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Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
Chapter Eight
Historic Buildings at Moravian College
8.0 Introduction
Moravian College is home to a wide range of
historic buildings that form two very different
campus environments. As steward of these
significant historic resources, Moravian recognizes
its responsibility in their care, maintenance, and
appropriate use. Stewardship is undertaken with the
idea that these resources will contribute materially
to the learning environment of the College; that
through these resources students will see, feel,
experience, and appreciate the long history and
evolving intellectual life of the community. These
buildings and their associated landscapes provide
a richness and context to the learning environment
that informs today’s issues and actions and provides
depth to the understanding of contemporary life.
Moravian’s historic buildings are associated with
three broad areas of historic context: the Moravian
settlement and resulting city development;
Moravian education for females and males and
its connections with broader national trends on
higher education; and historic preservation. These
historic contexts are described and elaborated upon
in Chapter 3 of this preservation plan. Chapter
5 of the plan identifies ten landscape character
areas associated with the building and landscape
resources at Moravian.
Chapter 8 provides an overview of the significance,
context, and condition of each historic building at
Moravian. Its purpose is to facilitate stewardship
by providing information that will assist in good
decision-making about the buildings in the
present and in the future. It is hoped that this
information will be consulted when changes to the
campus are necessary. Combining the background
understanding that this chapter provides with the
use of the principles outlined in The Secretary of
the Interior’s Standards, discussed in Chapter 4,
and the design guidelines included in subsequent
chapters of this Preservation Master Plan, should
assist the college with the ongoing stewardship of
its historic buildings.
The buildings are organized and presented in this
chapter by campus area, including: the Priscilla
Payne Hurd Campus, Steel Field, North Main Street
Campus, and Campus Ring. For each building, the
following subjects are outlined:
• Historical Development: a brief summary of
how the building developed and changed
over time in conjunction with Chapter 2
(Historic Overview of Moravian College) and
Chapter 3 (Historic Contexts of Moravian
College);
• Significance: why the building is historically
significant to the Moravian community;
• Integrity: the degree to which authentic
historic building fabric still exists in the
building;
• Condition: a review of existing materials that
comprise the building and issues associated
with those materials;
• Current Use: how the building is currently
used and any thoughts with respect to
possible future changes in use; and
• Treatment: a recommended treatment
approach to the building and specific issues
that should be addressed as a priority.
8.1 Priscilla Payne Hurd
Campus Buildings
The Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus (Hurd Campus)
of Moravian College includes the landscape area
and historic buildings located along Main Street
and West Church Street in downtown Bethlehem.
The Single Brethren’s House is closely associated
with the initial settlement of Bethlehem, and both
it and its surrounding buildings reflect the 1814
relocation and subsequent development of the
Bethlehem Female Seminary/Moravian Seminary
for Young Ladies. These buildings are a physical
manifestation of the Seminary’s nineteenth-century
educational principles and high reputation, as well
as examples of continuous and adaptive use by both
the Seminary and Moravian College. Most notably,
the buildings are examples of careful restorations
in celebration of the city’s early history. Moravian
College’s visual identity and important role in the
history of Bethlehem is largely tied to the image
and character of these buildings in the minds of
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 8 • Historic Buildings • 173