Lehigh Valley History Books: The Big Local Reading List

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Start here. John Strohmeyer’s Crisis in Bethlehem (1986) is the reporter’s account of the steel company. See it on Amazon Kenneth Warren’s Bethlehem Steel (2008) is the university-press company history. See it on Amazon Craig D. Atwood’s Community of the Cross (2004) is the colonial Moravian Bethlehem study. See it on Amazon Steven Craig Harper’s Promised Land (2006) is the Walking Purchase history. See it on Amazon H.D.’s The Gift (1982) is a memoir of a Bethlehem childhood by a poet born in the city. See it on Amazon

Bethlehem Steel books

The plant is the industrial story visitors still walk. These five are histories. The photo books, including Kenneth F. Raniere’s South Bethlehem, are farther down the page.

Crisis in Bethlehem (1986)

John Strohmeyer. A reporter’s account of Bethlehem Steel’s last decades, for readers who want the company story before the photo books. The book came out in 1986; the link is the later University of Pittsburgh Press paperback. See it on Amazon

Bethlehem Steel (2008)

Kenneth Warren. A university-press history of the company, for readers who want the full corporate record after Strohmeyer. University of Pittsburgh Press published it in 2008. See it on Amazon

The Story of Bethlehem Steel (1916)

Arundel Cotter. An early company history from the Moody Magazine and Book Company, for readers who want an account written while the works were still growing. See it on Amazon

Making Steel (1988)

Mark Reutter. Reutter’s history of Sparrows Point, Maryland, first published in 1988. A later edition carries the title Making Steel. It suits readers comparing another integrated mill with the Bethlehem books. See it on Amazon

And the Wolf Finally Came (1988)

John P. Hoerr. A history of the American steel industry and the bargaining that went with its decline. It suits readers who want that national labor story next to the Bethlehem titles. See it on Amazon

Kenneth F. Raniere’s South Bethlehem (2010) is an Images of America paperback on the neighborhood beside the works. The full note is in the photo section. See it on Amazon

Moravian Bethlehem

Colonial Bethlehem was a Moravian mission town and a communal settlement. These books stay with that history, the buildings, the choir, and Christmas. Sensbach’s book is the North Carolina chapter of the same church.

Community of the Cross (2004)

Craig D. Atwood. A study of colonial Bethlehem as the first permanent Moravian outpost in North America and as a communal religious town. It suits readers starting on Moravian Bethlehem. See it on Amazon

The Transformation of Moravian Bethlehem (1988)

Beverly Prior Smaby. A history of Moravian Bethlehem, for readers who want the settlement itself after Atwood. Library records place the span in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. See it on Amazon

Religion and Profit (2009)

Katherine Carté Engel. Religion and trade in Moravian Bethlehem after the 1741 settlement. It suits readers who want how the mission town also ran as an economy. See it on Amazon

Moravian Architecture and Town Planning (1967)

William J. Murtagh. Compares Bethlehem’s early plan and landmarks with other Moravian towns. It suits readers who care about the layout and the buildings. First published in 1967. See it on Amazon

Jesus Is Female (2007)

Aaron Spencer Fogleman. Moravian religious controversy in early America, for readers who have started with the Bethlehem studies and want the wider fight. The dated hardcover is 2007. See it on Amazon

A Separate Canaan (1998)

Jon F. Sensbach. Eighteenth-century North Carolina, where German-speaking Moravians built a settlement that later included Black Moravians. It suits readers following the church beyond Bethlehem. See it on Amazon

Christmas in Bethlehem (2000)

Vangie Roby Sweitzer. Christmas and Moravian custom in Bethlehem, published by Central Moravian Church. It suits readers who want the holiday history of the town. See it on Amazon

The Bethlehem Bach Choir (1918)

Raymond Walters. An early history of the choir, from Houghton Mifflin in 1918. It suits readers who want the musical side of Moravian Bethlehem. See it on Amazon

Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania history

The river, the county, the Walking Purchase, the canals, and the coal company sit in this section, with a few Pennsylvania books that travel well beside them. Legendary Locals of Bethlehem is people, not a company history.

