The Lehigh Valley () is a geographic and metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh and

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

counties in eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bounded to its north by Blue Mountain, to its south by South Mountain, to its west by Lebanon Valley, and to its east by the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

and Warren County, New Jersey. The Lehigh Valley is about long and wide. The Lehigh Valley's largest city is Allentown, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Lehigh County, with a population of 125,845 residents as of the 2020 census. The Allentown– Bethlehem– Easton metropolitan area, which includes the Lehigh Valley, is Pennsylvania's third-most populous metropolitan area after those of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, and the nation's 66th-largest metropolitan area with a population of 886,418 as of 2023. Lehigh County is among Pennsylvania's fastest-growing counties, and the Lehigh Valley leads Pennsylvania in terms of population growth in the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, which constitutes a significant portion of the labor

workforce In macroeconomics, the workforce or labour force is the sum of people either working (i.e., the employed) or looking for work (i.e., the unemployed): \text = \text + \text Those neither working in the marketplace nor looking for work are out ...

. The region's core population centers are located in southern and central Lehigh and Northampton counties along Interstate 78, Interstate 476, Pennsylvania Route 309, and U.S. Route 22. The Lehigh Valley has historically been a global leader in

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

and other heavy

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

industries, which represented a considerable portion of its employment and economic production for most of the 20th century. Beginning in the early 1980s, however, the region's heavy manufacturing sector experienced a rapid downfall, highlighted by the downsizing, bankruptcy, and ultimate closure of Bethlehem Steel, the world's second-largest steel manufacturer for most of the 20th century, and other Lehigh Valley–based manufacturing companies. Throughout the late 20th century, the Lehigh Valley's economy struggled considerably, and it was often cited as one of the most prominent examples of the impact of deindustrial economic decline in the nation's Rust Belt during the late 20th century. In the early 21st century, the Lehigh Valley's economy began rebounding, and it emerged as a national center for the U.S.

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

industry, especially in

warehousing A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

and intermodal transport. As of 2023, the Lehigh Valley's

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

(GDP) was $ billion, led by its manufacturing sector, which comprised $9 billion, or 16 percent. In March 2024, the Lehigh Valley was named the nation's top mid-sized market for economic development by ''

Site Selection Site selection indicates the practice of new facility location, both for business and government. Site selection involves measuring the needs of a new project against the merits of potential locations. The practice came of age during the 20th centur ...

'' magazine based on its number of projects that met criteria for job creation, investment, and size over the previous year. The region's primary commercial airport is Lehigh Valley International Airport in Hanover Township, which in 2023 was utilized by 930,946 passengers and trafficked over 275,000 pounds of cargo, an all-time cargo record for the airport. The Lehigh Valley is located in the center of the U.S. Northeast megalopolis, providing ease of access and close proximity to many of the nation's largest population centers, airports, terminals, railways, and seaports, including

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the nation's largest city, which is to its east, and

, the nation's sixth-most populous city, which is to its southeast. The region is located geographically within a one-day drive to over a third of the U.S. population and over half of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's population, which has been a factor in its 21st century emergence as a North American leader in light manufacturing and commercial distribution. Since its settlement in the 18th century, the Lehigh Valley has been the birthplace or home to several notable Americans who have proven influential across a broad range of fields, including academia, art and music, business, government and politics, the military, professional and Olympic-level athletics, and other fields.

History

Colonial era

The Lehigh Valley was settled over the first half of the 18th century largely by German immigrants fleeing war and

religious persecution Religious persecution is the systematic oppression of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within socie ...

. Prior to their arrival, the region was inhabited by

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

Indian tribes, who hunted, fished, and quarried jasper in the region. The region was initially established in 1682 as part of Bucks County. Shelter House in Emmaus, constructed in 1734 by Pennsylvania German settlers, is the oldest still-standing building structure in the Lehigh Valley and believed to be one of the oldest in the state. In 1737, sons of provincial Pennsylvania founder

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

acquired much of the Lehigh Valley in the Walking Purchase during the colonial period. Lenape Indians subsequently retaliated with raids against European settlers in the region throughout the 1750s and early 1760s, but were moved out of the region by the mid-1760s. In 1752, the region became part of Northampton County, and Lehigh County was later separated from Northampton County and formally established in 1812.

American Revolutionary War

Allentown and its surrounding communities played an important and historic role in the emergence of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Some of the first resistance to British colonialism began in Allentown and its surrounding Lehigh County communities in the Lehigh Valley. As early as June 21, 1774, patriot forces in Allentown began meeting to formulate resistance plans to British colonial governance. On December 21, 1774, a Committee of Observation was formally established by Allentown-area patriot militias."Revolution roused Valley"
''The Morning Call'', July 3, 2001 Following the signing of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

, the Colonial British government in Allentown began dissolving and these patriot militias seized control, pressuring Tories out of the region. In recognition of the strong pro-revolutionary sentiment in the region, Easton was one of only three designated locations, along with Philadelphia and

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

, where the Declaration was read aloud in public for the first time on July 8, 1776 at noon. Following their victory at the Battle of Trenton several months later, Washington and his

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

staff traveled through the present-day Lehigh Valley, proceeding up Lehigh Street, which was then called Water Street. Washington and his staff stopped at the foot of Lehigh Street at a large spring on what is the present-day Wire Mill Arboretum in Allentown. They rested there, watered their horses, and then proceeded to their post of duty. Allentown supported the Revolution, establishing the first hospitals for the treatment of wounded Continental Army troops at various city locations, including at the current location of the Farr Building at 739 Hamilton Street. As the Revolutionary War progressed, Washington and his commanders also established two POW camps in Allentown, one at 8th and Hamilton streets and another on Gordon Street, to house captured Hessian mercenaries."History's headlines: Allentown's POW camps,"
WFMZ, September 1, 2015 In addition to visiting Allentown after his victory at the Battle of Trenton, Washington returned to the city and region several additional times during and following the Revolution.
WFMZ, February 21, 2012 Allentown also played a historical role in protecting the Liberty Bell from British capture following the fall of Philadelphia to the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

on September 26, 1777, concealing the Liberty Bell for nine months from September 1777 to June 1778 under floor boards in Allentown's Zion Reformed Church. After Washington and the Continental Army's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was left defenseless and Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council, anticipating Philadelphia's fall, ordered that eleven Philadelphia bells, including the Liberty Bell, then known as the State House Bell, be taken down and moved to present-day Allentown, which was then called Northampton Towne. In Allentown, the Liberty Bell and other bells were hidden under floorboards at Zion Reformed Church on West Hamilton Street to protect them from being seized and melted down by the British Army for use as munitions.

