historic bethlehem

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites maintains 20 historic buildings and sites in Bethlehem.

• 1810 Goundie House and Visitor Center which is housed in the 1830s Schropp Shop are both located within steps of the hotel on Main Street
• The Moravian Museum of Bethlehem includes the 1741 Gemeinhaus, a National Historic Landmark, the 1752 Apothecary and herb garden, the 1744/1752 Single Sisters’ House, and the 1758/1765 Nain-Schober House are all within 1 block of the hotel.
• The Colonial Industrial Quarter, America’s earliest industrial park situated on a 10 acre site, includes the 1762 Waterworks, a National Historic Landmark, the 1761 Tannery, 1750 Smithy (reconstructed), 1780/1830 Miller’s House, 1869 Luckenbach Mill, 1750s Springhouse (reconstructed), and the archeological remains of the 1740s Pottery, 1770s Dye House, 1750s Butchery, and 1700s Oil Mill all located directly beside and behind the hotel.

• 1748/1848 Burnside Plantation, a 6.5 acre farm in the city, includes the 1748/1818 farmhouse, 1820s summer kitchen and corncrib, 1840s wagon shed and two 1840s bank barns, one with the only operating high horse-powered wheel in the U.S., a kitchen garden, an apple orchard, and two meadows are all 1 mile from the hotel accessible by the moncacy trail along the moncacy creek behind the hotel.
• The Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts is one of only 15 museums in the United States exclusively dedicated to the decorative arts. The museum is housed in three interconnected mid-1800s homes featuring changing exhibits, period rooms, and galleries highlighting furniture, paintings, china, clothing, and silver over three centuries of decorative arts. This museum speaks to the changes in style and design over three centuries. The Kemerer is within 2 blocks of the hotel

The Sun Inn

The Sun Inn was built in 1758 and functioned as an inn for 200 years from 1760 to 1960. The Sun Inn changed ownership several times and underwent more than a few renovations over the years. Entire floors and facades were added and then taken away. In 1975, the Sun Inn was purchased by the Sun Inn Preservation Association, formed by Hughetta Bender for the purpose of saving the historical landmark. In 1981, funded in part by a grant dedicated by the City of Bethlehem, work began to restore the original architecture of the Sun Inn. Today the Sun Inn is open for tours and it’s courtyard behind the inn serves as a venue for community events including Tunes at Twlight in the summer and the Christmas City Village.

Central Moravian Church & the Old Chapel

Before and during the American Revolution many noted patriots worshiped at the Old Chapel built in 1751, including George Washington, Martha Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Count Casimir Pulaski and the Marquis de Lafayette.

In 1792 fifty-one chiefs and warriors from the Iroquois Confederacy visited this chapel. Among the chiefs were Sagoyewatha (Red Jacket) and Gyantwakia (Cornplanter). Bishop John Ettwein greeted them, and girls from the Moravian Seminary for Young Ladies read poems in their honor.

Central Moravian Church was completed in 1806 and built to accommodate 1,200 people when only 500 residents lived in the community at that time. The church is located on the corner of Main and Church Street. Central Moravian Church is Bethlehem’s first congregation and the oldest Moravian Church in North America.

Historic Residential Neighborhood

Historic Bethlehem not only encompasses original Moravian history near Main Street but also extends for approximately five blocks East of Main Street. The homes in the block closest to Main Street, were built in the late 1700s and early 1800s. These homes surround the Moravian Academy and Central  Moravian Church campuses. In addition this block contains the original Moravian Cemetery called ‘God’s Acre’ where flat headstones lay of those dating back to 1742. Popular locust, maple and dog wood trees line the well tended paths in God’s Acre.

As you walk further into the Historic Neighborhood there are newer homes built in the mid 1800s to the early 1900s that include stately mansions built by the railroad and steel barons. Many of these homes have been converted into condominiums or apartments and in one case a bed and breakfast.

This is a vibrant residential neighborhood whose residents support the downtown and have a strong homeowners association that creates social activities to engage the residents in the historic experience of our community.

The homes that are within the Historic Neighborhood have unique Germanic and Colonial architecture that attracts locals and tourists to walk through the neighborhood.