Mount Airy Historic District, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
From Archiplanet
| Mount Airy Historic District | |
| Designer | Unknown |
| Location | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Date | |
| Building Type | Housing |
| Construction System | Stone, Brick, Stone, Slate, Ceramic Tile, Wood |
| Architectural Style | Late Victorian |
| Street Address | Roughly Prospect Ave. between Fifteenth and Eighth Aves. Walk Score |
| Notes | also known as Mount Airy Park;Prospect Avenue |
Contents |
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[edit] Discussion
| National Register of Historic Places | |
| Name | Mount Airy Historic District |
| ID Number | 88000453 |
| NRHP Status | Listed In The National Register |
| Certification Date | 05/09/1988 |
| Level of Significance | Local |
| NRHP Documents | Text (pdf) ; Photos (pdf) |
The Mount Airy Historic District is a historically significant residential community of executive mansions built in the first quarter of the 20th Century by the chief executives and most successful entrepreneurs of the World War I era. Consisting of twenty-seven conforming and two non-conforming properties, the district centers around homes built for and/or occupied by Bethlehem Steel executives in the early to mid 20th Century.
Aided by automobile technology, executive houses in the suburbs suddenly became more accessible. Forsaking the downtown areas of former executives, the industrialists, led by Eugene Grace, President and Chairman of the board of Bethlehem Steel, moved to West Bethlehem and built a new enclave of contemporary mansions. This highly intact area of extreme integrity remains largely owner-occupied by successors of the original executive owners.
The area known as Mount Airy Park was part of a 300 acre tract of land bought by the Moravian Church from Mary Burnside in 1752. The main route from Bethlehem to Allentown passed through the property following the current Prospect Avenue from the Monocracy Creek to the area of present day Eleventh Avenue. From Eleventh Avenue to Sixteenth Avenue the route followed a diagonal path between Prospect Avenue and West Market Street. From Sixteenth Avenue, the road to Allentown followed West Market Street to the present West Broad Street. The area was farm and woodland with no known structures of the Moravian period.
With the Moravian land divestiture, areas adjoining down town Bethlehem were quickly developed. The land involved in the current Mount Airy Park was developed in three parcels from 1879 to 1900. Parcel #1 was developed by Shipley and Ashbrook in 1879. Parcel #2 was developed at the West Side Subdivision in 1895 by Messers. Wolle, Kemerer, and Leinback. Several Wolle family houses were built in the area. Parcels #1 and #2 were part of the Borough of West Bethlehem incorporated in 1886. Parcel #3 bore the name Mount Airy Park and was developed by B. Luther Shimer in 1900. Mr. Shimer lived in a residence on Tenth Avenue.
The popularity of Mount Airy Park was due to its rural nature, isolated from the industrial plants along the lower Lehigh River and its easy accessibility by the newly developed automobile. In 1870, a bridge was built over the Monocacy Creek at West Broad Street. As a result, the old route to Allentown, the Prospect Avenue; West Market Street corridor fell into disuse. Traffic was relocated to West Broad Street and the Mount Airy Park Area became attractive for executive housing. The roads were realigned to obliterate the through route from Eleventh Avenue to Sixteenth Avenue and lots were sold. The elevation of the area, following a ridge of land, was the highest in West Bethlehem providing air and views.
In 1900, B. Luther Shimer offered land for sale in Mount Airy Park. Existing at that time were several houses. The residence of G. Wolle at 917 Prospect Avenue was built between 1895 and 1900. C.A. Wolle built across the street at 904 Prospect Avenue prior to 1900. G.H. Wolle owned a pre-1900 home at 1007 Prospect Avenue. B. Luther Shimer owned a home at 359 Tenth Avenue. The Victorian style home could have been built as early as 1880 by A.S. Shimer, former owner of the land. The house was used by Mr. Luther Shimer as a “model” of the type of building which could be built in the area. The residence at 1104 Prospect Avenue was listed as vacant in the 1900 City Directory and was probably under construction at the time. A double house existed on Prospect Avenue between Tenth Evenue and Eleventh Avenue and has been removed. The home at 1317 Prospect Avenue which was to become the residence of Mr. Eugene Grace, President and later Chairman of the Board of Bethlehem Steel Corporation had been built prior to 1900 by Professor Edward Williams.
Due to the early construction of the above mentioned residences, several houses of Mount Airy are distinctly Victorian in nature. However, despite the construction, Mount Airy Park was mostly undeveloped. The famous Bethlehem Steel Bonus Plan helped complete the area. Under the leadership of Charles Schwab, owner and Board Chairman of Bethlehem Steel, top executives received bonuses each year depending on the profits of the company. With the success of Bethlehem Steel, large bonuses enabled executive to build mansions of their own.
