File:1915 - South Side 900 Block Hamilton Street.jpg

English: 1915 - South Side 900 Block Hamilton Street about 1915. The photo postcard shows the Allentown Public Library, the white limestone face structure to the left at 914 Hamilton Street. The library opened in 1912. The block at the time was in a state of transition, being converted from the Trexler Lumber Yard. The Lumber Yard, originally established as the Dresher lumber yard in the 1810s, was purchased by Edward and Jonas Trexler in 1856. The family's lumber company was one of largest in the eastern United States. At 6 a.m. on the morning of July 10, 1900 Edwin Trexler was killed in an accident. His brother Jonas passed in 1909, and Harry Trexler, the son of Edwin, sold the entire property and moved to the west end. The Lumber Yard was moved to Sixteenth and Liberty. The 900 block of Hamilton was first developed with steely row homes with a concrete sidewalk. In the 1920s, after World War I, many of these row homes were converted into retail businesses as the Central Business District of Allentown grew.