Lime Kilns
Functional or architectural folly?
MAP 9
Allentown’s Lehigh Parkway has large lime kilns built into the side of a hill near the creek. They were constructed in the 1850s, according to Allentown historian Frank Whelan in a Morning Call article published on June 17, 2002. The lime kilns in Housenick Park adjacent to the end of the stone steps across from the boat house (MAP 6) were possibly decorative in nature rather than functional. The kilns on this property suggest the ability to be self-sufficient.
The creation of lime by heating limestone, a mineral rich in Bethlehem Township and surrounding areas, can be a smoky, dusty process. The position of the kilns directly below the “Big House” - cooled in summer by opening windows - suggest that they were used rarely if at all to create quicklime for fertilizer for the farm and lime for whitewash. Instead, fertilizer was probably purchased from local sellers or fields spread with manure from the surrounding barns in the area.