Bethlehem was named
on Christmas Eve, 1741, by a group of Moravians who relocated from North
Carolina and settled at the confluence of the Lehigh River and Monocacy Creek.
The canal and the railroads lured large-scale industry to the south bank of the
Lehigh River and the Bethlehem Iron Co., soon dominated the town’s economy and
way of life. Steel made from local iron, coal and limestone was milled and
forged, launching the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th Century.
Bethlehem is the Lehigh
Valley’s Oldest City
Bethlehem
has six distinct National Historic Districts as well as two National Historic
landmarks. Many of its original structures built by early settlers still line downtown
streets.
The Central Bethlehem Historic District includes 165 buildings, 6 sites, 9 structures, and 4 objects. It
is primarily residential, but also includes commercial buildings along Main
Street. Most of the buildings were built between the mid-18th to
early-20th century. The district encompasses building that reflect
Bethlehem's development from a Moravian community, 1741-1844, to an industrial
based economy, 1845-1938.
The Historic
Moravian Bethlehem Historic District encompasses a complex of the oldest surviving buildings
in Bethlehem. The district was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012
for its unique assemblage of communal religious buildings and history. It occupies a 14.7-acre (5.9 ha) area of central
Bethlehem; at its core is the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem and adjacent
properties, located at Main and West Church Streets. The museum property
includes a connected series of 18th century stone buildings, several
of which served as communal living facilities, and a 1751 chapel.
God's Acre has been established as one of the oldest
colonial cemeteries in America
Sun
Inn was created as a place for
non-Moravian people to take up residence while they did any sort of business
with the people that lived in the town. The Sun Inn was used often during the
American Revolution, including George and Martha Washington, Ben Franklin, John
Hancock, john and Samuel Adams.