American Civil War

The region again proved influential in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Following the Union Army's defeat at the Battle of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's April 15, 1861 proclamation calling for state militia to provide 75,000 volunteers to defend the national capital in Washington, D.C., Allentown immediately deployed its Allen Infantry, which defended Washington, D.C. from Confederate attack following

Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a historical Coastal defense and fortification#Sea forts, sea fort located near Charleston, South Carolina. Constructed on an artificial island at the entrance of Charleston Harbor in 1829, the fort was built in response to the W ...

's fall. Also known as the Allen Guards, the Allen Infantry mustered in for duty on April 18, 1861. During the late summer and early fall of 1861, members of this unit and other volunteers from within and beyond the Lehigh Valley came together to form the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, which was established on August 5 and later proved influential in expanding the Union Army's reach into the Deep South, permitting it to launch successful attacks against Confederate positions in the Battle of St. Johns Bluff in 1862 and throughout the Red River campaign in the Trans-Mississippi theater and Sheridan's Shenadoah Valley campaign across Virginia in 1864. These victories helped to tip the Civil War in the Union's favor."Snyder, Laurie. ''47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment's Story'', 2014."
/ref> On October 19, 1899, a monument in honor of the Lehigh Valley men killed in their volunteer service to the Union's preservation, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, was erected at Seventh and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

streets in Center City Allentown, where it still stands.

Industrial Revolution

The opening of the Lehigh Canal in 1827 contributed significantly to transforming Allentown and the Lehigh Valley from a rural agricultural area dominated by German-speaking people into one of the nation's first urbanized industrialized areas. The Lehigh Valley underwent significant

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

throughout the 19th and most of the 20th centuries and was a major manufacturing hub in the American Industrial Revolution. The Lehigh Valley is named for the Lehigh River, which runs through the region. It owes much of its development and history to anthracite coal,

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, and ore that was only commercially possible with the development of the Lehigh Canal and the Lehigh Valley's extensive railway infrastructure that permitted these minerals and later the region's manufactured steel to be transported for sale in major national and overseas markets. The Lehigh Canal operated into the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, feeding ports up and down the

, the Pennsylvania Canal, and transoceanic demand, and was integral to the industrialization of the greater Delaware Valley region. Morris Canal, the anthracite coal feeder of Delaware and Raritan Canal. and locks at New Hope on the Delaware Canal were built to fuel anthracite energy needs of Trenton, Newark, Jersey City, and New York City. In 1899, Bethlehem Steel was formed in Bethlehem in the Lehigh Valley. The company developed into the nation's second-largest manufacturer of

, and its steel was used in developing many of the nation's earliest and largest infrastructure and building projects, including the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

, and Rockefeller Center in New York City, Merchandise Mart in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, Verrazzano, and

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by ...

Bridges, and

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

s and other military equipment that proved essential in American-led victories in both world wars.

Bethlehem Steel's downfall

During the 20th century, Bethlehem Steel's ascent was prominently associated with the emergence of the U.S. as both a world leader in global manufacturing and as the world's largest economy, and its late 20th century downfall has often been cited as an example of one of the nation's most prominent first stumbling points in the face of growing foreign trade competition and other economic challenges that contributed to the nation's emergence of its Rust Belt. In 1982, following nearly a century of global leadership, growth, and profitability in steel manufacturing, Bethlehem Steel abruptly reported operating losses of $1.5 billion, citing foreign competition from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n economies and costly U.S. governmental regulations and labor costs for the losses. The company abruptly reduced operations, resulting in considerable Lehigh Valley layoffs and a dramatic related economic downturn in the region. Bethlehem Steel continued functioning on a vastly reduced scale for a period, but ultimately ceased steel manufacturing entirely at its primary Bethlehem-based manufacturing plant in 1995. In 2001, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and, in 2003, the company was dissolved. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the downturn and ultimate demise of Bethlehem Steel, once one of the most iconic and prominent symbols of American global economic power and leadership, emerged as an example cited by those who believe American global economic leadership is now in either gradual or even rapid descent.

21st century

In 2023, '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the Lehigh Valley the ninth-best place in the nation to retire. Also in 2023, realtor.com ranked the Lehigh Valley "the 21st hottest housing market" in the nation.

Geography

The Lehigh Valley is geologically and geographically part of the Great Appalachian Valley, a geographic region made up of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

that stretches along the eastern edge of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. The Lehigh Valley is so named because it is located geographically within an actual

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

formed by the Lehigh River that lies between two mountain ridges, Blue Mountain in the Valley's north and South Mountain in the Valley's south. The Lehigh Valley is the lower part of the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of the Lehigh River.

Cities and location

2017 - Hamilton Street Christmas Skyline - Allentown PA

The Lehigh Valley has three principal cities: Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton. The region is located between two of the nation's largest population centers, west of

, the nation's largest and world's 11th-largest city, and north of

, the nation's sixth-largest and world's 68th-largest city. The region borders Carbon County and the

Coal Region The Coal Region is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is known for being home to the largest known deposits of anthracite, anthracite coal in the world with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons. The region is typically defined ...

to its north, the

and Warren County, New Jersey to its east, Bucks and Montgomery Counties in suburban Philadelphia to its south, and Berks and Schuylkill Counties to its west.

