File:1917 Hamilton Street looking west from 5th Street.jpg

English: A view of Hamilton Street looking west from just east of Law Street, in the 500 block probably in the winter of 1917-1918. A few flags can be seen on buildings indicating this was taken likely after the United States entered World War I.

On the south (left) side of Hamilton is a large building with semi-circular glass. It wa a five-story building built about 1894 for C. B. Krause & Company, a furniture dealer. In 1899 it was taken over by Dugan & Fry, another furniture store who remained until 1905. It was then taken over by Henry S Hartzell, who established the Prince Furniture Company in the building. The Prince Company remained in the building until 1933 when it went out of bushiness during the Great Depression. Eastern Light Company, an appliance store moved into the building in September 1937. It suffered a major fire in 1962 and had to be torn down.

On the north (right) side of the street is the Nathan & Shatenstein clothing store. It is next to the Allentown Trust Company building at 527 Hamilton on the NE corner of Law Street. The bank is displaying a banner that reads "Men Wanted." The Allentown Trust Company was one of the four banks which failed in Allentown during 1932 during the Great Depression

The large four-story Styles Building is visible on the NW corner of Law and Hamilton. Built in 1881, by Attorney John D. Styles, who was a prominent political figure in 19th Century Allentown. His son, Harry G Styles was later Mayor of Allentown and also a State Senator. Sometime in the 1920s, it was sold and renamed the Hamilton Law Building. It was torn down in 1971. Next to it is a series of retail stores with upstairs professional offices. The Klump Pharmacy, opened in the 1890s was one of them. They would be replaced in 1925 by the new Cameo Theater, later renamed the Transit, and later the Capri in the 1960s.

Next to the Klump Pharmacy is a four-story store is the G C Ashbach Music Store. Ashbach had built the structure in 1876. He was a prominent musical instrument dealer in the city until the 1930s. It is actually the only building which remains today shown in the photo that remains today. The American Hotel at the corner dated to about 1840, and was raised in 1925 for the construction of the Americus Hotel.