By: Theresa Poulson
ALLENTOWN With my goldenrod map in hand I set off on a self-guided historical walking tour of the village Saturday morning.
The map that I used as my guide was compiled by Elizabeth Roselius and cites 30 historical locations along North and South Main Street, or just off of the main drive. The map is currently available at nine locations in town and the tour can be taken at any time, but from 10 a.m. to noon Allentown historical buffs were stationed along the map’s route to answer questions and provide insight.
The tour was the first of two that the village offers this month in celebration of its 300th anniversary this year. The second tour will take place this Saturday at the same time.
I began my walk at the Messenger-Press office, located in an addition behind the Quilter’s Barn at 34 S. Main St. As I walked past the Cafferty Grist Mill at 42 S. Main St. (site number 22 on the map), built in 1855, I tried to imagine what it might have been like in Allentown 100 or 200 years ago. I found it difficult because what for many years was a dirt road is now paved and a steady stream of late-morning traffic flowed through town. And that day the cars shared the road with a small legion of spandex-clad bicycle riders.
I crossed over the Mill Pond and Doctor’s Creek past Pete Sensi Park and headed to the south end of the tour, stopping to admire the Gov. W.A. Newell House at 81 S. Main St. (site number 27), built in 1798 for Dr. Thomas Montgomery. Gov. Newell moved into the house in 1844 before becoming the governor of New Jersey from 1857-1860, according to the map.
In search of meeting people who would help me find my way into Allentown history, I wandered into the large cemetery behind the Allentown Presbyterian Church at 20 High St. (site number 28), built in 1756, which would become Newell’s final resting place.
I followed a sign to the governor’s plot and found myself bewitched by the rows upon rows of names on worn grave markers and tombstones. I wondered if Emily C. Beatty, who died 20 years after her husband in 1897 at the age of 79, was friends with the woman on the neighboring plot, Phebe Wilkinson (1821-1912), or if they had forged some sort of after-life relationship in the nearly 100 years they’ve been buried beside one another.
After letting my imagination wander, I deserted the cemetery in search of a living person to connect with, though I would find out later from one of Allentown’s matriarchs that I wasn’t alone in my interest of cemeteries.
Further down South Main Street, I was impressed by the stately and ornately adorned facades of the twin Italianate Victorians, the Meirs House at 123 S. Main St. (site number 29), built in 1858, and the Robbins House across the street at 114 S. Main St. (site number 30), built in 1856.
On my way back to the center of town I spotted Sandy Stevens in front of her house at 80 S. Main St. She sat behind a table talking animatedly to Mary Elizabeth Roof about the history of their neighborhood.
Both lifelong residents looked over the yellow map and commented on how many more locations could be sited. According to the map, there are 220 sites in historical Allentown.
Ms. Stevens picked up an inch-thick binder and flipped it open, fanning through the pages and pages of copies of records about architecture and residents of the homes on just a short stretch of the street.
It seems that each house has a story. She even had builder’s records for John W. Naylor’s home, which is not on the tour map, at 88 S. Main St., built in 1925. Mr. Naylor was the founder of the Messenger-Press. Ms. Stevens said that Mr. Naylor only lived in the village for one year, during which time he set up a printing press and found subscribers to fund a local newspaper. After his death his wife took over to see his dream come into fruition.
The Naylor home is currently owned by Ron Dunster, who also stopped by the table. Ms. Stevens said that although only eight people had stopped by her table she was trying to get passersby interested as well.
"Basically I’m grabbing everyone and giving them one of these," she said as she waved a yellow map in the air.
Across the street from the John Imlay House at 28 S. Main St. (site number 19), built in 1790, I spotted the only other person I had seen with a yellow map during my hour-and-a-half walk through town. A Cream Ridge resident sat sipping a coffee at a table outside of Woody’s Town Cafe. She was looking over the map and said though she was familiar with the area and wasn’t taking the tour, she was enjoying reading more about each building.
Around the corner Mary Clark manned a station at Old Rogers Burying Ground on Lakeview Drive (site number 23). She said, "This cemetery is much older than the one (behind First Presbyterian Church). There are two or three well-known families in the area buried here."
She had a map that identified each site, and short biographical information corresponding to the graves. Among them are the Brueres and Robbins, landowners and merchants and "Colonel" Bills’ relatives. Bills laid out Hamilton and Church streets.
The cemetery is also home to the Rogers family plots. The Rogers built all of the churches in the area and were the first people in the country to be able to move brick houses. Ms. Clark said, "They were called to Washington to show them how to do it."
The graves of the veterans of the Civil War and Revolutionary War are marked with American flags, which, Ms. Clark said, are maintained by the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts also built a wall around the small plot of land that is nestled inside a grove of trees.
"For some reason, people like cemeteries," she said. "This one is well-visited."
Nancy Wikoff stood by a table outside of the Allentown Public Library at 16 S. Main St., not on the tour, which she says is the most well-preserved building in town, in her opinion.
The library was the First Baptist Church and parsonage from 1879 until 1972 when a fire caused significant damage and the congregation moved out. Ms. Wikoff, the librarian, said, "The librarians board all volunteers worked very hard to restore the facade to its original after the fire."
She is the daughter-in-law of Alice Wikoff, whose family has been in Allentown for five generations.
Ms. Wikoff said she expects more people to take the tour this weekend on Saturday because there will be visitors in town to see the Allentown Main Street House Parade. As an old farming community, horses were important, and still are today, evidenced by nearby Fairwinds, White Birch and Heritage Hill, Ms. Wikoff said.
The street will be closed to traffic and only horses will march down the street, which will make it easier, perhaps, for those taking part in the tour to picture Allentown at a different time when honks were replaced by the clopping of hooves and sounds of whinnies.
The self-guided walking tour will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Maps of the walking tour can be found at local businesses or at a guide at the following locations: High and Main streets, Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Pete Sensi Park, The Mill House, Imlay House, Lakeview Drive Cemetery, Methodist Church on Church Street, Hamilton Street cemetery or the First Washington Bank on Main Street. The rain date is Saturday, Sept. 23. For more information call (609) 259-7403.The Allentown Main Street Horse Parade will take place at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, beginning at Heritage Park at Gordon Street, going across to N. Main Street, then down all of S. Main Street.