Welcome to the Lehigh Valley Landmarks with Leon podcast series, celebrating 250 years of independence. I'm your host, Rachel Leon. Since being elected in 2022 and serving as Vice President of Bethlehem City Council, I'm humbled by the opportunity to serve the diverse communities that make up our great city. But to understand where we're going, we need to understand our past. Each week, I'll share a short feature with a big story about the 250 years that made the Lehigh Valley and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, known as the Christmas City, as we explore historic landmarks.
Elisha Packer Wilbur, Sr., also known as E.P., was born on January 31, 1833 in Mystic, Connecticut. His father, Henry, was a sea captain. In 1838, Henry and his wife Evelyn Wilbur moved their family to Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania. Today, the area is known as Jim Thorpe. There, Henry worked for his wife's brother, industrialist Asa Packer.
E.P.'s connection with the Lehigh Valley Railroad began in 1852 when he joined as a rodman, the corps of engineers who made the first survey for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The Lehigh Valley Railroad was founded by his uncle Asa Packer at 23 years old. E.P. Wilber was appointed Asa Packer's private secretary and moved to Philadelphia in 1856. He oversaw the finances of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and learned his business savvy from Asa Packer. He worked for his uncle until his death in 1879.
In 1864. E.P. moved his family into a home he had built on Wyandotte Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He lived there with his wife, Stella, and their 11 children. The house was built in the Gothic Revival architectural style with a distinctive tower. As the president of the Lehigh Valley Railroad from 1884 to 1897, many believed it was from the tower where E.P. would look out to ensure the trains ran on time. Today, the tower and the former Wilbur Mansion operates as a boutique hotel.
But he also had duties beyond running the railroad, that included the director of the Bethlehem Iron Company, eventually known as the Bethlehem Steel Company. He had large coal interests and became president of the Jefferson Coal Company in Jefferson, Pennsylvania. He served as the president of the Wilbur Coal and Coke Company, owning land in West Virginia, and was a director in the Valley and Coal Company of West Virginia. He was also the president of the South Bethlehem Gas and Water Company from 1867 to 1902. He became the president of the First National Bank of Sayre in Sayre, Pennsylvania, and of the Sayre Water Company, and served as a stockholder in the Thousand Island bank in Alexander Bay in New York. He also served as the director of the Lehigh Valley National Bank in Bethlehem.
In 1880, E.P. Wilbur formed the E.P. Wilbur and Company Bankers in South Bethlehem. In 1887, the original banking house was renamed E.P. Wilbur Trust Company.
E.P. Wilbur died on June 14, 1910 at 77 years old. He would not see the opening in 1911 of the iconic Flatiron Building that was constructed for the E.P. Wilbur Trust Company by local architect a W. Lay Although E.P. Wilbur Trust Company would not survive the Great Depression, the Flatiron building still stands today on the corner of W. Fourth Street and Broadway on the south side of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Since 1995 WDIY has operated its offices in the Flatiron buildings.
A special thanks to the Lehigh University Library Special Collections for helping to fact check.
