America On Wheels
Encyclopedia
America On Wheels is an over-the-road transportation museum located in Allentown
, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
in the United States
.
The 43000 square feet (3,994.8 m²) museum offers over 23000 square feet (2,136.8 m²) of exhibit space divided into three main galleries and several smaller exhibits. The collection features over 75 bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles and trucks in exhibits telling the story of people and products on the move from the days of the carriage to the vehicles of tomorrow.
The museum also houses the archives of Mack Trucks.
an old industrial area, which included the abandoned Arbogast & Bastian
meat packing plant, along the Lehigh River
. This redevelopment, which was to be known as "Lehigh Landing," was to include a museum, a brewery
, walking trails, a footbridge across the river, and a promenade for festivals. Development was hindered by fundraising problems, environmental remediation issues, and even a national debate on pork barrel
government spending. After three separate groundbreakings (2001, 2004 and 2005), the museum, which cost over $17 million to build, was officially opened to the public on April 12, 2008.
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The 43000 square feet (3,994.8 m²) museum offers over 23000 square feet (2,136.8 m²) of exhibit space divided into three main galleries and several smaller exhibits. The collection features over 75 bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles and trucks in exhibits telling the story of people and products on the move from the days of the carriage to the vehicles of tomorrow.
The museum also houses the archives of Mack Trucks.
History
As early as 1989, Allentown city officials had announced plans to revitalizeUrban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
an old industrial area, which included the abandoned Arbogast & Bastian
Arbogast & Bastian
Arbogast & Bastian was the name of a slaughterhouse and meat packing plant located in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Once a national leader in hog slaughtering, the company had the capacity to process most of the 850,000 hogs raised annually in Pennsylvania for...
meat packing plant, along the Lehigh River
Lehigh River
The Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River, is a river located in eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. Part of the Lehigh, along with a number of its tributaries, is designated a Pennsylvania Scenic River by the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources...
. This redevelopment, which was to be known as "Lehigh Landing," was to include a museum, a brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
, walking trails, a footbridge across the river, and a promenade for festivals. Development was hindered by fundraising problems, environmental remediation issues, and even a national debate on pork barrel
Pork barrel
Pork barrel is a derogatory term referring to appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district...
government spending. After three separate groundbreakings (2001, 2004 and 2005), the museum, which cost over $17 million to build, was officially opened to the public on April 12, 2008.
1891 Nadig Gas-Powered Carriage
A historically important part of the museum's collection is the 1891 Nadig Gas-Powered Carriage, one of the first gas-powered vehicles driven in America. Henry Nadig, a German-born mechanic living in Allentown, built his gas-powered carriage in 1891, two years before Charles E. Duryea's first gas-powered automobile. Police forced him to drive the carriage at night, because during the day it scared horses. The vehicle was discovered rusting in a collapsed shed in Allentown, and restored.General collection
The collection of the America on Wheels museum also includes the following vehicles:- 1890 Studebaker Carriage
- 1895 Morris Salom Electrobat IV
- 1908 Stanley Runabout
- 1910 Flying Merkel Motorcycle
- 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster
- 1957 Mack B-61 Truck
- 1970 Plymouth Superbird
- 1978 Modified Montgomery Ward Mtd Racing Lawn Mower
- 1986 Modified Schwinn Panther/"Pee-Wee Herman" Bicycle
- 2008 Prius