Kathryn Finegan Clark, Author at Lehigh Valley Marketplace's Posts

Wind Gap

Wind Gap

Wind Gap, the 500-foot notch in the Appalachian Mountains, and its namesake town clinging to the mountainside would be a perfect setting for a movie. Perched at 755 feet above sea level it lies on a path once traveled by Indians between their ancient villages along the Susquehanna River and those at the Falls of the Delaware. Today, the Borough of Wind Gap occupies about o... »

Lenape Cultural Center

Lenape Cultural Center

An exhibit at the Lenape Cultural Center in Easton is writing a chapter our history books have omitted. It illustrates the dramatic tale of a people who have lived here in secret for generations before coming forth with their story. Until recently it was generally believed that all but a few Lenapes were driven westward from Pennsylvania after the shameful Walking Purchase... »

Dorneyville

The 18th Century village that was called Dorneyville, unlike other ancient crossroad hamlets in the Lehigh Valley, is not just a cluster of old buildings frozen in time. Instead, it continues to evolve, alive and bustling with activity and pulsing with traffic. “It’s flourishing,” says Jon A. Hammer, who has served as township manager for the past two years. Dorneyville’s ... »

Allentown’s 250th Anniversary

Well we’re living here in Allentown And they’re closing all the factories down… The City of Allentown has blown those 1982 Billy Joel lyrics sky high with its 250th anniversary celebration, a multi-part extravaganza stretching from New Year’s Eve 2012 to New Year’s Eve 2013. TV host and magician Barte Shadlow, with input from residents in many city neighborhoods, has repla... »

Forks Township

It’s all about old and new in Forks Township. A case in point is the restored merchant’s wagon which grabs the spotlight within the clean architectural lines of the Forks Township Municipal Building on Sullivan Trail. And Sullivan Trail itself, still one of the municipality’s main thoroughfares, marks the route taken by Major General John Sullivan in June 1779 as he marche... »

West Allentown

By Kathryn Finegan Clark Without a doubt, the most colorful, endearing and enduring holiday tradition in Allentown’s West End is the annual staging of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” This adaptation of the 1843 classic will mark its 21st year at the Civic Theatre of Allentown. Last year, more than 7,000 tickets were sold, some of them to families who return year afte... »

Coplay, Hokendauqua, & Fullerton

By Kathryn Finegan Clark Coplay, Hokendauqua and Fullerton: these three little Lehigh County communities hug the western bank of the Lehigh River as it flows toward Easton where it empties into the Delaware River. They are, for the most part, pleasant little residential areas dotted with shady trees, wide porches on row homes, green lawns and flowers. Now, in the 21st cent... »

Coopersburg

By Kathryn Finegan Clark Coopersburg’s birth and growth are carved dramatically on the borough seal which features three important symbols: seven stars, a cow and a wheel. The stars commemorate the name of the settlement’s first hotel erected between 1745 and 1750 along what was to become Bethlehem Pike. That road was opened in 1755 and ran from Philadelphia to Bethlehem. ... »

College Hill

By Kathryn Finegan Clark Easton’s College Hill neighborhood was nothing but a forested and uninhabited hunk of mountain sloping down from the 700 – foot high Chestnut Ridge when America declared its independence in 1776. Easton was one of only three cities where the Declaration of Independence was read publicly on July 4th. The document, its ink barely dry, was read ... »

Northwestern Lehigh County

By Kathryn Finegan Clark It’s the Lehigh Valley’s answer to Montana’s Big Sky —and it’s only minutes from busy Allentown. If the Valley has a secret to keep, it is surely this gorgeous northwest corner of Lehigh County, America’s 18th Century frontier. Climb a hill and see the fields spread before you, and it’s not difficult to imagine the boom of muskets, the cries of mar... »

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