The Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania which includes much of Lehigh and Northampton counties was and still is a major Burgenland ethnic enclave. The cities of Allentown (county seat of Lehigh County) and Bethlehem (home of the now defunct Bethlehem Steel Mills) were major points of Burgenland Immigrant settlement and entry to this region in the period 1890-1923 and again in the 1950’s.

The immigrants spread out into the outlying townships and villages like Northampton, Catasauqua, Coplay, Bath, Cementon, Whitehall, Hockendauqua and as far north as Slatington and west to Easton (seat of Northampton county. Burgenland immigrant family names can even be found south of this region around Limeport, Coopersburg and Quakertown in Bucks County. While one source (Harvard Encyclopedia Of American Ethnic Groups) estimates 40,000 Burgenland immigrants arrived in the US between 1880-1924 (with perhaps 25% return), it would not be unreasonable to estimate that over 5,000 settled in the Lehigh Valley, given the number of today’s ethnic descendants.

Burgenland ethnic history in this region; however, has not received much published attention, except for local newspaper articles. This continues to be the case in two recent soft cover publications by Arcadia Publishing of Dover, NH.
The books are,

“Images Of America-Allentown”
Anna Bartholomew and Carol M. Front,
2003, @19.99, ISBN 0-7385-0996-5;

and

“Images of America-Bethlehem”
Bethlehem Area Public Library,
edited by Kathleen Stewart,
1997, @ $16.99, ISBN 0-7524-0805-4.

Allentown and Bethlehem were founded by early colonial settlers (specifically the Moravians in Bethlehem) and later received a large influx of Palatinate (so-called Pennsylvania Dutch) immigrants from what is now Rhine-Hesse, Germany, beginning in the mid 1700’s. It is these immigrants and their descendants which receive emphasis in these books, although neither book claims to be an ethnic history. Burgenland (Austro-Hungarian) immigration, barely mentioned, is included in minor references to later central European immigration. Of the two, the Bethlehem book has more mention of central European immigrants probably because of their residence on the south side of Bethlehem near their employment in the steel mills.

Nonetheless, the books present an excellent glimpse of the cities over the years and incorporate many early photos and maps, including photos of family groups. The Allentown book, as an example, has a “bird’s eye view” of the city in 1873, before the north end and east side were filled with ethnic row houses. Early photos of industrial sites (which attracted our immigrants) are especially good.

While neither book can be recommended as ethnic source material, the historical photographic coverage will be of interest and value to anyone with roots in this area.
 

by G. Berghold <GBerghold@aol.com>