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

Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
Signifi cance
The Campus Ring Character Area is an example
of an early unplanned suburb which developed
piecemeal based on the actions of different land
owners and developers. Overall, the neighborhood
reflects the gamut of housing needs driving
Bethlehem’s development during the 1890-1940
period, and how individuals tried to fulfill them.
Though its overall character and level of integrity
vary from block to block, the Campus Ring contains
excellent examples of a number of different housing
types and residential architectural styles.
Figure 8-317. Craftsman-style apartment house at 1423-1425
Iron St., constructed ca. 1921 (JMA 2008).
differing needs concurrently. Growing numbers of
industrial jobs at Bethlehem Steel and other plants
meant that the company and speculators built
relatively inexpensive housing for the workers.
Increased population, better transportation, and
the opening of new tracts at the north end of town
resulted in the migration of middle class and
upper middle class people from the downtown
to speculative subdivisions and houses in newly
developing suburbs. Some individuals associated
with Moravian College and Theological Seminary
built or purchased homes on lots adjacent to the
campus. These varying purposes resulted in a
neighborhood exhibiting characteristics of both
suburban and urban streetscapes. While some
streets and blocks were developed with modest
workers’ housing, others contain middle-class
detached homes, and most contain mixtures of the
two.
Integrity
Integrity of buildings in the neighborhood varies,
with variation seen even among just those buildings
owned by Moravian College. While most are
recognizably of their construction period, some are
well preserved while others have been altered with
new materials, siding, additions, and other changes.
Replacement siding, often with brick veneer, is the
most frequently seen alteration. The setting of the
neighborhood remains relatively intact in many
outer areas of the Campus Ring, but buildings
closer to campus have seen some loss of integrity
of setting. Land acquisitions and construction of
new facilities by the expanding College entailed the
demolition of a number of houses or blocks, such
as those on Otis Place and parts of Monocacy and
Laurel Streets, and the closing of parts of several
streets to traffic. Newer buildings on the outer
edges of the campus core, such as the Collier Hall
of Science and the Priscilla Payne Hurd Academic
Complex, form modern blockfaces across the street
from older houses in the Campus Ring.
Figure 8-318. Commercial-industrial building at 248 W.
Greenwich St., now Facilities Shop for Moravian College,
constructed ca. 1940 (JMA 2008).
Figure 8-319. Warped gutter and failing slate porch roof, 1417
Iron St. (JMA 2008).
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 8 • Historic Buildings • 272