the historic hotel bethlehem
Our Lower Lobby now tells the fascinating story of how the hotel came to be.
Also find information on the predecessor to the hotel Bethlehem, the Moravian’s “Golden Eagle Hotel” a structure that dates from 1794 (George Washington was in office) to April of 1919, in it’s last days it was used for soldiers returning from World War I as a convalescence home.
Prior to the Eagle Hotel, the famous “First House of Bethlehem” was located on this site. Built in 1741 by missioning Moravians in the wilderness that is now the bustling Lehigh Valley. Where on December 24th of 1741, the Moravian’s patron, Count Nicholas Von Zinzendorf, sang a hymn about Bethlehem, after which those gathered decided to name the town Bethlehem.
So from the roaring twenties and the blast furnaces of Charles M. Schwab’s steel empire and lavish lifestyle to the humble 14 Moravian Missionaries who risked life and limb to cross the Atlantic to bring the gospel to the Natives of the valley at the forks of the Lehigh, we’ve got quite a history.