 It was proposed in 1996, and partially follows the former path of the now defunct Liberty Bell Trolley Route, which had been operated by the Lehigh Valley Transit Company from around 1900 to 1951.The tram route was named by the company for the Liberty Bell because a branch of it followed Bethlehem Pike, the road along which the bell was transported in October 1777 when it was being moved from Philadelphia to Northamptontown (now Allentown) for safekeeping shortly before the British occupation of Philadelphia during the American Revolutionary War.The trail has been named for both the trolley route and the bell.