Cities

* Allentown (125,845) * Bethlehem (75,781) * Easton (28,127)

Municipalities with more than 10,000 people

* Bethlehem Township (23,730) * Emmaus (11,652) * Forks Township (14,721) * Hanover Township (Northampton) (10,866) * Lehigh Township (10,526) * Lower Macungie Township (31,964) * Lower Saucon Township (10,772) *

(10,395) * North Whitehall Township (15,655) * Palmer Township (20,691) * Salisbury Township (13,505) * South Whitehall Township (19,180) * Upper Macungie Township (26,377) * Upper Saucon Township (14,808) * Whitehall Township (26,738)

Municipalities with fewer than 10,000 but more than 5,000 people

* Ancient Oaks * Bangor * Breinigsville * Bushkill Township * Catasauqua * Chestnut Hill * Hellertown * Lower Nazareth Township * Moore Township *

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

* Plainfield Township * Upper Milford Township * Upper Mount Bethel Township * Upper Nazareth Township * Washington Township (Lehigh) * Washington Township (Northampton) * Williams Township * Wilson

Municipalities with fewer than 5,000 people

* Alburtis * Allen Township * Bath * Chapman * Coopersburg * Coplay * East Allen Township * East Bangor * Fountain Hill * Freemansburg * Glendon * Hanover Township (Lehigh) * Heidelberg Township * Lower Milford Township * Lower Mount Bethel Township * Lowhill Township * Lynn Township * Macungie * North Catasauqua * Pen Argyl * Portland * Roseto * Slatington * Stockertown * Tatamy * Walnutport * Weisenberg Township * West Easton * Wind Gap

Census-designated places and villages

* Ackermanville * Balliettsville * Beersville *

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

* Berlinsville * Best Station * Butztown * Cementon * Center Valley * Cetronia * Cherryville * Chickentown * Christian Springs * Colesville * Danielsville * DeSales University * Dorneyville * Eagle Point * Eastlawn Gardens * East Texas *

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

* Emanuelsville *

Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

* Flicksville * Fogelsville * Franks Corner * Friedensville * Fullerton * Gauff Hill * Germansville * Hanoverville * Hensingersville * Hokendauqua * Hollo * Hosensack * Ironton * Jacksonville * Katellen * Klecknersville * Kuhnsville *

Lanark Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...

* Laurys Station * Limeport * Locust Valley * Lynnport * Martin's Creek * Mickleys * Middletown * Moorestown * Morgan Hill * Mount Bethel * Neffs * Newburg * New Smithville * New Tripoli * Old Orchard * Old Zionsville * Orefield * Palmer Heights * Pleasant Corners * Powder Valley * Raubsville * Scherersville * Schnecksville * Schoenersville * Seidersville * Shimerville * Sigmund * Slatedale * Slateford * Stiles * Summit Lawn * Trexlertown * Treichlers * Vera Cruz * Walbert * Wanamakers * Wassergass * Werleys Corner * Wescosville * West Catasauqua * Zionsville * Zucksville

Metropolitan and Combined Statistical Areas

The Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area is a Metropolitan Statistical Area that includes Carbon County in the

, Lehigh and

counties in the Lehigh Valley, and Warren County in the Skylands region of northwest

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. As of 2023 census estimates, it is the 67th-largest metropolitan area in the nation with a population of 873,555.www.whitehouse.gov
/ref> In July 2023, the area was added to the newly created Allentown- Bethlehem- East Stroudsburg PA-NJ Combined Statistical Area (CSA). This area also includes Monroe County in the Pocono Mountains region of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the Allentown-Bethlehem-East Stroudsburg, PA-NJ CSA had a population of 1,030,216, the 59th-largest CSA in the nation.

Climate

The Lehigh Valley has four distinct seasons, which typically include hot and humid summers, cold winters, and short and mild springs and falls. It has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfa''/''Dfb'') and the

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

ranges from 5b in higher elevation locations in northern Carbon County to 6b, the principal zone in Lehigh,

, and southern Warren Counties. The 1991-2020 hardiness zone for Lehigh Valley International Airport and lower elevations is 7a.

Demographics

The Lehigh Valley has a total population of 861,889 residents as of the 2020 U.S. census, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania and 68th-largest metropolitan area in the nation. A 2018

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau found that 87.1% of the Lehigh Valley's population was White American, 4.6% was

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

or African American, 0.1% was American Indian, 2.3% was Asian American, 0.1% was

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

, 0.1% were

Pacific Islander Americans Pacific Islander Americans (also colloquially referred to as Islander Americans) are Americans who are of Pacific Islander ancestry (or are descendants of the Indigenous peoples of Oceania). For its purposes, the United States census also coun ...

, 4.3% were of some other race, and 1.5% belonged to two or more races.

Hispanics The term Hispanic () are people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an ethnic or meta-ethnic term. The term commonly appli ...

and Latinos of any race made up 11.3% of the population and represent the Lehigh Valley's fastest-growing demographic. Lehigh County is in the top 1% of all U.S. counties for inward migration from international locations, according to Select USA, a U.S. Department of Commerce program. The Lehigh Valley as a whole leads Pennsylvania in terms of population growth in the 18-to-34 year old demographic, according to 2020 census data. The Lehigh Valley's population growth is partly a result of a growing influx of residents from

and New York drawn to the Lehigh Valley's lower cost of living, its employment opportunities, and its close proximity to Philadelphia and New York City, the nation's sixth and largest cities, respectively. The Valley's population is expected to increase by 227,000 people by 2040, making it one of the fastest-growing areas in the state and nation. Median household income for the region increased from $57,288 to $81,709 between 2015 and 2024.

