In the early 1700s, the area that is present-day Allentown was a wilderness of scrub oak, where the Lenape, an Indigenous tribe, fished for trout and hunted for deer, grouse, and other game.

The price for the land included shoes, buckles, hats, shirts, knives, scissors, combs, needles, looking glasses, rum, and pipes.

Two years later, on September 10, 1735, a 5,000-acre (20 km2) part of the land was purchased from Turner's business partner by William Allen, a wealthy shipping merchant who became mayor of Philadelphia a month later.

The house was used primarily as a hunting and fishing lodge by Allen, but he also used it to entertain prominent guests, including James Hamilton, his brother-in-law, and John Penn, then governor of the Province of Pennsylvania.

Following the Declaration of Independence's unanimous signing by the Second Continental Congress, British governing control in Allentown began to break down as patriot militias expanded their resistance.

The burden of supplying the local militias fell on the people, and requisitions for food, grain, cattle, horses, and cloth were common.

Allentown also housed four hospital structures, including one at Zion Reformed Church and one on the grounds of the present-day Farr Building, that were used in treating wounded Continental Army troops.

After George Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine in Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was left defenseless and American patriots began preparing for what they saw as an imminent British attack on the city.

In 1803, the city, whose mail had previously been received in neighboring Bethlehem, had a post office established inside Compass and Square Hotel in the present-day Penn National Bank building at 645 Hamilton Street in Allentown.

[24] At the meeting, citizens voted to establish and equip the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, a new military unit, placing Captain Samuel Yohe of Easton and Thomas W. Lynn in charge and awarding them the respective ranks of colonel and major.

In April 1861, these Allentown units were deployed in response to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to defend the national capital in Washington, D.C., following the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter.

[30] While sustaining numerous casualties during the Red River campaign in the spring of 1864, the 47th Pennsylvania helped turn the Civil War in the Union's favor with victories in General Sheridan's 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaign across Virginia, including in the Battles of Berryville, Opequan, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek and then again contributing to the defense of the nation's capital following Lincoln's assassination on April 15, 1865.

In 1795, the U.S. Gazetteer described Allentown as: A handsome and flourishing town of Northampton County, pleasantly situated on the point of land formed by the junction of the Jordan Creek and Little Lehigh.

Collum and his partner John D. Knouse built a large facility at 3rd and Gordon streets in Allentown's First Ward near the Lehigh Valley Railroad yard near what later became Kline's Island.

Efforts were made to diversify the city's industrial base, including convincing Phoenix Manufacturing Company to open a silk mill in Allentown.

This also exacerbated the flight of Allentown families to the city's suburbs, leading to the development of shopping centers and services to accommodate the demand in these expanding suburban communities.

A multiblock row of stores known as Hamilton Mall was developed, featuring newly covered sidewalks and managed traffic patterns.

In 2009, the Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ), created by the Pennsylvania State Legislature, sought to address Allentown's economic challenges and encourage its development and revitalization.

Mack Trucks relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina, in 2009, and other Allentown-based factories downsized considerably or ceased operations entirely.

[48][49] Allentown is characterized by a large stock of historic homes, commercial structures, and century-old industrial buildings reflecting its standing as one of the nation's earliest urban centers.

In clear weather at night, the PPL Building's nighttime illumination can be seen from as far north as the Blue Mountain Ski Area in Palmerton.

[65] In 2020, according to the city, there were 4,283 Part 1 crimes, which include homicides, non-fatal shootings, rapes, robberies, burglary, larcenies, motor vehicle thefts, and acts of arson.

Baum School of Art at 5th and Linden streets offers credit and non-credit classes in painting, drawing, ceramics, fashion design, jewelry making, and other arts-related curriculum.

Foodstuffs, including scrapple, chow-chow, Lebanon bologna, cole slaw, and apple butter, are often found in local diners and the Allentown Farmer's Market.

The city is home to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A Minor League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies who play at Coca-Cola Park, a $50.25 million, 8,200-seat stadium on Allentown's east-side.

In 2003, the program was the subject of an immensely critical CNN documentary, Achieving the Perfect 10, which depicted it as a hugely demanding and competitive gymnastics training center.

The city is served by 16 elementary schools for kindergarten through fifth grade: Central, Cleveland, Hiram W. Dodd, Jefferson, Lehigh Parkway, Lincoln, Luis A. Ramos, McKinley, Midway Manor, Mosser, Muhlenberg, Ritter, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Union Terrace, and Washington.

[104] The most prominent highway passing through Allentown is Interstate 78, which runs concurrently with Pennsylvania Route 309 along an east–west alignment across the southern portion of the city.

U.S. Route 22 briefly passes through the northwestern corner of the city as it follows the Lehigh Valley Thruway along an east–west alignment; it runs from Cincinnati, Ohio in the west to Newark, New Jersey in the east.

[112][113] This largely single-track Amtrak route has been opposed by Norfolk Southern Railway, which acquired the Lehigh Line as part of its purchase of federally-founded Conrail in 1999.