Just about everyone has seen the beautiful communities known as Parkridge and Lynfield. These state of the art, modern homes were designed and built to provide tenants with the kinds of modern amenities we all expect.
Many people, particularly youngsters and folks new to Bethlehem are not aware of the history of those two neighborhoods. You can find a lots of information on our History Page, but here we offer vintage photos of the properties as they once looked.
On the right, at the top, is a view of the former Parkridge project as it looked in the mid 1970's. This is a view, looking northwest, from the former Oak Lane. Off in the distance, you can see the old Rosemont Elementary School on Pennsylvania Avenue. Although the school still stands, today's Parkridge youngsters attend Clearview School. Back when the Parkridge Defense Project opened during World War II, there was an elementary school on the property, inside the community building.
The three black & white photos show views of the former South Terrace project. Built at the same time as Parkridge, it too was originally intended as "temporary war worker housing", built to ease the huge housing crisis created when Bethlehem Steel expanded to meet the war effort. Thousands of workers (and their families) were imported to Bethlehem to work at the flagship plant, providing war materiel for the allies. The men and women who worked in the plant in that era were genuine hometown heroes, providing what was needed to win the world war. The photos show the cramped nature of the "temporary" units. As many of you know, those 500 apartments were pressed into service as low-income public housing in 1953, and they continued to serve BHA until the 1980's.
At around the same time South Terrace and Parkridge were built to accomodate the influx of war workers in Bethlehem, the new Bethlehem Housing Authority committed to its first official public housing community. Construction of the project, known as Pembroke began just before the entry of the U.S. into WW II. When it was completed, it was pressed into service as "Temporary War Housing" and it was intended to revert to low-income public housing after the war. As most people know, Pembroke, South Terrace and Parkridge would all become low-income public housing after the end of the war to meet the needs of a growing city. Pembroke recently celebrated 65 years of service. The community has undergone several major comprehensive renovations, most recently in 1995. The photo at right shows a Pembroke building around 1975, prior to major renovations. At the time it was built in the early 1940's, the community was surrounded by farmland. Old timers would tell you that living in Pembroke was like living "in the country". Pembroke Road in those days was known as the Rt. 22 bypass, and Stefko Boulevard was called Newton Avenue and was little more than a dirt road from Pembroke Rd. toward Bethlehem Township.
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1993- Mark Iampietro and Gene Gonzalez flank the retiring Ed Logar. Logar served the maintenance and planning functions at BHA for many years.
1956- Mayor Pfeifle and commissioner Litzenberger present Henri A. Bodder (left) with a citation, congratulating him for his years of service as a board member.
Frank Arnold (above) was BHA's maintenance superintendant through the fifties and sixties before retiring in 1975. He was replaced by Bill Korpics, (photo at right) who served until 1983.
Some of the BHA staff members who attended the ground breaking ceremony for the brand new Parkridge community, in the late 1980's. Among those shown are director Frank Loretti on the left, Mayor Ken Smith, center, rear, and present BHA director Clara Kendy, next to the mayor.
2009 will mark BHA's 70th anniversary year. All throughout the year, there will be special programs designed to educate the public as to the role our organization has played in providing affordable housing for people in need. In addition, we will celebrate our long, proud history with all who care to join us. On this page, we share photos and other images of BHA's rich history, celebrating the people and events that shaped the organization.