Economy

Lehigh Valley Mall entrance from lifestyle center

The Lehigh Valley's economy has been known historically and globally for its leadership throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in heavy manufacturing. Beginning in the 1980s, however, the region's manufacturing sector declined rapidly as a result of foreign competition, trade practices, operational costs, regulations, and other factors. The most prominent example was the plight of Bethlehem Steel, the world's second-largest manufacturer of steel for much of the 20th century. Headquartered in Bethlehem, Bethlehem Steel abruptly suspended most of its operations in the early 1980s, declared bankruptcy in 2001, and was dissolved in 2003. Since the late 20th century, the Lehigh Valley has recovered and evolved substantially from the loss of its once powerful manufacturing and steel production base with other industry sectors having emerged in the region, providing a much more diversified regional economy. The region has frequently been cited and heralded nationally as a rust belt success story for this dramatic revitalization. ''Site Selection'' magazine has named the Lehigh Valley one of the top 5 best performing mid-sized markets in the country repeatedly since at least 2014 and the top performing mid-sized market in the country as 2023. As of 2020, the Valley's top five industries were finance, manufacturing, health care and education, professional and business services, and information. Other major industry sectors in the area include transportation, retail trade, and restaurants and hospitality. In 2023, the Lehigh Valley's total

was $55.7 billion. The Lehigh Valley boasts a workforce of over 365,900 people residing within the region and over 1.7M people residing within a one-hour commute of the region as of 2023.

Bethlehem Steel

The Lehigh Valley is known historically for its production of

Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar (masonry), mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in th ...

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

, and apparel. Bethlehem Steel, founded in 1899 and based in Bethlehem, was a foundation of the Lehigh Valley's economy for nearly a century from 1899 through the early 1980s. At the pinnacle of its success, Bethlehem Steel was the nation's second-largest and one of the world's largest steel manufacturers. Bethlehem Steel was instrumental in the development of many of the nation's most prominent 20th century infrastructure projects. Its steel was used to build 28 Liberty Street, Chrysler Building, the

, Rockefeller Center, and the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City and Merchandise Mart in

. Among major bridges, the company's steel was used to construct the George Washington Bridge and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City, the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and the Peace Bridge between Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario. The Roosevelt administration relied heavily on Bethlehem Steel during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, utilizing the company to produce the steel necessary for shipbuilding, ammunition, and other military equipment that proved essential to the Allies' ability to prevail in these conflicts. In the late 20th century, however, a variety of factors, including the practices of foreign competitors, began eroding Bethlehem Steel's once historical global leadership in steelmaking. In 1982, the company announced it was discontinuing most of its operations. In 2001, the company declared bankruptcy. In 2003, it was dissolved. Throughout the late 20th century, other heavy manufacturing companies in the Lehigh Valley that once served as backbones for the region's economy suffered similarly, either downsizing significantly or dissolving, which destabilized the region considerably. In the early 2000s, seeking to replace the heavy manufacturing companies that had been the region's foundation for decades, the Lehigh Valley began developing other economic sectors, including financial services, health care, life sciences, and technology. The Lehigh Valley also began emerging as a national warehouse and distribution hub, due in part to its proximity to many of the largest U.S. markets and relatively lower operating costs compared to other Northeast U.S. regions. More recently, a movement to reestablish manufacturing activities in the U.S., driven by customer demand for American-made products, faster product delivery, increased overseas wages, and inflated costs and extended timeframes for shipping has led to some renewed growth in the Valley's manufacturing sector. Several large companies from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

have invested tens of millions of dollars into developing significant operations in the Lehigh Valley, which has generated thousands of new jobs in the region.

Largest employers

As of 2024, the Lehigh Valley's five top private sector employers are: 1.) Lehigh Valley Health Network (headquartered in Allentown); 2.) St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network (headquartered in Fountain Hill); 3.)

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

(with a square foot facility in Palmer Township); 4.)

Mack Trucks Mack Trucks, Inc. is an American truck manufacturing company (law), company and a former manufacturer of buses and Trolleybus, trolley buses. Founded in 1900 as the Mack Brothers Company, it manufactured its first truck in 1905 and adopted its pr ...

(with manufacturing headquarters in Macungie); and 5.) Air Products (globally headquartered in Trexlertown). Other notable Lehigh Valley companies include C. F. Martin & Company in

, which manufacturers Martin Guitars, used by some of the world's most prominent guitarists, including

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

, and others.

Business and economic environment

The Lehigh Valley is one of the fastest-growing and largest economies in Pennsylvania and the United States with a total GDP of $55.7 billion (as of 2023) that saw a four percent increase between 2022 and 2023 alone driven by strong manufacturing, financial, health care, and professional services industry segments. It was named in March 2024 as the top mid-sized market in America by Site Selection Magazine for economic development based on the number of projects that met certain criteria for job creation, investment and size in 2023. It is centrally located in the Northeast megalopolis with ease of access and close proximity to several of the largest U.S. markets, population centers, airports, terminals, railways, and seaports, including the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. The Lehigh Valley is within a one-day drive to over a third of the U.S. population and to over half the population of

.Lehigh Valley job forecast good
''Morning Call'' (2012-11-26). Retrieved on 2013-07-23. The Valley has a lower cost of living, more affordable real estate, lower taxes, and a larger and more affordable labor pool than many other Northeastern U.S. metropolitan regions. These attributes and others, including sizable investments in business development incentive programs and a friendlier regulatory environment, provide the area with a comparatively favorable business climate compared to surrounding metropolitan areas.Allentown: Chemical material producer Avantor moves headquarters from New Jersey to Center Valley
''Morning Call'' Due in large part to this comparably favorable business climate and mature business support programs, the Lehigh Valley has been very successful in luring established businesses as well as new startup companies from higher cost areas such as New York and New Jersey, generating thousands of new jobs and significant new investments in the region. Large companies such as Amazon.com have praised the Lehigh Valley for its commitment to business support, infrastructure investment, and incentive programs, citing these as major reasons for their continuing expansions and increased hiring in the region and Allegiant Air, a low-cost budget airline, opened a new flight base at the Lehigh Valley International Airport in February 2020, noting the area's rapid growth, lower operational business costs, and its proximity to popular destinations as significant reasons for expanding their Lehigh Valley International Airport flights. Other large national and international companies either based in the Lehigh Valley or with significant operations there include

Broadcom Corporation Broadcom Corporation was an American fabless manufacturing, fabless semiconductor company that made products for the wireless and broadband communication industry. It was acquired by Avago Technologies for $37billion in 2016 and operates as a ...

