The starting point for this edition of Streets of Bethlehem is Club Avenue. From there we’ll travel east on Eaton Avenue, cut through Kaywin, and then head north into Hanover Township. Enjoy the ride.

Club Avenue

Named for the Lehigh Country Club, built on the 55-acre Dodson farm in West Bethlehem. Members included Col. Harry C. Trexler and Charles Schwab. The club had a nine-hole golf course complete with a handsome clubhouse which burned down in 1933.

Fenchel Street

This alley is located behind an old farmhouse at 1991 Eaton Avenue, on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue. It is named for John G. Fenchel and his wife Annie, who were early residents of Rittersville. In 1912 Dr. Robert Klotz purchased the Fenchel Farm and divided it into building lots. Four generations of the Fenchel family lived in the house from 1866 to the early 1970s.

Rosemont Drive

Rosemont, a name found all throughout this section of Bethlehem, receives its name from an exclusive colony of homes south of Eaton Avenue and east of Pennsylvania Avenue. Dr. Robert Klotz and Ed Bregenzer of Rittersville began development in 1915 with stringent building regulations. Rosemont was to be nothing less than the finest residential section in the community. Officials of the Bethlehem Steel Corp. were prominent among the residents of Rosemont. Klotz’s son Paul had a home on Paul Avenue.

Fireside Drive

This street takes its name from Fireside Home, Inc., developers of Rosemont Terrace. Rosemont Terrace, started in 1951, was marketed as a distinctive development of 182 ranch style homes fronting Pennsylvania Avenue. An advertisement stated, “We are now in full production and are doing our best to have every home occupied by Christmas.”

Eaton Avenue

Eaton Avenue is a section of the old King’s Highway, a route laid out in the 1750s to connect Reading with Easton. This section later received the name Easton Avenue, or the old Easton Road, because it was the public road leading from Rittersville to Easton. Presumably the “s” was dropped to avoid confusion with the Easton Avenue that we know today.

Kelchner Road

Named for the Kelchner family, whose homestead and farm was located there. Henry and Anna Kelchner moved to this location near Schoenersville soon after their marriage in the 1850s. In 1900, the 88 acre farm and homestead was passed to son Wilson.

Kaywin Avenue

Named for a low-cost housing development intended for veterans built by Kaywin Home Builders, Inc. Located on a 100-acre tract abutting Catasauqua Road, the project began in 1950 with a six-room model costing $10,800 and a five-room model that cost $9,600. William Uelen (Uelen Court) was construction manager and Henry Kadel (Kadel Drive), president.

Rudolph Drive

Found in the Kaywin section of Bethlehem, it derives its name from the Rudolph Farm, which was located between Bethlehem and Schoenersville, on which much of Kaywin is built. Daniel Rudolph was one of Hanover Township’s most prosperous farmers of the 1800s. His son Oliver continued into the early 20th Century. A one-room school house on Jacksonville Road near Schoenersville bore the name Rudolph School. Farm Lane in Kaywin also points to this area’s past.

Schoenersville Road

Was originally called the Gnadenhutten Road, which the Moravian missionaries used to travel from Bethlehem to the Lehigh Gap and beyond. The road was later used to reach the village of Schoenersville, named for Adam Schoener, who settled there in 1784 and opened the Blue Ball tavern.

Jacksonville Road

This was the road leading from Bethlehem to the community of Jacksonville. For many years this road was known as Chickentown Road.

Illick’s Mill Road

This road, of course, is named for the gristmill built along the Monocacy Creek. John Peter and his son Joseph built the mill in 1856 and it entered the Illick family’s possession in 1879 when William (Edward) Illick purchased it.

Stoke Park Road

The first stop on the Lehigh and New England Railroad north of Bethlehem was at “Shimer’s Station,” built on property donated by Conrad Shimer, a wealthy land owner. When this land passed into General Doster’s hands circa 1909, he renamed the farm and station “Stoke Park,” taken from the name of the Penn family home in England.

Hanoverville Road

The road leading to Hanoverville, named after Hanover, Germany, the former home of many of its early residents. This post village contained a tavern, a store and a number of dwellings.

Weaversville Road

This is the road to Weaversville, which was first settled in 1728 by 18 Scotch-Irish settlers led by James Craig. Originally known as Craig’s Settlement and later Irish Settlement, it was renamed Weaversville after postmaster Michael Weaver.

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