English: 1914 - Hamilton Street looking west from Seventh Street

This postcard photo looking west shows Allentown early in the 20th Century. The arrival of electricity is well underway with very tall utility poles along both sides of the street, with large numbers of power lines. The visual clutter of porches outstretched over the sidewalks add to the un-attractivness of the retail center of the city.

Mayor Alfred L. Reichenbach (1915–1919) was a long-time public servant and businessman prior to being elected mayor. On a trip to Europe with his wife, he saw beautiful hanging gardens and floral lamp posts in Paris and in some cities in Germany. He was also an amateur horticulturist and enjoyed all varieties of flowers and anyone visiting the mayor's office during his tenure would find vases of flowers for all seasons on his desk and tables. In fact, it was he who had floral boxes planted outside the mayor's window so he, and his fellow citizens, could enjoy seasonal floral designs.

Reichenbach believed that it would be a good way to beautify the downtown shopping district and encouraged the City Council with idea of purchasing the floral lamp posts during the renovations of Hamilton Street in 1916, taking down overhead electrical and telephone lines and moving them underground. He also eliminated the porches, giving Hamilton Street a "boulevard" appearance. By 1920, the face of Hamilton Street had changed giving it the "big city" look it had until the 1970s when the Hamilton Mall project restored street canopies over the sidewalks.