(in Allentown), Avantor Performance Materials (in Allentown), Air Products (in Trexlertown), Crayola (in Easton), Buckeye Partners (in Emmaus), HeidelbergCement (in Fogelsville), Just Born (in Bethlehem, maker of Peeps candies),

(in Allentown), Martin Guitar (in

Olympus Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of optics and reprography products, headquartered in Hachioji, Tokyo. Olympus was established in 1919, initially specializing in microscopes and thermometers, and later in imaging. Olympus holds roughly a 70 percent sh ...

(in Center Valley), OraSure Technologies (in Bethlehem), PPL Corporation (in Allentown), Wind Creek Bethlehem (in Bethlehem), Dun & Bradstreet (in Center Valley), Victaulic (in Easton), and others. In 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2019, the Lehigh Valley was recognized by ''

'' magazine as the second-best performing region of its size for economic development in the nation and the best performing region in the Northeast U.S.. It was ranked by '' Fortune'' in 2015 as one of the top 10 best places in the U.S. to locate corporate

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

and

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

operations, including call and IT support centers. Allentown, the Lehigh Valley's largest city, was cited as a "national success story" in April 2016 by the Urban Land Institute for its downtown redevelopment and transformation that has led to $1 billion worth of new development projects there between 2015 and 2019, one of only six communities nationally to achieve this distinction. The Lehigh Valley is one of the leading areas on the East Coast for

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

s and distribution centers. Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as the nation's "second Inland Empire" for freight. Large national companies that own and operate warehouses and distribution centers in the Lehigh Valley include Amazon.com, B. Braun, Boston Beer Company (brewer of Samuel Adams brand beer),

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

, Bridgestone, FedEx SmartPost, FedEx Ground,

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

, J. C. Penney, Nestlé Purina, ShopRite, Stitch Fix,

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...

, Ocean Spray, Phillips Pet Food and Supplies,

True Value The True Value Company is an American wholesaler and Hardware store brand. The corporate headquarters are located in Chicago. Historically True Value was a cooperative owned by retailers, but in 2018 it was purchased by ACON Investments. In Oc ...

, Uline, Zulily, and others. Most of these warehouses and distribution centers are located along the Valley's southern U.S. Route 22, Interstate 78, and Interstate 476 corridors, which provide direct access to numerous major markets throughout the Northeast U.S. and beyond. In September 2018, FedEx Ground constructed their largest distribution hub in the country near Lehigh Valley International Airport at a cost of $335 million. This hub can process up to 45,000 packages per hour and employs over 2,000 people. By 2030, it is expected to have a total size of square feet and employ over 3,000 people. The Boston Beer Company operates its largest U.S. production brewery facility in Breinigsville in the Lehigh Valley, which produces over 2/3rds of all Samuel Adams beer globally. The company continues to upgrade and expand operations at this facility and has cited the location as central to its overall corporate success. Additionally, Ocean Spray, a popular maker of juice drinks and other fruit products, produces 40 percent of its total national beverage volume at its Lehigh Valley plant in Breinigsville. Due to Pennsylvania's lack of an excise tax on

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

s and the Lehigh Valley's close proximity to major markets, the region is home to some of the nation's largest cigar distributors and retailers.

Retail shopping

The largest retail shopping area in the Lehigh Valley is the PA Route 145/MacArthur Road corridor, just north of Allentown in Whitehall Township, which is anchored by Lehigh Valley Mall and Whitehall Mall. Other Lehigh Valley malls include Palmer Park Mall in Easton, South Mall in Salisbury Township, and Westgate Mall in Bethlehem. In October 2006, Promenade Saucon Valley, located off Route 309 in Upper Saucon Township in the Lehigh Valley, opened. Promenade is roughly half the size of the Lehigh Valley Mall but features higher end stores not available in Lehigh Valley Mall. In 2011, The Outlets at Wind Creek Bethlehem opened at Wind Creek Bethlehem in Bethlehem, becoming the Lehigh Valley's first outlet mall.

Media

Television

The Lehigh Valley is part of the Philadelphia television market, the nation's fourth-largest television market, and also receives television stations from the New York City and Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre television markets. Lehigh Valley–based stations include WBPH-TV, a Christian television licensed to Bethlehem with studios in Allentown, WFMZ-TV, an independent commercial television station on South Mountain in Allentown, and WLVT-TV, the PBS station licensed to Allentown with studios in Bethlehem.

Radio

The Lehigh Valley is home to over 35 radio stations, including both English and Spanish-language stations and a range of formats, including all-news,

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

, and NPR. Lehigh Valley station music formats include

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

, hip hop, rhythmic,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

, polka,

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

, and several campus radio stations.

Newspapers

Lehigh Valley–based daily newspapers include '' The Morning Call'' and '' The Express-Times'', both of which have been media sources in the Lehigh Valley dating back to the mid-1800s, and NJ.com, an aggregation website that carries news articles from multiple Lehigh Valley and

–based newspapers. Two magazines cover the region. ''Lehigh Valley Style'' is a regional lifestyle publication based in Easton. ''Lehigh Valley Magazine'', based in

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

, is the region's oldest lifestyle publication.

Film

Multiple movies have been fully or partially filmed in the Lehigh Valley, including M. Night Shyamalan's ''

Glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

'' in 2019, indie dark-comedy ''Getting Grace'' starring Daniel Roebuck, Taylor A. Purdee's

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

'' Killian & the Comeback Kids'', and others.

Education

Colleges and universities

Seven colleges and universities are based in the Lehigh Valley: * Cedar Crest College (in Allentown) * DeSales University (in Center Valley) * Lafayette College (in Easton) *

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

(in Bethlehem) * Moravian University (in Bethlehem) * Muhlenberg College (in Allentown) * Penn State Lehigh Valley (in Center Valley) The Lehigh Valley has two

community colleges A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open en ...

