John Adams Tour: Bethlehem and the American Revolution

John Adams Tour: Bethlehem and the American Revolution

When Founding Father and future United States President John Adams visited Bethlehem in 1777 during the Revolutionary War, he was amazed by what he found. In a letter to his wife, Abigail, he described the community as a “curious and remarkable town.”

On the John Adams Tour, you’ll discover the important role Bethlehem played during the American Revolution as you walk in the Founding Father’s footsteps and discover how Adams spent his time in the city.

“When we first came in sight of the town, we found a country better cultivated and more agreeably diversified with prospects of orchards and fields, groves and meadows, hills and valleys, than any we had seen…” – John Adams

The tour is punctuated by Adams’ commentary on the many notable aspects of early Bethlehem and the Moravians who settled there, and it touches on his stay at the Sun Inn, a popular destination for travelers in the mid-18th century. You will also discover the Second Single Brethren’s House – now part of the Moravian Church Settlements–Bethlehem World Heritage Site – which served two stints as a hospitals for the Continental Army.

At one point, Bethlehem and its residents housed more than 400 sick and wounded soldiers, the most notable of whom was Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette, who was injured during the Battle of Brandywine. Lafayette’s involvement in the war helped solidify support for the American cause in France, eventually leading to the alliance between both nations.

“They have carried the mechanical arts to greater perfection here than in any place which I have seen…Upon the river they have a fine Sett of Mills. The best Grist Mills and bolting Mills, that are any where to be found.” – John Adams

Other highlights include a stop at the Sun Inn, which hosted notable figures such as John Hancock and George and Martha Washington during the war, and God’s Acre, Bethlehem’s oldest cemetery and the burial ground of some of the city’s most important historical figures, including John Ettwein, Bethlehem’s leader at the time.