Old Maps of Bethlehem, PA - Part 1: What Used To Be (Clearfield Village)

Like many people in Bethlehem after WWII, several of my family members lived in Clearfield Village. Not much information about this former housing development can be found online, but its 250 single-story homes were built to house those returning from war and starting families¹.

Formerly located south of Pembroke Rd and east of Bethlehem Drive, Clearfield Village had 50 5-unit residential buildings and a community center. All buildings were constructed of cinderblock². The homes had coal stoves and furnaces and an icebox³ (No refrigerators?! Talk about ‘essentials only’!).

To get a sense of the neighborhood I overlayed the Sanborn map of the neighborhood in Google Earth, and then drew the streets and buildings as they used to be. The result provides a good overview of the neighborhood.

Hint: Click on the buildings for addresses. 
This is helpful if you're curious where your relatives 
lived, since the streets are gone!

It's interesting that the streets in "the Village" (as the locals call it -- and several other housing developments) didn't line up with the streets in Freemansburg. You can tell where the city/borough line is located by looking at the ends of Tolstoy, Karoly, Kossuth, and Monroe Streets (all in Freemansburg). But why not make them connect? Simply because Clearfield Village was intended to be temporary?

Timeline
Clearfield Village was created as temporary housing and was demolished after some time, though I can’t find much information about the demolition (or when it was built, for that matter). I turned to the USGS’ awesome historical map site for a timeline. The faint red crosshairs in each map denote the location of Clearfield Village.

The 1939 Allentown map shows vacant land (under Freemansburg):

1939 Nazareth Map - USGS

That hashed red line is the city/borough boundary. Remember that for later!
Side note: did you know that Pembroke Rd used to be Alternate US-22?

The 1959 Allentown map shows Clearfield Village’s major streets:

1959 Nazareth Map - USGS

The 1964 Nazareth map only shows a few remaining roads (Bristol Rd, part of Nelson Rd, Spencer Rd, and most of Salem Rd). Also note that Missouri Ave (today called Bethlehem Dr) is missing, but was missing in some earlier maps as well.

1964 Nazareth Map - USGS

Sorry for the weird way the historic map is truncated... 

the rest of these do the same thing.

The 1992 Nazareth map shows the same layout, but with more industrial buildings moving in to the west:

1992 Nazareth Map - USGS

And by the 1999 Nazareth map, the entire area had been redeveloped, with Win Dr cutting through where Clearfield Village used to be.

1999 Nazareth Map - USGS

In 2018, nothing remains to give any indication of the vibrant neighborhood that used be there. Do you have pictures or stories of Clearfield Village or the neighborhood reunions? Let me know!

Sources

1. Newspapers.com: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/280040098/
• “When veterans returned home after the war, he declared, Bethlehem faced another housing shortage, and Clearfield Village, a 250 unit project, was built.”
2. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map via Lehigh’s Beyond Steel project: http://gisweb2.cc.lehigh.edu/beyondsteel/
3. Klugh In America (genealogy report): http://www.klugh.com/pdf/butler-genealogy-report.pdf
• “During this time the family lived in low-cost G.I. housing ... that had coal stoves and furnaces, and an icebox in lieu of a refrigerator. Clearfield Village consisted of long concrete block single story row houses."

Additional Resources:

• Bethlehem Housing Authority – History Page: http://bha645.homestead.com/BHAhistory.html

Map Tour of the former Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR)

I love love love love love love love PDFs of old books on sites like Archive.org, Google Books, and the Library of Congress. A while back I found one called “Seen from the Train on the Picturesque Lehigh Valley Railroad”. Published in 1895, this book was intended to keep riders informed of their whereabouts as they took the train from NYC (well, Jersey City) to Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

I’ve spent most of my life living along this former railroad (in New Jersey and Pennsylvania), and I really enjoyed reading the 1895 description of several places I lived in/near. While this book is an interesting read, it just isn’t as fun without a train ride. (Soapbox: we need more passenger rail service!!!) But these trains don’t run anymore. And some (most?) of the rail segments are totally gone.

Someday I’d like to make a road trip out of this, and include a present-day photo of each stop. For now, I created a Google Map to act as a guide and provide some context. You can click on any point and read the that town’s description from the book. I hope you enjoy it!