: * Lehigh Carbon Community College (with campuses in Allentown, Carbon County, and Schnecksville) * Northampton Community College (with campuses in Bethlehem, Bethlehem Township, and Monroe County)

High schools

The Lehigh Valley is the third-most populous metropolitan region in Pennsylvania and served by several large school districts, public and private high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools, including: The largest high schools in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos (18 in all) compete athletically in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. Smaller Lehigh Valley high schools compete in the Colonial League.

Sports

1955 - Allentown School District Stadium

Football

College football

The Lehigh Valley is home to the nation's longest-standing

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

rivalry in the nation. Known as " The Rivalry," Lafayette College in Easton and

in Bethlehem have played each other 160 times since 1884, making it the most-played rivalry in

history. Two other Lehigh Valley colleges, Moravian University in Bethlehem and Muhlenberg College in Allentown, have competitive collegiate football programs; Muhlenberg plays their home football games at Scotty Wood Stadium on the Muhlenberg campus in Allentown.

National Football League

From 1996 until 2012, the Lehigh Valley hosted the pre-season training camp for the NFL's

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, which was held each summer at

Goodman Stadium Goodman Stadium is Lehigh University's 16,000-seat stadium located on its Goodman Campus in Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania. It opened in 1988, replacing Taylor Stadium, which stood in the main academic campus from 1914 until 1987. The for ...

and other football fields at

in Bethlehem. On August 5, 2012, Garrett Reid, the 29-year-old son of then Eagles head coach Andy Reid, was found dead in his Lehigh University dorm room during training camp from a

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

overdose. The following year, in 2013, following the Garrett Reid overdose and the hiring of new head coach Chip Kelly, the Eagles chose to move their training camp to the NovaCare Complex in South Philadelphia.

Gymnastics

Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center in Allentown has been the training ground for numerous Olympic and U.S. national gymnastics champions. In 2003, CNN aired a highly critical documentary on the center, '' Achieving the Perfect 10'', which depicted its as a hugely demanding and excessively competitive training program.

High school athletics

The 18 largest high schools in the Lehigh Valley and Pocono Mountain regions compete athletically in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC), one of the nation's premier athletic divisions. An additional 14 Lehigh Valley high schools too small to compete in the EPC belong to the Colonial League. The EPC has produced numerous professional and Olympic athletes, including MLB, the NBA, and the NFL professional athletes. The EPC's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

teams are often ranked among the nation's best. In high school field hockey, Emmaus High School in Emmaus has won 33 consecutive EPC championships as of 2021. The Lehigh Valley's high school wrestling programs have been described as "among the nation’s best in the sport for nearly three decades" and ''WIN'' magazine has ranked the region's wrestling programs best in the nation.

Professional baseball

In 2008, Coca-Cola Park, an 8,278-seat

Minor League baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

stadium, opened in east-side Allentown. The stadium is the home field for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. The team previously played as the Ottawa Lynx from 1993 until moving to Allentown in 2008. The club's move to the Lehigh Valley brought the franchise closer to Philadelphia and the Phillies' large Lehigh Valley fan base. The team's name is a reference to

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate good used by the iron industry in the production of steel. It is developed by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with si ...

, which is used in steelmaking for which the Lehigh Valley area is known worldwide. Groundbreaking ceremonies for Coca-Cola Park were held September 6, 2006, and construction was completed in December 2007. The stadium's first game was March 30, 2008, featuring the Phillies major league team playing the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Professional ice hockey

On September 10, 2014, the PPL Center, an 8,500-seat arena in Center City Allentown, was opened as the new home arena for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

affiliate of the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

, and for other sporting and entertainment events. The Phantoms began play at PPL Center with their 2014–15 season. The arena takes up the entire block between Seventh and Eighth and

and Linden streets.

Roller derby

Lehigh Valley Roller Derby (LVRG) is a Women's Flat Track Derby Association league based at Bethlehem Municipal Ice Rink in Bethlehem in the Lehigh Valley. The league's teams compete nationally and internationally.

Running events

The Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon, sponsored by Lehigh Valley Health Network, features a certified marathon, five-person team relay, a training run, and 5K walk annually in September. The course follows the Lehigh River Canal Towpath from Allentown to Easton. In 2015, the marathon came under scrutiny when Mike Rossi achieved viral fame after allegedly cheating in the marathon to qualify for the Boston Marathon. In response, Via Marathon organizers added timing mats and video surveillance on the course.

's Paul Short Run is held annually at the Goodman Cross Country Course; participation has climbed to over 5,000 runners spread throughout 14 college and high school races. The Emmaus 5K race is held annually in mid-October, coinciding with Emmaus' annual Halloween parade.

Track cycling

The Lehigh Valley is home to the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, a

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

velodrome in Breinigsville that hosts professional and amateur cycling competitions, including

Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces di ...

-sponsored competitions. Valley Preferred Cycling Center has given rise to several Olympian cycling medal winners.

Culture

The Allentown Art Museum, located in Center City Allentown, is the Lehigh Valley's largest museum with over 11,000 works of art. Lehigh University's Zoellner Arts Center and Lafayette College's smaller Williams Center for the Arts host a variety of plays, concerts, and performances throughout the year. The Allentown Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Diane Wittry since 1995, performs at Allentown's historic Miller Symphony Hall. The Banana Factory, located in South Bethlehem, has several art studios and galleries open to the public.

Recreation

Amusement park

The Lehigh Valley is home to

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an Amusement park, amusement and water park located in Dorneyville, Pennsylvania, outside Allentown, Pennsylvania, Allentown, in the United States. Owned and operated by Six Flags, Six Flags Entertainment Corpor ...

, a popular amusement and water park, located in South Whitehall Township. Dorney Park is known nationally for its elaborate roller coasters and water rides.

