Category:Breinig & Bachman

The Breinig & Bachman building is located at 546 Hamilton Street (the southeast corner of Sixth and Hamilton streets).

Breinig & Bachman was a men's custom clothing business, and was a partnership between George F. Breinig and Alfred P. Bachman. Breinig, the senior partner, had entered the dry goods business in 1877 at age 14. By 1887, the two men had opened an up-to-date store at 632 Hamilton St. By 1889-90, they had decided they would need more space. So, they began the construction at the southeast corner of Sixth and Hamilton of a five-story, multi-use building, which opened in 1891.

In the early 1890s, Allentown was rapidly changing. New electrical and telephone wires dominated Hamilton Street. In addition, electric-powered streetcars were replacing the older horse-pulled ones, and stringing overhead wires to power them.

In October 1893, a powerful hurricane, unknown to nearly everyone, was brewing in the Atlantic, on a track into the northeastern United States. It struck the Carolina coast, and headed north up though Virginia and headed up into Pennsylvania. As the storm moved closer, strong winds began to hit Allentown. About 11:20pm on October 14th, apparantley a broken electrical wire had landed on the roof of the Breinig & Bachman building, starting a fire. Alarm boxes were pulled. As the firefighters arrived, flames were bursting out of the fifth floor of the B & B building. Firemen began fighting the flames as well as a 55 mile-per-hour wind. It did not take long for the building to become engulfed in flames. At roughly 1:15 a.m., the building on began to crumble down, leaving just the stone arch standing erect. There was nothing left for the fire companies to do but pour water on smoking rubble, putting out the hot spots. No one was injured, but the fire was one of the largest in Allentown at that time.

The Allentown Board of Trade, predecessor to the Chamber of Commerce, was helping businesses to recover from their loses. The Breinig & Bachman building was to rise again in 1894. The stone arch doorway from the origional building was restored. It still faces out on Hamilton Street. In addition, along the Sixth Street side, Terra cotta animal heads were added to the new building, perhaps to honor an animal wholesale feed operation once located there.

Breinig & Bachman operated until February 1926 when the business closed due to the retirement of George F. Breinig, head of the company. Previously in 1923, Bachman left the firm as an active partner.

In the years since, the building has housed many businesses.

Breinig passed in October, 1948; Bachman in Feburary, 1937. A legacy of the firm is that even today, the building's name remains the Breinig & Bachman Building.