A History of the Lehigh River (1999)

LeRoy Wilcox. A local history of the Lehigh River and its valley. It suits readers who want the river itself, published by L. Wilcox in 1999. See it on Amazon

History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania (1914)

Charles Rhoads Roberts. A three-volume county history and genealogy from the Lehigh Valley Publishing Company. It suits family researchers, including the years before 1812, when this area was still part of Northampton County. See it on Amazon

Promised Land (2006)

Steven Craig Harper. Penn’s colony, the Walking Purchase, and the dispossession of the Delawares, from Lehigh University Press in 2006. It suits readers who want that Pennsylvania story in one volume. See it on Amazon

Legendary Locals of Bethlehem (2013)

Karen M. Samuels. People of Bethlehem, in the Legendary Locals series. It suits readers who want biographies in pictures. See it on Amazon

Pennsylvania Dutch (1872)

Phebe Earle Gibbons. A nineteenth-century account of Pennsylvania Dutch life, first published by Lippincott in 1872. It suits readers who want a period view of the culture. See it on Amazon

The Liberty Bell (2010)

Gary B. Nash. A cultural history of the bell from its Pennsylvania Quaker origins, published by Yale University Press in 2010. It suits readers who want that history of the bell. See it on Amazon

Canal Days in America (1972)

Harry Sinclair Drago. A national survey of towpaths and waterways, from C. N. Potter in 1972. It suits readers who want the broader canal era next to the Lehigh canal titles. See it on Amazon

The Death of a Great Company (1986)

W. Julian Parton. The decline of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. It suits readers following that canal and coal company, from the Center for Canal History and Technology. See it on Amazon

Delaware and Lehigh Canals (1989)

Ann M. Bartholomew and Lance E. Metz. The two canals named in the title, from the same canal-history press. It suits readers who want those waterways as the subject. See it on Amazon

The Anthracite Iron Industry of the Lehigh Valley (1988)

Craig L. Bartholomew. Anthracite iron in the Lehigh Valley, for readers connecting that industry with the later steel histories. See it on Amazon

Coal on the Lehigh, 1790-1827 (2000)

Michael Knies. The early coal trade on the river, for readers who want the years before the later canal surveys. See it on Amazon

Pennsylvania and local authors

H.D. was born in Bethlehem. Updike was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, and Richter in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania. Papa Raker’s Dream is an Allentown institutional history.

The Gift (1982)

H.D. (Hilda Doolittle). A memoir of a Bethlehem childhood by Hilda Doolittle, who was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1886. First published in 1982. It suits readers who want a writer’s Bethlehem. See it on Amazon

Helen in Egypt (1961)

H.D. (Hilda Doolittle). A book-length poem from later in H.D.’s career, first published in 1961. It suits readers who have started with The Gift and want another of her books. See it on Amazon

Rabbit, Run (1960)

John Updike. A novel by John Updike, who was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. It suits readers who want fiction from a Pennsylvania-born writer. The novel came out in 1960; the link is a later English Penguin paperback. See it on Amazon

The Light in the Forest (1953)

Conrad Richter. A captivity novel by Conrad Richter, who was born in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania. Library records class it as Pennsylvania fiction. It suits readers who want that novel. It came out in 1953; the link is a later English paperback. See it on Amazon

Papa Raker's Dream (1988)

Dick Cowen. A history of the Good Shepherd Home in Allentown, published by the home in 1988. It suits readers who want that Allentown institution. See it on Amazon

Kids’ books

One children’s book about Moravian Bethlehem verified for this list. It is a story, not a textbook.

Tomahawks and Trombones (1982)

Barbara Mitchell. A children’s story set in Moravian Bethlehem in the 1750s, from Carolrhoda Books. It suits a read-aloud after a visit to the historic district. See it on Amazon

Pennsylvania Dutch cookbooks

Two Pennsylvania Dutch cookbooks, plus Mary Emma Showalter’s Mennonite community cookbook.

