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Season 3, Episode 15 Lehigh Valley Landmarks AKA Landmarks With Leon Sullivan Campaign In 1779, nearly 4,000 Continental soldiers marched out of Easton on a mission ordered by George Washington to “destroy” the heart of the Iroquois frontier. In this episode of Lehigh Valley Landmarks discover how Easton became a major Revolutionary War staging ground, how soldiers carved Sullivan’s Trail through the Poconos, and what happened when the campaign reached Native communities in N

Season 3, Episode 14 Lehigh Valley Landmarks AKA Landmarks With Leon William Parsons and Easton Public Library What would a city leave behind when it demolishes an entire cemetery to build a library? In 1901, Easton relocated nearly every grave—but preserved two, including that of William Parsons, the self-taught mathematician and surveyor who laid out Easton’s original streets and central square in 1750. From shoemaker to Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania, Parsons helped shap

Season 3, Episode 13 Lehigh Valley Landmarks AKA Landmarks With Leon Samuel Phillippe What do a gunsmith, a violin maker, and a fishing rod have in common? In 1840s Easton, they were all part of the remarkable workshop of Samuel Phillippe, the pioneering craftsman whose experiments with split bamboo helped transform American fly-fishing. Discover how an inventive local artisan combined skills from entirely different trades to create something that reached far beyond his downt

Season 3, Episode 12 Lehigh Valley Landmarks AKA Landmarks With Leon Lafayette College Civil War Memorial What happens when a college memorial becomes a city’s reminder of lives lost? On this episode of Lehigh Valley Landmarks, AKA Landmarks with Leon, discover the story behind the nineteen-foot granite monument on Lafayette College’s College Hill honoring sixteen students who died fighting for the Union. Their names are etched in stone, but their stories reach far beyond the

Season 3, Episode 11 Lehigh Valley Landmarks AKA Landmarks With Leon Colonel Charles Wikoff What happens when a decorated Civil War veteran leads American troops into one final charge? In this episode of Lehigh Valley Landmarks, AKA Landmarks with Leon, discover the remarkable story of Easton native Colonel Charles Augustus Wikoff—from losing an eye at Shiloh and serving across the American frontier to commanding a brigade in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. His final ch

Season 3, Episode 10 Lehigh Valley Landmarks AKA Landmarks With Leon Glendon Iron Works What if the birthplace of America’s anthracite iron industry wasn’t the place that made the first successful cast—but the place that helped make it possible? In this episode of Lehigh Valley Landmarks, AKA Landmarks with Leon, follow the remarkable story of how Easton’s canals, furnaces, and industrial network helped transform stubborn anthracite coal into the fuel of an American iron revo

Season 3, Episode 9 Lehigh Valley Landmarks AKA Landmarks With Leon Easton's Chain Dam Canal In the summer of 1843, hundreds of canal boats stopped moving—and the Lehigh Valley’s coal economy was suddenly held hostage. What began as a fight over freight payments turned into a massive boatmen’s strike, a showdown with powerful canal interests, and an astonishing confrontation that sent future industrial titan Asa Packer into the Lehigh River. Listen now to Lehigh Valley Landma

Season 3, Episode 8 Lehigh Valley Landmarks AKA Landmarks With Leon Edward "Hook" Mylin and Lafayette College's Fisher Field Stadium What can one coach change in a single season? In 1937, Lafayette College went from a disastrous 1–8 record to an undefeated 8–0 season under Edward Everett “Hook” Mylin—one of the most remarkable turnarounds in Lehigh Valley sports history. From defeating Penn State and Army to creating the legendary “Mylin Miracle Men,” his teams turned Easton’

Season 3, Episode 7 Lehigh Valley Landmarks AKA Landmarks With Leon The Treaty of Easton When 500 people gathered in Easton in 1758, they weren’t just negotiating a treaty—they were negotiating the future of North America. The Treaty of Easton helped pull Native nations away from the French, opened the way for British control of the Ohio Valley, and reshaped American expansion. But behind the diplomacy was the explosive legacy of the Walking Purchase and a promise of land tha

Season 3, Episode 6 Lehigh Valley Landmarks AKA Landmarks With Leon Glendon Iron Works What if a quiet hiking trail in Easton once roared with one of America’s earliest anthracite iron furnaces? In 1844, English ironmaster William Firmstone fired up the Glendon Iron Works, helping prove that Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal could fuel a new industrial revolution. At its peak, Glendon produced more than 58,000 tons of pig iron a year—before changing technology brought the furnac

