One hundred twenty-two years ago, Gottlieb Buehler acquired a steam boiler from the shuttered Friedensville zinc mines. The boiler, essentially a giant enclosed tube in which water was boiled into steam, was a perfect choice to serve as a water tank for Buehler’s brand-new furniture factory on Front Street in Allentown.

The massive 30 foot long tank was placed in the middle of the factory building basement during its construction with no obvious way to remove, move or replace it. Built in Philadelphia about 1870, the riveted boiler was one of 22 which were required to operate the famous President Pumping Engine.

This engine was scrapped in 1900 following the mine’s closure and the boiler was available for this new purpose. Once in the factory basement, the tank was in water service until recently, as the building is now scheduled for demolition as part of the Manhattan Building Company’s Riverfront Lofts development.

Thanks to the support and donation of the tank by the Manhattan Building Company, the recovery of the tank by Lehigh University and the support of community advocates and the National Museum of Industrial History, the tank was successfully turned 90 degrees in the basement and lifted out of the building through a hole cut through the ground floor using specialized lifting and moving equipment.

Lehigh University’s contractor performing the work, Bean Inc. Contractors, then carefully placed the tank onto a flatbed trailer operated by R.E. Daumer Trucking and transported the tank to an inside storage location at the former New Jersey Zinc mine location on Camp Meeting Road in Upper Saucon Township. The property is owned by Lehigh and was acquired as a gift from the Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation in 2012.

The plan is to eventually have the tank restored and on display in front of the engine house where it was first located and which once held The President Pumping Engine. The President Pumping Engine location at the Ueberroth mine site in Friedensville was approved for a Pennsylvania historic roadside marker to be placed at this property on Old Bethlehem Pike just last month.

The property, which is part of Stabler Pathways, is unimproved and restricted, but Lehigh is developing options to stabilize and repair the engine house and allow public access. Lehigh has obtained grant support through matching funds for structural evaluations, construction repair documents and conceptual designs from both the Louis J. Appell Jr. Preservation Fund for Central Pennsylvania of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s Keystone Historic Preservation Grant program, funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In addition to the boiler, Lehigh was also able to recover wood beams from the floor supports which will be used to replace failing lintels in the surviving engine house ruins.

“This is a great day for all the people who have worked hard on behalf of the recognition and preservation of the remaining assets of The President Pumping Engine,” said Kara Mohsinger, president and CEO of the National Museum of Industrial History.

“As the only metal artifact remaining of this famous engine, recovery of this historic boiler is a major milestone.”

“We applaud the foresight of the Manhattan Building Company and Lehigh University and their generous support in saving this unique remnant of our industrial history, and invite visitors to come and see our new display at the museum on The President, which includes a working scale model of the engine.”

“An intact stationary steam boiler from the 1870s is an extremely rare find,” said Mike Piersa, NMIH Historian. “Most boilers of that era were melted down, having been replaced due to obsolescence, corrosion, or scrap drives during the 20th century world wars.

“Due to its obscure location and continued use as an integral part of the building’s water supply infrastructure, this boiler turned tank beat the odds and now we can celebrate its survival, and eventual return to its first home,” Piersa said.