The Pennsylvania Dutch and Their Cookery (1935)

J. George Frederick. A Pennsylvania Dutch cookbook from the Business Bourse in 1935. It suits cooks who want an early twentieth-century collection. See it on Amazon

Mennonite Community Cookbook (1950)

Mary Emma Showalter. A Mennonite community cookbook, first published by Winston in 1950. It suits cooks who want that community collection alongside the Pennsylvania Dutch titles. See it on Amazon

Betty Groff's Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook (1990)

Betty Groff. A Pennsylvania Dutch cookbook by Betty Groff, who wrote on that cooking. The 1990 Macmillan edition is the first. It suits cooks who want a later collection than Frederick or Showalter. See it on Amazon

Photo and local-history books

Images of America, Postcard History, and one Legendary Locals title (in the history section above) are different series. Two books share the title Bethlehem, and two share Allentown. The author and the year keep them apart. South Bethlehem is listed once, here.

Bethlehem (1997)

Bethlehem Public Library. An Images of America paperback. The in-print edition is credited to the Bethlehem Public Library. Another 1997 Arcadia record of Bethlehem is credited to Kathleen Stewart. It suits readers who want a photo tour of the city. See it on Amazon

South Bethlehem (2010)

Kenneth F. Raniere. An Images of America paperback on the South Side. It suits readers who want that neighborhood in photographs, including the industrial years. See it on Amazon

Bethlehem Steel (2022)

Tracy L. Berger-Carmen. An Images of America photo book on the plant, from the Bethlehem Iron Company years onward. It suits readers who want pictures. Warren’s 2008 company history is a different book. See it on Amazon

Allentown (2002)

Ann Bartholomew. An Images of America paperback on Allentown, Pennsylvania. It suits readers who want a photo history of the city. Kevin S. Gildner’s Allentown, below, is a different book. See it on Amazon

Historic Easton (2000)

Marie Summa and Frank Summa. An Images of America paperback on Easton in the Lehigh Valley, at the meeting of the Delaware and the Lehigh. It suits readers who want that city in photographs. See it on Amazon

Hess's Department Store (2008)

Frank A. Whelan. An Images of America paperback on the Allentown department store. It suits readers who want that retail history in pictures. See it on Amazon

The Lehigh Valley Cement Industry (2006)

Carol M. Front, Joan Minton Christopher, and Martha Capwell Fox. An Images of America paperback on the cement industry in the valley. It suits readers who want those plants and towns in photographs. See it on Amazon

Northwestern Lehigh County (2006)

Weisenberg-Lowhill Historical Society and Lynn-Heidelberg Historical Society. An Images of America paperback on Heidelberg, Lowhill, Lynn, and Weisenberg townships. It suits readers who want the rural northwest of the county. See it on Amazon

Slatington, Walnutport, and Washington Township (2006)

Sean Billings and Johanna Billings. An Images of America paperback on the slate towns and the canal years there. It suits readers who want that northern Lehigh County in pictures. See it on Amazon

Lehigh Township (2002)

Lehigh Township Historical Society. An Images of America paperback on Lehigh Township, Pennsylvania, in the Blue Mountains slate country. It suits readers who want that township. See it on Amazon

Allentown (2006)

Kevin S. Gildner. A Postcard History Series paperback on Allentown, Pennsylvania. It suits readers who want the city as it appeared on postcards. Ann Bartholomew’s 2002 Allentown is the Images of America title. See it on Amazon

Bethlehem Revisited (2014)

Karen M. Samuels and William G. Weiner Jr.. A Postcard History Series paperback. The publisher’s page credits Karen M. Samuels, and the print-edition record also credits William G. Weiner. It suits readers who want Bethlehem on postcards. Legendary Locals of Bethlehem is a separate Samuels title. See it on Amazon

Allentown Fairgrounds (2025)

Kelly Ann Butterbaugh. An Images of America paperback on the Allentown Fairgrounds. It suits readers who want the fair in photographs. See it on Amazon

Bethlehem (2011)

William G. Weiner Jr.. A Postcard History Series paperback on Bethlehem in the Lehigh Valley, from the Moravian settlement through the industrial South Side. It suits readers who want postcards. The 1997 Images of America Bethlehem is a different book. See it on Amazon

Where to buy locally

The Moravian Book Shop on Main Street is the Bethlehem shop to try for local history, and the downtown Bethlehem guide covers that part of Main Street. If a title sends you out to the historic district or the steel site, the things to do in Bethlehem guide is the day plan.

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