Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites: We Only Get Better with Age

August 6th, 2019 | In The News

Written by Fig Bethlehem

The world is watching us. That’s because Historic Moravian Bethlehem is poised to
become a World Heritage Site. That’s big. Very audacious. Being named a World
Heritage Site puts us in the same league as national treasures like Independence Hall,
the Statue of Liberty, and the Grand Canyon, and globally iconic sites such as the Great
Wall of China, Acropolis, and Pyramids of Egypt. Historic Moravian Bethlehem is a
masterpiece of human creative genius with culture, architecture, and design that are
exceptional and have universal value to humankind. That is what the team that
evaluates potential World Heritage Sites looks for, and we’ve had it for centuries here
in Bethlehem.

THE STORY, BRIEFLY
Almost 275 years ago—in 1741, to be exact—a community of Moravians, a Protestant
group from today’s Czech Republic, settled on the rich land near Bethlehem’s
Monocacy Creek. But they had more in mind than farming: they were missionaries and
amazing town planners. They settled in. Then they began to build, making Bethlehem a
phenomenon of extraordinary buildings, music, and values that were centuries ahead of
their time. (More on that in a second). The Moravians built America’s earliest industrial
park with a pottery, tannery, soap mill, wash houses, grist mill, oil mill, blacksmith shop,
and brass foundry. Within six years, 35 crafts, trades, and industries filled that stretch
of ground, and there were butchers, clockmakers, bakers, saddlers, and masons. And by
1762, the Waterworks—the first pumped municipal water system in America—was
pumping fresh water for the entire town.

BUILDING A TOWN. (LITERALLY)
The 1741 Gemeinhaus on Church Street—the community house—was a home, church,
infirmary, school, and workshops. It’s not only the oldest building in Bethlehem, but the
largest surviving 1700s log structure in continuous use in the United States. A home for
single women, a home for single men, and more followed. Then construction moved
onto Main Street with an enormous church, a tidy apothecary (think drugstore), and an
inn for travelers. Ten buildings became part of a National Historic Landmark District in
2012 and were officially recognized by the government for their outstanding historical
significance. Two of these are singled out as National Historic Landmarks: the
Gemeinhaus and the Waterworks.
While the town kept growing, it never outgrew its core Moravian values that were part
of that 1741 journey. Moravians didn’t just construct buildings: they forged a value
system that echoes down Main and Church Streets today. Moravians believed that
people of all races, genders, and ethnicities should receive the same education and
health care. Europeans, African- Americans, and American Indians lived, worked,
worshipped, and went to school together, and then were buried side by side. Think for
a moment about the world in the mid-1700s and you’ll realize how radical some of
these ideas were. And more than 275 years later, our society is still grappling with many
of the same issues that the Moravians embraced from their first days here. These walls
have stories. Come learn more about your local treasures.

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