Season 3, Episode 5 Landmarks With Leon AKA Lehigh Valley Landmarks The College Hill Trolley On January 14, 1888, Easton helped change the future of American transportation. Long before automobiles dominated the roads, the city launched one of the nation's first electric trolley systems—and solved a seemingly impossible engineering challenge with a gravity-powered invention found almost nowhere else in the United States. How did a hillside, a hidden counterweight, and a bold

Season 3, Episode 4 Landmarks With Leon AKA Lehigh Valley Landmarks R&H Simon Silk Mills Discover the R. & H. Simon Silk Mill, once the largest producer of black silk ribbon in the world. This episode of Landmarks with Leon traces its rise from a two-hundred-worker startup to a 1,200-person industrial giant, the mysterious tunnels beneath it, and its rebirth as 170 apartments and a working arts community. Tune in now.

Season 3, Episode 3 Landmarks With Leon AKA Lehigh Valley Landmarks Easton's First Reformed Church What if one of America's most overlooked Revolutionary War landmarks helped shape the nation's future? Step inside Easton's First Reformed Church, where Thomas Paine recorded a pivotal Native American treaty, George Washington visited wounded soldiers, and a fledgling nation struggled to secure its future. Discover how this remarkable landmark transformed from a house of worship

Season 3, Episode 2 Landmarks With Leon AKA Lehigh Valley Landmarks 1753 Bachmann Publick House Tucked away on Easton’s Northampton Street sits a stone tavern that’s seen it all — colonial court sessions, frontier diplomats, and even a Declaration signer. Landmarks with Leon (soon Lehigh Valley Landmarks) tells the astonishing tale of George Taylor. Born in Ireland and indentured upon arrival, Taylor worked his way up from furnace laborer to ironmaster and, in 1776, one of th

Season 3, Episode 1 Landmarks With Leon AKA Lehigh Valley Landmarks Father Nitschmann and Bishop Nitschmann Who really founded Bethlehem, Pennsylvania? The answer isn't as simple as history books suggest. Two men named David Nitschmann—an uncle with an axe and a nephew with a bishop's authority—each played a pivotal role in creating one of America's most historic communities. Discover the surprising story behind Bethlehem's first tree, first home, and first Christmas in this

Season 2, Episode 25 Landmarks With Leon AKA Lehigh Valley Landmarks Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Centre Square Did you know one of only three public readings of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776 took place right here in Easton, Pennsylvania? Discover how Centre Square became the stage for America's fight for freedom, a tribute to Civil War heroes, and home to the nation's largest non-wax Christmas Peace Candle. Three centuries of history. One remarkable lan

Season 2, Episode 24 Landmarks With Leon AKA Lehigh Valley Landmarks Edwin L. Drake and the Drake Well He helped launch the American oil industry, changed the course of modern history, and yet spent his final years quietly in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In this episode of Landmarks with Leon—soon to be Lehigh Valley Landmarks—Rachel Leon uncovers the astonishing story of Edwin Drake, the man behind the first successful oil well, and the surprising local landmark tied to his last

Season 2, Episode 23 Landmarks With Leon AKA Lehigh Valley Landmarks The Second Single Brethren's House In this episode of Landmarks with Leon — soon to be Lehigh Valley Landmarks — discover how Bethlehem’s Second Single Brethren’s House was transformed from a Moravian home for craftsmen into a Revolutionary War hospital overflowing with wounded soldiers, and later into a landmark of women’s education and enduring campus life. From mass graves and battlefield medicine to Mora

Season 2, Episode 22 Landmarks With Leon AKA Lehigh Valley Landmarks Count Nicolas Ludwig von Zinzendorf Before Bethlehem was Bethlehem, one visionary count was already thinking bigger than borders. On this episode of Landmarks with Leon — soon to be Lehigh Valley Landmarks — uncover the remarkable life of Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, the noble reformer whose faith, exile, and global mission work helped shape the Moravian movement and gave Bethlehem its name on that Christm

Season 2, Episode 21 Landmarks With Leon AKA Lehigh Valley Landmarks Catherine Drinker Bowen From the President’s House at Lehigh University to the pages of award-winning biographies, this episode follows the remarkable life of Catherine Drinker Bowen — a Bethlehem-rooted writer, musician, and master biographer whose curiosity transformed how we read history. Discover how a violinist turned literary force became famous for revealing the human stories behind giants like Tchaik