Moravian Preservation Master Plan.indb - Society for College and ...

Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
The last major building of the eighteenth century
was the Widows’ House (figure 2-11), erected
in 1766-1768 to house the growing number of
widows in the community. Although a need for
such a building had been apparent as early as 1759,
other projects took priority and the widows of the
community continued to reside in Nazareth until
the project was finally completed. The site chosen
was formerly part of the congregational garden
and eleven widows were the first occupants. The
Widows’ House appears to have attracted several
distinguished visitors, including both Martha and
George Washington. The east end of the building
was extended 20 feet in 1794-1795 (Hamilton
1988:23-25; Moravian College 2007:18).
Moravian Bethlehem from the beginning was a
novelty in America. Much as the Amish attract
tourists today, eighteenth- and early nineteenthcentury
Bethlehem drew a number of visitors
fascinated by the Moravians’ unique communal
lifestyle, educational system, and technological
achievements such as the waterworks. The
Moravians welcomed their visitors but were
concerned about too much contact with outsiders,
and guests were not permitted to roam freely
without an escort. Within a short time, the Moravians
felt compelled to construct inns to house visitors in
a more hospitable manner, and at the same time
prevent too much interference with their routine
(Smaby 1988:97-99).
Two inns were constructed to serve the travelers.
The Crown Inn, located in the farmland south of
the Lehigh River, was constructed in 1745. A nearby
ferry transported visitors across the river to the
Moravian settlement. The ferry system was unwieldy
and community leaders agitated for many years to
build a bridge across the river. Stagecoach service
was intermittent until after the Revolution. The
creation of the national post road system brought
regular stagecoach service to Bethlehem in 1785,
exacerbating the need for a more efficient means
of ingress. In 1794, the first Lehigh River bridge
was completed and authorized by the state as a toll
bridge. The ferry system was abandoned and the
now-unnecessary Crown Inn became a farmhouse
(Levering 1903:544-547; Smaby 1988:99).
A “congregational inn,” later known as the Sun Inn,
was constructed ca. 1758-1760 near the west end of
Church Street. It was a large limestone building with
a clay-tiled Germanic jerkinhead roofline. With its
inn complete, Bethlehem welcomed many famous
figures of the era, including Martha Washington in
Figure 2-11. Undated late nineteenth-century view of the
Widows’ House. This building, expanded in 1889, remained in
Moravian Church possession until the mid-1990s when it was
acquired by Moravian College (Moravian Church Archives).
1779, followed by George Washington in 1782 and
Alexander Hamilton in 1791 (Hamilton 1988:23-25;
Moravian College 2007:18; Roberts and Cosans
1982:2; Smaby 1988:99).
Bethlehem from 1770–1800
The Revolutionary War came to Bethlehem slowly.
It was not until 1775, well into the conflict, that
Northampton County officials called for every
township to establish a militia. As in Savannah
three decades earlier, the Moravians of the county
elected to remain neutral and did not participate.
Northampton County was remote enough that the
British never came there, but Bethlehem became
an important outpost for the colonial forces, who
availed themselves of its buildings and other
facilities for a variety of purposes (Gerhardt et al.
2008:5).
During the winters of 1776 and 1777, the Single
Brethren’s House was commandeered by General
George Washington’s army as a hospital (figure
2-12). Beginning in early December 1776, a group of
150 sick and injured patients was transferred from
a hospital in Morristown, New Jersey to Bethlehem,
and this scenario was repeated the following fall.
Hundreds of soldiers were cared for in extremely
crowded quarters. British prisoners of war also
arrived in September 1777 and were housed in
the Family House. During these stressful times,
the town was crowded and many of its regular
inhabitants were dispersed to Nazareth and other
places to make room for the patients, prisoners,
and military troops (Myers 1982:102-112).
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 2 • Historic Overview • 13