Editing Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (section)

===18th century===
{{Further|Central Bethlehem Historic District|Pennsylvania in the American Revolution}}
On April 2, 1741, [[William Allen (loyalist)|William Allen]], a wealthy [[Philadelphia]] merchant and political figure, who later founded the city of [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]], deeded {{Convert|500|acre}} along the banks of the [[Monocacy Creek (Lehigh River tributary)|Monocacy Creek]] and [[Lehigh River]] to the [[Moravian Church]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bdhp.moravian.edu/bethlehem/bethlehem.html|title=Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 1741-1844|publisher=Bethlehem Digital History Project|access-date=September 10, 2019|archive-date=August 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831220256/http://bdhp.moravian.edu/bethlehem/bethlehem.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On Christmas Eve of that year, [[David Nitschmann der Bischof|David Nitschmann]] and [[Nicolaus Zinzendorf]], leading a small group of [[Moravian Church|Moravians]], founded the [[Mission (Christian)|mission]] community of Bethlehem at the confluence of the [[Monocacy River|Monocacy]] and [[Lehigh River|Lehigh]] rivers. They established missionary communities among the Native Americans and unchurched [[German language|German]]-speaking [[Christianity|Christians]] and named the settlement after the Biblical town [[Bethlehem]] of [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]], said to be the birthplace of [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]]. "[[Nicolaus Zinzendorf|Count Zinzendorf]] said, 'Brothers, how more fittingly could we call our new home than to name it in honor of the spot where the event we now commemorate took place. We will call this place Bethlehem.' And so was Bethlehem named after the birthplace of the Man of Peace."

Bethlehem was started as a typical Moravian Settlement Congregation, where the Church owned all the property. In the late 1700s, Bethlehem established grist and saw mills, known as Calvin's Mills.<ref name="Calvin">{{cite book|last=Calvin|first=Claude|title=The Calvin Families|publisher=University of Wisconsin|date=1945|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89062866439;view=1up;seq=1|page=59|access-date=January 9, 2019|archive-date=June 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603041702/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89062866439;view=1up;seq=1|url-status=live}}</ref> The historic Brethren's House, Sisters' House, Widows' House, and [[Lewis David de Schweinitz Residence|Congregation House]], with the Old Chapel, are remnants of this period of communal living.<ref>{{cite web|title=Exploring the Religious History of the Lehigh Valley at the Moravian Historical Society Museum|url=https://uncoveringpa.com/moravian-historical-society-museum|website=Uncovering PA|date=April 19, 2017|access-date=25 December 2017|archive-date=December 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225093123/https://uncoveringpa.com/moravian-historical-society-museum|url-status=live}}</ref>

Moravians ministered to the regional [[Lenape]] Native Americans through their mission in the area, and to others further east in the [[Province of New York|New York colony]].  In historic Bethlehem's [[God's Acre]] cemetery, converted Lenape were buried alongside Moravians. In 1762, Bethlehem built the first [[waterworks]] in America to pump water for public use.

In the autumn of 1777, during the [[American Revolutionary War]], many [[Patriot (American Revolution)|patriots]] fled from [[Philadelphia]] to Bethlehem and the surrounding area as the [[British Army during the American Revolutionary War|British Army]] advanced from the east. The [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Marquis de Lafayette]] recovered from an injury received at the [[Battle of Brandywine]] in Bethlehem, and several of the most prominent members of the [[Continental Congress]] fled north to Bethlehem before the congress eventually reconvened in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]]. Before, during, and after the [[American Revolution]], Bethlehem was visited by [[George Washington]] and his wife [[Martha Washington|Martha]], [[John Adams]], [[Samuel Adams]], [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Alexander Hamilton]], [[John Hancock]], and the Marquis de Lafayette. 

On September 22, 1777, records show, 14 of the 56 delegates to the [[Second Continental Congress]] signed the [[Moravian Sun Inn]] register in Bethlehem and stayed there overnight.<ref name="arch">{{cite web| url = https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce/SelectWelcome.asp| title = National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania| publisher = CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System| format = Searchable database| access-date = March 17, 2022| archive-date = September 14, 2005| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050914194407/https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce/SelectWelcome.asp| url-status = dead}} ''Note:'' This includes {{cite web| url = https://gis.penndot.gov/CRGISAttachments/SiteResource/H001027_01H.pdf| title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Moravian Sun Inn| access-date = 2011-11-07| author = unknown| date = n.d.| archive-date = May 16, 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220516124101/https://gis.penndot.gov/CRGISAttachments/SiteResource/H001027_01H.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=John B. |last=Frantz |title=Franklin and the Pennsylvania Germans |journal=Pennsylvania History |year=1998 |pages=21–34 |url=https://journals.psu.edu/phj/article/view/25467/25236 }}</ref>

George Washington stored his personal effects at the [[Burnside Plantation (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)|James Burnside farm]] at 1461 Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem. As of 1998, the farm is operated as a historical museum known as James Burnside Plantation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tnonline.com/archives/news/1998_weeklies/09.23/lehigh/briefs.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040709174002/http://www.tnonline.com/archives/news/1998_weeklies/09.23/lehigh/briefs.html|title=weekly news briefs|archive-date=July 9, 2004|work=tnonline.com|access-date=November 13, 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref>