at 1304 Spring St. It was once home to Bethlehem Steel President Eugene Grace’s head gardener, who lived on the lower end of his boss’ estate.

Discussions pertaining to the ownership of Easton's Timothy House are ramping up, with Rock Church offering the Hooper House to the city as long as it can retain their structure.

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites is in the fundraising home stretch to connect the 1782/1834 Grist Miller’s House and neighboring 1869 Luckenbach Mill, just as the structures once were back in the 19th century.

The "African Americans in Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley" traveling display is in the rotunda of the Northampton County Courthouse. It shares foundational stories of the Lehigh Valley through an African American lens.

Bethlehem City Council, which next meets on Jan. 21, will have the final vote on whether the project gets a certificate of appropriateness. The Historical Architectural Review Board serves as a recommending body.

The money, administered by the National Park Service, along with $1,850,000 already committed by Lehigh County, will be used to replace the Cast House roof. Other work will focus on water infiltration of the furnace and rehabilitation of related buildings.

The Archibald Johnston Mansion in Bethlehem Township has stood for more than a century and has been the focus of renovations by the nonprofit Archie Project. The 6,000-square-foot home has 22 rooms and a cellar.

The Banana Factory's yard sale is nearly over. Shoppers found plenty of marked down art supplies, furniture, and other items for the savvy bargain hunter.

The Esther M. Lee African American Heritage Center hosted a Kwanzaa celebration, which included the lighting of the kinara and a discussion of the Seven Principles, at PBS39 in Bethlehem Saturday evening.