Editing Nazareth, Pennsylvania (section)

===18th and 19th centuries===
Nazareth was founded in 1740 by [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] immigrants from [[Germany]]. The property that comprises present-day Nazareth was purchased from [[George Whitefield]] after the construction of the Whitefield House. 

Nazareth was initially an exclusive Moravian community by charter, and other faiths were not allowed to purchase property there. It was one of four leading Moravian communities in the [[Thirteen Colonies]]; [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania|Bethlehem]], [[Emmaus, Pennsylvania|Emmaus]], and [[Lititz, Pennsylvania|Lititz]], each in [[Pennsylvania]], were the other three.

In 1735, a small group of Moravian missionaries began working in the newly settled community of [[Savannah, Georgia]], where they sought to evangelize the Native American tribes and minister to the settlers. Governor [[James Oglethorpe]], founder of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and [[John Wesley]] and [[Charles Wesley]], founders of the Methodist Church who were deeply interested in Moravian ideals, came along on the same boat. The Brethren settled along the [[Savannah River]] in Georgia. Like the [[Quakers]], the Brethren refused to take part in the war with the Spanish and, as a result, were evicted from Georgia in 1739.

George Whitefield, a widely known itinerant preacher who served as chaplain of Savannah, brought the group of evicted Georgia Brethren north to [[Philadelphia]] in his sloop.  Whitefield had grandiose plans, including building a school for Negro children on his tract of {{convert|5,000|acre|km2}}, called the Barony of Nazareth. He invited the Brethren, who accompanied him to Philadelphia to settle at this location for the time being and hired them to build his school.  

By the end of June 1739, the first log dwelling was erected. The workers struggled, the weather proved difficult, and winter soon arrived. They quickly erected a second log house. After its completion, Whitefield  returned to Pennsylvania, bristling and angered by theological disputes with certain Moravians, particularly on the issue of [[predestination]], and he evicted the Moravian Brethren.

While evicted from the Barony, Moravian leaders in England negotiated to buy the entire Barony. When Whitefield's business manager suddenly died, Whitefield discovered that his finances, shaky on more than one occasion, did not allow him to proceed with his Nazareth plan, and he was forced to sell the whole tract. On July 16, 1741, it officially became Moravian property.<ref>{{cite book |title= The History of the Moravian Church |last= Hamilton |first= J. Taylor |author2=Kenneth G. Hamilton |publisher= The Moravian Church in America|pages=85–86 }}</ref>

Nazareth was originally planned as a central English-speaking church village. But in October 1742, its 18 English inhabitants departed for Philadelphia leaving Nazareth largely in the hands of Captain John, a [[Lenape]] chieftain and his followers, who refused to leave, even though they no longer owned the land.  

In December 1742, [[Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf|Count Zinzendorf]], a Moravian benefactor, negotiated a settlement with Captain John, and his tribe moved back into the hinterland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bethlehem Diary |url=http://bdhp.moravian.edu/community_records/bethlehem_diary/731742source.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025104355/http://bdhp.moravian.edu/community_records/bethlehem_diary/731742source.html |archive-date=2006-10-25 }}</ref> 

In 1743, the still unfinished Whitefield House was put in readiness for 32 young married couples who were to arrive from Europe.  On January 2, 1744, the couples went overland to Nazareth to settle in the nearly completed Whitefield House. Whitefield House and adjacent Gray Cottage now belong to the [[Moravian Historical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://moravianhistoricalsociety.org/|title=Welcome to Moravian Historical Society, Your family's place to discover history|website=moravianhistoricalsociety.org|access-date=2016-07-23|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728233754/http://www.moravianhistoricalsociety.org/|archive-date=2016-07-28}}</ref>

The result was that Nazareth began to increase in population. Enough visitors were attracted to the town that the Rose Inn was built in 1752 on an additional tract to the north.  Two years later, in 1754, Nazareth Hall was built in hopes that Count Zinzendorf would return from Europe and settle in Nazareth permanently, but he never returned to the Americas. 

In 1759, [[Nazareth Hall]] became the central boarding school for sons of Moravian parents. It later attained wide fame as a "classical academy", which led to the founding, in 1807, of [[Moravian College]] and Theological Seminary, now located in [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania|Bethlehem]].  [[Nazareth Hall Tract]] was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1980.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>