Bethlehem, Pennsylvania:
A Moravian Settlement in Colonial America

(Photo by Diane LaBelle) C asting their eyes toward the rich, arable lands of Pennsylvania, members of the Moravian community purchased a 500 acre tract of land north of Philadelphia in 1741. There, along the Lehigh River, they organized and built the communal society of Bethlehem, which became the base location for all Moravian missionary activity in North America. In 1780, an observer wrote: The first time I visited Bethlehem...[when] issuing out of the woods at the close of the evening in the month of May, [ I ] found myself on a beautiful extensive plain, with the vast eastern branch of the Delaware on the right, richly interspersed with wooded islands, and at the distance of a mile in front the town of Bethlehem, rearing its large stone edifices out of a forest, situated on a majestic, but gradually rising eminence, the background formed the setting sun. So novel and unexpected a transition filled the mind with a thousand singular and sublime ideas and made an impression on me never to be effaced.1 ¹Remarks made by Grieve, the translator of the Marquis de Chastellux, Travels in North America in the Years 1780, 1781, and 1782, (reprint, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1963), 648-649.

TABLE OF CONTENTS About This Lesson Getting Started: Inquiry Question Setting the Stage: Historical Context Locating the Site: Maps 1. Moravian settlements in the mid-Atlantic region Determining the Facts: Readings 1. Early History of the Moravian Community 2. The Choir System 3. Moravian Town Planning Visual Evidence: Images 1. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1766 2. The Gemeinhaus 3. The Single Brethren House 4. The Single Brethren House, floor plans 5. The Bethlehem Tannery 6. The Moravian Chapel Putting It All Together: Activities 1. Developing a Time Line 2. Mapping a Neighborhood Supplementary Resources

RELATED INFORMATION How to Use a TwHP Lesson Lessons on Related Topics TwHP Home National Register Home About the National Register How the National Register Helps Teachers Contact TwHP This lesson is based on the Central Bethlehem Historic District, one of the thousands of properties and districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

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