Legend:

• Blue binoculars: Points of interest along or near the route
• Red train engine: Major transfers or junctions with other railroads
• Green circle with a square inside: The western route through the Finger Lakes
• Yellow circle with a diamond inside: The eastern route through the Finger Lakes

PS: If you happen to be a train nerd (I mean that affectionately) and I got something wrong, please let me know!

An Interesting House in Bethlehem, PA or I'M BACK!

Hellooooooooo. I’ve been away from my blog for a while (about a year?), but I finally found a topic that has inspired me to post once more!

What’s this all about?

There’s a house on Linden St in Bethlehem, PA that I’ve always been curious about. Have a look:


Pretty unique, right?  That giant stained glass window, the stone porch beams carved to look like trees, that crazy looking peaked roof on the back part of the building: it doesn’t look like any other house in the area. Since the outside is so ornate, I’ve always wondered what the interior looks like. Well we are in luck - the house is currently for sale, and several real estate companies have photos!

Links to real estate listings:

• http://www.weichert.com/65126340
• http://www.trulia.com/property/3239906425-3300-Linden-St-Bethlehem-PA-18017

Note: If the photos are taken down from the real estate websites, just leave a comment and I’ll try to get in touch with you.

The realtor’s (Weichert) description of the home provides more information (emphasis mine):

“This stone gingerbread house with walls of old mosaics, carved stone porch columns and stained glass windows has tremendous historical and artistic value and is listed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. It was built by Tilghman Fogel from 1899 to 1906 and every exterior wall is a work of art. The hand-crafted blocks have a menagerie of story telling and each are an artistic expression, with blown glass, Chinaware, and many artifacts built by hand in an artistic tale. This is a large estate style property with what was a stable attached in the rear, which is now a 4+ car garage and workshop, with a 3 bedroom apartment on the top. This is surrounded by almost 3 acres of prime, flat, partially wooded land. Originally designed all 29 rooms for active air flow and natural light for most of the day. Much of the 100 year old architecture has been preserved. This house must be valued as "artwork" and it will captivate your artistic imagination immediately.”

Who was Tilghman Fogel?  Google Books to the rescue!  Tilghman Fogel (1850-1935) was a member of a seemingly prominent agricultural family in Lower Nazareth Township, Northampton County, PA.  If you’d like to learn about his family, check out pages 413-414 in this Google Book:

Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical  and Personal Memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania

Fun fact: I also found another Tilghman Fogel (1842 - 1915), from Lehigh County, who was a well-known blind musician.  The two men do not appear to be immediately related.

But what about the house?!

Now that we know a little about the family, let’s talk about the house.  Why would a prominent farmer decide to build such an eccentric home?  Google Books comes to the rescue again, with two articles containing details about the home itself:

Technical World Magazine, Volume 10

Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality, Volume 66

In summary, Tilghman Fogel built the home after he traveled around the United States, collecting souvenir rocks, broken glass, and other scraps along the way.  He decided to incorporate his plethora of souvenirs into the facade of his new home, embedding his creativity into the house itself. 

While looking for information on Tilgman Fogel and his “Souvenir House”, I came across a photo of some unknown young men on the home’s porch:

As such a unique home with an interesting history, I hope someone buys this home and really makes it shine.

I'm Not Dead, I Just Moved to New Jersey

Sorry for neglecting this blog.  As the title says: I'm not dead, I just moved to New Jersey.  I hope to get back to posting and maybe even Photo Phriday once I am settled in.  In the mean time, here are photos of the New Jersey themed dinner my boyfriend made for me in celebration of our move.






Yum!

Photo Phriday - 2015 08 07

Part of a hike through a swamp in New Jersey's Cheesequake State Park.

Photo Phriday - 2015 07 31

The Ghost Building in downtown Denver!  In my blog about Denver's Chilled Water Plant I mentioned that a historic building was disassembled to make room for the Chilled Water Plant in 1979, and that said historic building was reassembled 6 years later at 18th & Stout.  This is that building.

Photo Phriday - 2015 07 24

A colorful dusk in Liverpool.  I loved this city!  So vibrant and gritty (I mean that in a good way).  Definitely a place I'd visit again.  There's a ton of history here.

Photo Phriday - 2015 07 17

Market Street in Denver, taken in May after a few weeks of heavy rain.  At that time, Confluence Park was heavily flooded.  Photos of the flooding are available on my Flickr.

