Dent Hardware Company Factory Complex
Also known as: D.W. Coombs Textile Machinery Company
Why it's listed
Fullerton, a small community just north of Allentown in Whitehall Township, holds a complex of eight large and three small factory buildings erected between about 1894 and 1913 for the Dent Hardware Company. Most are reinforced concrete scored to imitate masonry, with segmentally arched windows, monitor roofs and slate-covered roofs. The company was founded in 1894 by Henry H. Dent, Henry P. Newhard and Charles C. Kaiser, who had worked for Allentown Hardware. Newhard, a trained machinist, planned and supervised the construction of the foundries, machine shop and boiler house. By 1904 the firm produced about 50,000 sets of refrigerator hardware a month, roughly ninety percent of national output. It was also a major maker of cast iron toys from 1898 to 1937. The complex is regarded as the most intact industrial group in the area, and one of the few early reinforced concrete industrial collections in the Lehigh Valley. The iron foundry is no longer standing.
Significance in brief: The complex is argued to be the most intact group of industrial architecture in Fullerton and an early collection of reinforced concrete industrial buildings in the Lehigh Valley. The firm was the nation's leading producer of brass refrigerator hardware in the early twentieth century and a major maker of cast iron toys, and the complex is the major surviving Pennsylvania example of the cast iron toy industry.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 86001772, listed August 21, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 1101 Third St., Whitehall |
|---|---|
| County | Lehigh County |
| Listed | August 21, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001772 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1894-1913 |
| Architect / builder | Henry P. Newhard (builder/architect as stated on form) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The company went out of business in 1973; since then the complex has been principally used as warehousing. |
| Acreage | 8.7 |
| Coordinates | 40.63999, -75.47467 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 86001772.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5259373
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.