Casino

In 2009, Sands Casino Resort, an $879 million casino, hotel and apartment complex then owned by the Las Vegas Sands opened in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, bringing legalized table and sports gambling to the Lehigh Valley for the first time. In 2018, the casino was renamed Wind Creek Bethlehem following its $1.3 billion sale to Wind Creek Hospitality. Wind Creek Bethlehem is one of only 13 authorized gaming sites in Pennsylvania.

Festivals

Several large festivals are held annually in the Lehigh Valley. The Great Allentown Fair, first held in 1852, is held annually in late August through early September at the Allentown Fairgrounds in Allentown. Musikfest, a large, eleven-day music festival, is held annually in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania each August. Das Awkscht Fescht, an antique car festival, is held annually the beginning of August in Macungie's Memorial Park. Blues, Brews, and Barbeque, launched in 2014, is held annually in May in Center City Allentown. Mayfair Festival of the Arts, a three-day arts festival, is held annually the end of May on the campus of Cedar Crest College in Allentown.

Golf and skiing

The Valley's multiple golf courses include Saucon Valley Country Club in Upper Saucon Township, which hosted the 2009 U.S. Women's Open. Others include Allentown Municipal Golf Course, Brookside Country Club in Macungie, Green Pond Country Club in Bethlehem, Lehigh Country Club on Cedar Crest Boulevard in Allentown, Olde Homestead Golf Club in New Tripoli, Riverview Country Club in Easton, Shepherd Hills Golf Club in Wescosville, Steel Club in Hellertown, Southmoore Golf Course in Bath, Wedgewood Golf Course in Coopersburg, Willow Brook Golf Course in

, and others.

Ice sports and skiing

The region's primary ski resort is Bear Creek Mountain Resort, a 23 slope resort in Macungie. Three Lehigh Valley locations exist for ice skating,

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

, and speed skating. Steel Ice Center is on East 1st Street in Bethlehem, The Rink Ice Arena is in Lehigh County, and the City of Bethlehem maintains a covered 23,000-square-foot outdoor ice rink from November through March. Bethlehem Skateplaza on Steel Avenue in Bethlehem is a city park for

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

and freestyle BMX.

Parks and zoo

The Lehigh Valley Zoo in Schnecksville is a zoo open year-round. The Lehigh Valley has a number of public parks, including the Lehigh Parkway along the Lehigh River in Allentown and the Trexler Nature Preserve in Schnecksville.

Transportation

Air transportation

The Lehigh Valley's primary commercial airport is Lehigh Valley International Airport in Hanover Township in the Lehigh Valley, roughly north-northeast of Allentown, northwest of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and west-southwest of Easton. The airport was utilized by 851,000 passengers in 2020. Allegiant Air recently completed a significant expansion at the airport. The Valley is also served by Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport, a two-runway general aviation facility located off Allentown's Lehigh Street, used predominantly by private aviation. Other general-aviation airports include Braden Airpark (also owned by the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority) in Easton, Pennsylvania, Hackettstown Airport in eastern Warren County, New Jersey, and Jake Arner Memorial Airport in Lehighton.

Bus transportation

Public bus service in Lehigh Valley is available through LANta, the region's public transportation service. In

, bus service is provided by NJ Transit, including to the Easton Intermodal Transportation Center in Easton. The Lehigh Valley has several commercial bus services, including Greyhound Lines, Klein Transportation, and Trailways, and others, that provide transportation to and from

, Reading,

, and other regional destinations throughout the day. OurBus provides service to and from Philadelphia. Martz Trailways provides transport from the region to Scranton via Wilkes-Barre, and also provides service to Philadelphia as an Amtrak Thruway route that connects to

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Chinatown bus lines operates multiple round trip bus lines daily between

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and Wind Creek Bethlehem in Bethlehem; as of 2014, more than 3,000 passengers daily utilized Chinatown bus lines' service from Manhattan to Wind Creek Bethlehem.

Commercial rail

The Lehigh Valley is a major national thruway for commercial

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

with roughly 65 commercial trains passing through the Valley daily. The region's largest freight rail operator is Norfolk Southern Railway, which uses two former rail lines, Lehigh Valley Railroad's Lehigh Line and Reading Railroad's Reading Line. Norfolk Southern Railway has major classification rail yards in both Allentown and Bethlehem.

Passenger rail

Passenger train service in the Valley is available just outside the Lehigh Valley at Doylestown ( southeast), at Annandale, New Jersey (roughly east), and at Hackettstown station in Hackettstown, New Jersey ( northeast). The Valley's closest

station is Bryn Mawr SEPTA, miles south of the Valley. Two major passenger rail hubs, 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and Newark Penn Station in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, are roughly southeast and west, respectively. In March 2023, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation funded a preliminary study to assess the feasibility of restoring passenger rail to the region.

Roads

The Lehigh Valley is accessible from four major highways: * Interstate 476, the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, is a toll highway that runs from

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

in the south to Scranton and Wilkes-Barre region in the north. * Interstate 78 is a major east–west highway that runs through the southern part of the Valley and is duplexed with Pennsylvania Route 309. I-78 runs from Lebanon County in the west to the Holland Tunnel and

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

in the east. * Pennsylvania Route 33 runs north–south through the Lehigh Valley from the Poconos in the north to Northampton County in the south. * U.S. Route 22 is a major freeway that runs through the Valley from Kuhnsville in the western part of the Valley to Easton in the Valley's east. The highway extends from

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

in the west through the Valley to Newark, New Jersey at its eastern terminus. Other major Lehigh Valley roads include: * Cedar Crest Boulevard is a north–south highway that runs from North Whitehall Township in the north through West Allentown to Emmaus in the south. * Lehigh Street runs northeast to southwest, originating in Center City Allentown and terminating in Emmaus. * Pennsylvania Route 145 is a divided local road that leads to the Lehigh Valley Mall and its surrounding commercial district. * Tilghman Street runs from Fogelsville in the west, continuing as Union Boulevard to Bethlehem in the east. Tilghman Street runs through most of Allentown, intersecting with Cedar Crest Boulevard, Pennsylvania Route 100, Pennsylvania Route 309, and other major Lehigh Valley highways.

