Category:Schreibers Mill and Bridge

Built in 1828, Schreibers Bridge is a stone arch bridge that spans over the Little Lehigh Creek. It is located at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Lehigh Parkway East, just to the west of 15th Street.

Originally there was also Schreibers Mill which was a gristmill that ground cereal grain into flour and middlings along with the bridge. A small dam provided the water power to grind the grain in the mill. Later, the mill was converted to a Paint factory. In 1876, a home was erected on the remains of the old Grist Mill, which was a actually a historic structure. The home was originally one of the earliest model homes in the United States, brought to Allentown after the end of the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876.

The wooden frame home was brought to Allentown in 1876 by Henry Leh, one of the founders of H. Leh & Company. Leh, along with W. R. Lawfer, the original owner of the Zollinger-Harned Department Store, travelled to Philadelphia following the close of the Exposition and purchaced a number of surplus buildings at a public sale. Leh supervised a group of workmen to disassemble the home piece by piece. The home was then loaded on mule teams and transported to the Philadelphia train depot, and transported to Allentown. It was then reconstructed exactly as it was exhibited at the Centennial Exposition.

The structure was torn down in 1934 after a fire destroyed the building and the dam was removed shortly afterwards. Most of the stones from the old mill were re-used in the construction of Lehigh Parkway by the WPA.

The bridge was refurbished in 1920 due to age. It was damaged in 2018 when it was being used as a detour during the reconstruction of the Fifteenth (Ward) Street Bridge when a wingwall on the northeast corner was struck by a vehicle. It was subsequently repaired.