Photo Phriday - 2015 07 09

Lots going on lately, so I missed Photo Phriday last week again... sorry! I hope this cool shot of a basement speakeasy-esque bar makes up for it!

Photo Phriday - 2015 06 26

A foggy night in Midtown Manhattan really made the city glow.

Photo Phriday - 2015 06 19

A Doc Martens sign on the side of the former FasioNation store. They recently left Capitol Hill after 30-some years and moved to South Broadway due to rapidly increasing rent; a common story in Denver these days. Glad they found a new location!

Photo Phriday - 2015 06 05

A shot of the Batman building in Nashville. I can't believe that was 6 years ago! I guess I'm overdue for a visit to Tennessee.

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 29

The garden at Domo Japanese Country Foods, a restaurant/museum in Denver.

Welby Manor: An Old Building Just North of Denver

One evening, driving around the northern Denver metro area, I drove past a really cool old house.  I always enjoy seeing interesting old buildings; remnants of days past.  My excitement turned to sadness when I saw a notice posted on the door.  It was dark and the house was set back pretty far from the road, so I couldn't read the notice.  I assumed it was a demolition permit or something similar.  I picked up my phone* and started searching for nearby addresses to see what was going on.  Why would someone tear down such a cool building?!  I know it's often cheaper and easier to scrape a lot and build some new, trendy, giant mixed-media thing, but... I prefer the character of old buildings.  They tell a story of the people who lived in the community.

As it turns out, the family that owns the building and surrounding land have been in that area since the late 1800s.  They aren't demolishing the building, they are renovating it and turning it into a focal point of the Welby community!  They are even hoping to turn it into a local museum.  Great news!

I went back a few weeks later and took some photos:

You can read more about Welby Manor here.  I'm glad that this building is being preserved, and I can't wait to see how the renovation progresses!

*I wasn't driving; I was a passenger. Drive safe!

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 22

Uphostery.  East Colfax, Denver, CO.

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 15

A sliver of the moon behind some clouds.

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 08

A flower from last fall.  Not much to say about this one, I just really like the colors and the bokeh.

Lumpy Brick Facades

Denver seems to love an architectural "style"* that I had never noticed prior to moving here.  Lumpy-looking brick facades!  Particularly on 1960s and 1970s apartment buildings.  Ready for some examples?

Examples
1270 Marion St, built 1965

252 Pennsylvania St, built 1971

1265 Downing St, built 1970

1783 Hudson St, built in 1928 (Bonus: a single-family home!)

Clinkers
So what is the deal with all of these lumpy-looking buildings?  After much searching, and thanks to ReadReidRead's blog post, I now know.  They're called clinker bricks, also known as "eccentric brickwork".  Deformed bricks used to be discarded, but then in the early 1900s someone had the brilliant idea to use them in actual building facades.  I'm all for using waste and byproducts, but let's just say the execution on this style isn't my favorite.  Used sparingly, clinker bricks can draw your eyes to different parts of a building.  But when a majority of the facade is made with clinker bricks?  It kind of looks like an inebriated person built your home.

It appears as though this trend didn't make its way to Denver until the 1960s, and fell out of favor by the end of the 1970s.  While there are a few homes built with clinker bricks from earlier (see the single-family example above), the apartment buildings made with clinkers are all from the 1960s and 1970s.

Thanks to automated manufacturing, there are fewer clinkers being made today by accident.  Unfortunately, it appears as though some companies actually make clinker bricks on purpose.

Sources and More Examples

• https://readreidread.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/what-are-clinker-bricks/ 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinker_brick
• http://www.oldhouseonline.com/guide-to-clinker-bricks/
• http://www.historicalbricks.com/products/antique-building-materials/clinker-brick
• http://www.oldhousejournal.com/exteriors_savvy_clinker_bricks/magazine/1495
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/pnmaryf/5193648485/
• http://www.berkeleyside.com/2010/07/14/where-in-berkeley-24/
• http://planetreuse.com/collections/price-asc-building-material/products/74#.VQm5dOH-mpQ

 *I put style in quotes, because I am not sold on their execution of such.

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 01

Spring is here!  Everything is blooming right now, but this photo is from a few years ago when I went to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, AZ.  Highly recommended!

Photo Phriday - 2015 04 24

A hike at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument near Pikes Peak.  I love the warm colors my old camera provided. :)