Category:Lehigh Valley Club, Allentown, Pennsylvania

The Lehigh Valley Shrine Club was organized in 1926 at 724 Linden Street as a club for the Shriners, a Masonic group. The club moved in 1936 to 1544 Hamilton Street, the former Mosser estate. The Masonic Temple, built in 1926, was a block away. A large addition for a formal dining room was added in 1948, and in January 1961 membership was opened to the general public, changing its name to the Lehigh Valley Club. In 1952, the Azure Room, a large bar, was added to the club. It was decorated by New York decorator, Valerian Rebar, who had designed the interior of President Franklin Roosevelt's yacht. The Omar Khayyam Room was created from the basement of the club in 1953 in a Persian style, with sayings of the Persian sage being recorded on the walls. In 1957, it was announced the club reached a membership of 5,000 members, who lived in 27 states and five foreign nations. In May 1961, the club acquired its distinctive mascot, the chubby-faced little figure called a billiken. Allentown Court No. 123, Royal Order Jesters dedicated the statue which was obtained from Mexico.

It was during the 1960s that club activity was at its height and was a leading force in the social life of the Lehigh Valley, however in the 1970s a new generation did not have the time or interest in private social clubs as generations in the past. Buisness deals, long a mainstay of the club, were done elsewhere, and the three-martini lunch at the club was becoming a forgotten pastime.

Membership dwindled through the 1980s and in June 1992, with membership down to about 500, the club was financially unsupportable. The club was subsequently closed and its assets put up for sale. Today the club is owned by the Lehigh Valley Community Music School which trains children and adults in musical instruments.