Category:Nonnemaker House, Allentown, Pennsylvania

The Nonnemaker House was located at 301 South Lehigh Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The house was built sometime between 1760 and 1776 by Daniel Nunemaker, a master carpenter. The home's frame was built from oak logs and the beams were held together by large cut wooden pegs. It's walls were cut fieldstones, then covered with stucco. The flooring in the original home was pine boards 14 inches wide. Exposed oak beams in the attic were held together with wooden pegs. The only nails used were to attach decorative pieces to the walls, and those were large, hand-forged spikes. Some of the windows found in the house dated to the 1700s with small, hand-blown glass panes and show frames held together by wooden pegs. Original molded, wooden sills were on many windows which also featured false keystones of wood at the lintel.

It was purchased by Thomas Mewhorter in 1798. Mewhorter was a native of Scotland who served in the Revolutionary War, and later settled in Northampton Towne (Allentown). He became a prominent citizen of the city, and owned a Tannery and a Bark Mill near the home. He passed in 1807.

After his death, the home was purchased by John Nonnemacher, a brick maker. During the construction of the first Lehigh County Courthouse, Nonnemacher made the mortar for the workmen in the construction of the building. He was also was a soldier in the war of 1812. After the war, he later operated a number of brickyards in the area.

The home wound up in a sheriff's sale in 1861 and it was purchased by John Nonnemacher, Sr for $2,800. A large addition to the home was built in 1900. When he died at age 80, the property went to his son Louis. And when Louis died, he passed it on to his brother, James, uncle of the last private owner of the home. James willed the property to a sister and Charles Nonnemacher at his death in 1945. The sister passed in 1948, being the last private resident of the home.

Charles Nonnemacher, passed on 6 June 1965. A search of the home after his death discovered nearly $240,000 in currency and coins. Much of his estate was left in charitable bequests. In addition, it still contained 19th century furniture. Particularly noteworthy was an 1820 living room settee, and a cast iron bathtub set in wood.

The home was acquired by the Allentown Redevelopment Authority in 1969 as part of the Little Lehigh Neighborhood Renewal Project. Much of the area around the home was torn down in 1971 to make room for a proposed school, also the rear addition of the home was raised also at that time. In February 1971, the Nonnemacher house was entered into the National Registry of Historic Places with the idea it would then become eligible for federal funds for rehabilitation, however no federal money arrived. The home was offered to several groups with hopes to restore it, including the Lehigh County Historical Society. The property was also found not to have indoor plumbing nor was it ever electrified to any great extent. None of the groups expressed any interest in restoring it.

Subsequently, beginning in February 1973, architectural features were removed from the home such as the framing around the entrance door, interior doors and hardware, the main stairway, a sample window frame and sill and several pine floorboards. These items were put in storage in a warehouse near Zionsville. The remainder of the home was subsequently demolished, with plans for a school to be built on the site. The school however, was never built, and eventually the location was turfed over. The land is now part of area for Building 21 High School