- Harry Clay Trexler
thumb|right|"Colonel Harry Clay Trexler with His Irons in the Fire."From Newspaper Artists Club, "As We See 'Em" (1911).Henry Clay Trexler (
April 17 ,1854 –November 17 ,1933 ) was an American industrialist who built a business empire inAllentown, Pennsylvania .Early life
Harry Clay Trexler was born in
Easton, Pennsylvania . He was the son of Allentown businessman Edwin W. Trexler and Matilda (Saurbuck) Trexler. He was a descendant of Peter Trexler (died 1758), one of the early Pennsylvania German settlers of theLehigh Valley .After attending Allentown public schools and Tremont Seminary in Norristown, he joined his father's lumber business. In 1885, Trexler married Mary M. Mosser of Allentown.
Career
When Trexler began his career, in the late 1860s, Allentown, the commercial center of the agriculturally rich Lehigh Valley region, was undergoing a tumultuous economic transition. The town's first burst of growth had been fueled by the construction of the Lehigh Canal, by the boom in
anthracite coal , and by the growth of an extensive localanthracite iron industry. In the early 1870s, the invention of Bessemer steel making technology, the discovery ofbituminous coal in westernPennsylvania , and the national depression following the Civil War destroyed the local economy.Led by a visionary Board of Trade, in which Trexler was active, Allentown determined to diversify its economy, giving generous incentives to enterprises willing to locate in the city. The success of this initiative set off a housing boom from which the Trexler firm profited enormously. By the first World War, Trexler's lumber business was among the largest in the
United States , owning tracts of timber and sawmills inMississippi ,North Carolina ,Pennsylvania , andVirginia , with distribution yards inPortsmouth, Virginia andNewark, New Jersey .Business diversification
Trexler began to aggressively expand his interests beyond lumber in the 1890s. With partners John D. Ormrod and Edward M. Young, he organized the Lehigh Portland Cement Company, which became one of the largest cement producers in the world, with twenty plants operating in ten states. He consolidated scattered electric railway properties into the Lehigh Valley Rapid Transit Company, one of the most innovative and efficient traction companies in the Northeast. He similarly consolidated the region's electric utilities, forming the Pennsylvania Power & Light in the 1920s. He purchased dozens of telephone properties, consolidating them into the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania.
He was also active in banking, finance, and real estate development. Inspired by the
City Beautiful movement , he used his combined interests to promote city planning — turning Allentown into a model of balanced development (a dramatic contrast to industrially ravaged Bethlehem and Easton).In 1927, Trexler donated land to the Boy Scouts of America in Jonas, Pennsylvania. That land is now known as the
Trexler Scout Reservation in memory of him, and is home to Akelaland Cub Scout Camp and Settlers Camp, a Boy Scout resident camp.Social vision
Fearing the power of Philadelphia interests and their traditional hostility to the Pennsylvania Germans, Trexler worked with New York financiers to curtail the Philadelphians' power and to create an economic climate favorable to local control of the city's business life.
Legacy
Following his death in an automobile accident, the terms of his will created a private foundation to benefit the citizens of Allentown and Lehigh County. The Harry Clay Trexler Estate (now the Harry C. Trexler Trust) supports the City of Allentown's park system and various Lehigh County charities including the Boy Scouts of America
Minsi Trails Council .
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