Allentown: Discover a City Without Limits

The third largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest of Lehigh Valley, Allentown is a city rich in culture, tradition and history.

Founded in 1762 by William Allen, a successful businessman and the former mayor of Philadelphia, and named for him in 1838, Allentown transformed from a small community of Pennsylvania Dutch farmers into a marketing center for local farmers in the 1920s. The tradition still stands today at the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market where farmers and merchants sell everything from produce to baked goods to candy every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Allentown was once a thriving center of the manufacturing industry but shifted its focus with the rise of the service industry. Now, the city is teeming with cultural attractions; its many museums, historic sites and arts organizations contribute to its renewal. The event scene in Allentown has flourished as well; annually, big events like the Mayfair Festival for the Arts which takes place over Memorial Day weekend every May, The Great Allentown Fair and Lights in the Parkway draw crowds from all over the region.

Allentown is well-known for its extensive award-winning parks system, which boasts the highest acreage of any American city its size. It is home to The Allentown Band, the oldest civilian concert band in the country. And,  from 1777 to 1778,  the Liberty Bell was hidden from the British underneath a church in what is now downtown Allentown.

Allentown is home to the amusement and water park Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies),  Cedar Crest College and Muhlenberg College.