Telecommunications

The Lehigh Valley area initially was served only by the 215

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

from 1947 (when the

North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1, World Numbering Zone ...

of the Bell System went into effect) until 1994. With the region's growing population, the Lehigh Valley was granted area code 610 in 1994. Today, the Lehigh Valley is mainly covered by 610. An overlay area code, 484, was added to the 610 service area in 1999. Area code 835 entered service on September 2, 2022.

Wine

Lehigh Valley AVA, which was designated an official

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

in March 2008, includes of

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s planted to several ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...

'' and French-American hybrid grape varieties. Blue Mountain Vineyards in New Tripoli accounts of over of the 230 acres and has won national and international awards. As of 2008, an estimated 15 to 20% of all wine produced commercially in Pennsylvania comes from grapes grown in the Lehigh Valley AVA.Lauer-Williams, Kathy (2008)
"Lehigh Valley wineries earn recognition"
''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

''. April 17, 2008.

Notable people

Since its settlement in the 18th century, the Lehigh Valley has been the birthplace or home to several famous Americans, including: * Mario Andretti, former professional race car driver * Michael Andretti, professional racing team owner and former race car driver * Saquon Barkley, professional football player,

* Chuck Bednarik, former professional football player, Philadelphia Eagles, 1967

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

inductee * Stephen Vincent Benét, former novelist and

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning poet * Howard J. Buss, composer, music publisher, former trombonist * Leon Carr, former Broadway songwriter and composer * Jack Coleman, television actor, ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

'', '' Heroes'', '' The Office'', and ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

'' * Michaela Conlin, television actress, '' Bones'' * H.D., former poet and novelist * Jimmy DeGrasso, heavy metal drummer,

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

, Alice Cooper Band,

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

, Dokken, and

Ratt Ratt (stylized as RATT) was an American glam metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum and multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA. ...

* Dane DeHaan, television and film actor, '' In Treatment'', ''

Chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

'', '' A Cure for Wellness'', and '' Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets'' *

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, adult film actress * Keith Dorney, former professional football player,

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

* Jonathan Frakes, actor, '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' * Mike Hartenstine, former professional football player,

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

and Minnesota Vikings * Bob Heffner, former professional baseball player,

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

, California Angels, and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

* Tim Heidecker, actor, comedian, musician, '' Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'' and '' Decker'' * Larry Holmes, former boxing heavyweight champion * Todd Howard, video game designer, '' Fallout'' and ''

The Elder Scrolls ''The Elder Scrolls'' is a series of action role-playing games, action role-playing video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series focuses on Nonlinear gameplay, free-form gameplay in an ...

'' * Lee Iacocca, former president and chief executive officer, Chrysler *

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...

, jazz musician * Michael Johns, healthcare executive and former

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

presidential speechwriter *

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

("The Rock"), actor and former professional wrestler * Billy Kidman, former professional wrestler and WWE producer * Daniel Dae Kim, film and television actor, '' Lost'' * Steve Kimock, rock musician * Brian Knobbs, former professional wrestler *

Dan Koppen Daniel Koppen (born September 12, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a center for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos. Prior to entering the NFL in ...

, former professional football player,

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

and New England Patriots * Carson Kressley, fashion consultant, Bravo's '' Queer Eye'' * Lisa Ann, adult film actress * Varvara Lepchenko, professional tennis player * Jonathan Linton, former professional football player,

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

* Carmen Maria Machado, literary fiction author * William Marchant, former playwright and screenwriter * Kristen Maloney,

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

gymnast * Ed McCaffrey, former professional football player,

, New York Giants, and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

Kate Micucci Kate Micucci ( ; born March 31, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, and musician who is half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates with Riki Lindhome. Some of her roles include Stephanie Gooch in '' Scrubs'', Ally in '' 'Til Death' ...

, actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter * Matt Millen, former professional football player,

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

and former president and general manager,

* Lara Jill Miller, actress and voice actress, '' Gimme a Break!'' and '' The Amanda Show'' * Marty Nothstein, former Olympic gold medal winner, track cycling * Andre Reed, former professional football player,

and

, 2014

inductee * Ian Riccaboni, author and

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

professional wrestling sports broadcaster * Daniel Roebuck, actor, '' Matlock'', '' Lost'', '' Glee'', and '' Grimm'' * Jimmie Schaffer, former professional baseball player,

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, Cincinnati Reds,

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals * Brian Schneider, former professional baseball player, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

* Amanda Seyfried, actress, ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...

'', ''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer that aired on HBO from 2006 to 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a Mormon fundamentalism, fundamentalist Mor ...

'', '' Mamma Mia!'', and '' Les Misérables'' * Curt Simmons, former professional baseball player, California Angels,

, Philadelphia Phillies, and St. Louis Cardinals * Dana Snyder, voice actor,

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

's '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' * Christine Taylor, actress and wife of actor Ben Stiller * Jonathan Taylor Thomas, actor, '' Home Improvement'' * Bobby Weaver,

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

gold medal winner,

* Lauren Weisberger, author, '' The Devil Wears Prada'' * Cindy Werley,

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

field hockey player * Jordan White, rock musician * David Zinczenko, founder and chief executive officer, Galvanized, and author, '' Eat This, Not That'' * David Zippel, Tony-award-winning lyricist, '' City of Angels''

Notes

References

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

"Famous People from the Lehigh Valley
" ''The Morning Call'', August 18, 2006
"Lehigh Valley Pop Culture Connections"
at Discover Lehigh Valley, January 2, 2023
"Lehigh Valley Passport to History"
a partnership of local historic sites {{authority control Metropolitan areas of New Jersey Metropolitan areas of Pennsylvania Regions of Pennsylvania River valleys of the United States Valleys of Pennsylvania