Between 1911 and 1926 the remaining property was sold and residences built. The styles reflected the times. The Victorian style houses were abandoned for American Colonial / Colonial Revival homes, Pennsylvania Stone Colonials, Tudor, Spanish, Dutch Colonial and French Chateau styles of the early 20th Century. The area was later referred to as “Bonus Hill”.
B. Luther Shimer owned the largest portion of what was to become Mount Airy Park. He advertised in the Bethlehem City Directories and Bethlehem Steel executives bought land. Charles Schwab owned the area which later became 1427 Prospect Avenue, 1505 Prospect Avenue, and 1721 Prospect Avenue. Eugene Grace, President, bought the Edward Williams residence (1317 Prospect Avenue) and several lots around it. The property next to Mr. Grace was owned by Charles Austin Buck, Vice President of Raw Materials. Mr. Buck built the house c. 1912. Austin Mixsell, Vice President, built the house across the street from Mr. Grace (1220 Prospect Avenue). Barry H. Jones, Secretary and Treasurer owned the land later housing 375 13th Avenue. Frederick A. Schick, Auditor, built 1306 Prospect Avenue c. 1912; William Frank Roberts, General Superintendent of the Lehigh plant built 1318 Prospect Avenue c. 1912; Richard Fitz Randolph, Superintendent of the Saucon Plant built 1324 Prospect Avenue c. 1912. Mr. Schwab sold his property to W. M. Tobias, Purchasing Agent, Dr. Paul Walter and John W. Grace, Eugene Grace’s brother. Of the fifteen officers of Bethlehem Steel in 1915, ten were involved in Mount Airy Park. Other later Steel Company executives living on Prospect Avenue include Edward Martin and Frederic Cort, Chairmen of the Board, W.L. Lewis and Curtis Barnette; Executive Vice Presidents, Pat Pazetti, W.S. Rutherford, and R.A. Lewis; General Superintendents of the Bethlehem Plant, Vice Presidents H.E. Lewis, J. O’Connell, Charles Holton, Joseph Larkin, Russell Branscom, Rovert McMath, Francis Juffman, Frank Rabold, and H. C. Crawford. Assistant Vice Presidents included William Stephens W. Hoddincoot, Secretary to Quincy Bent, Treasurer, and Norborne Berkeley, Secretary to Mr. Grace also lived in the District. Many non-steel company executives also inhabited the area including R. L. Kift, President of Lehigh Structural Steel, C.M. Stauffer of Davies, Strauss and Stauffer, inventor and Just Born founder Samuel Born, Wholesale Grocers and Real Estate or insurance executives S.L. Camm, J.J. Shonk, and Aaron Potruch.
Except for four residences built in the 1970’s the area has remained unchanged since the 1930’s. In the late 1920’s, Mr. Quincy Bent, Treasurer of the Steel Company moved form Fountain Hill to Saucon Valley, south of Bethlehem. Archibald Johnston, President of Bethlehem Steel and and H.S. Snyder, Vice President at Bethlehem Steel also moved to large estates in the country at the same time. The lure of new fashionable areas and the lack of new open space in Mount Airy led executives to seek new housing areas. Saucon Valley began and continues to be the primary “new” area for new construction and historic farm house conversions.
Although construction stopped in the 1930’s, the area is still popular for executive housing. The residences are well maintained single family home on large properties with many trees and shrubs. The home of Eugene Grace has become Holy Family Manor, a nursing home operated by the Catholic Church and has doubled in size with additions matching the classical Revival style of the residence. The neighboring Buck / McMath home at 1324 Prospect Avenue and the Mixsell residence at 1220 Prospect Avenue are homes for Catholic priests and nuns. Both buildings have additions in keeping with the original architectural style.
The Mount Airy Park residences are unique for Bethlehem. Except for the homes built prior to 1900, the residences speak to architectural development of the 20th Century. The older residential areas of East Market Street in the Central Historic District Expansion and in the Fountain Hill Area are clearly Victorian in nature. These areas were built to house the former generation of executives, and boasted of extravagance and competition of the Victorian era. Mount Airy residences are generally smaller in nature and built for the convenience of a single family with a small service staff. The styles of the homes are the styles popular in the 1910’s and 1920’s the more sober colonial or Pennsylvania Stone Colonial styles are balanced toy the exuberance of the Tudor, Spanish, and French styles of the period. The tree cover and maintenance of the area helps develop a neighborhood of high integrity and vintage ambiance.
