1741-1823 First House of Bethlehem

Bethlehem’s first house was a simple log structure, measuring twenty by forty feet, and housing settlers in one section and livestock in the other. The first Bethlehem settlers resided at Nazareth or at the home of a friend south of the river until the house was habitable. As the first building in the settlement, the log house also functioned as the community’s worship space during the first year, as farming and building work went on around it. The group cleared fields and planted crops, completing a successful harvest in the fall of 1741 and storing their grain in the log house. This house no longer stands. In 1823, it was demolished to build a livery stable for a new tavern - the Eagle Hotel, which was located where Hotel Bethlehem stands now. The earliest building extant in Bethlehem today is the Gemeinhaus, a massive log building which was built by the Moravian settlers during late 1741 and completed in the spring of 1742.

The above view is a digital twin of the "DAR Memorial House," a replica of the first house in Bethlehem, located in the Rose Garden, on Eighth Avenue, Bethlehem, PA. To learn more about this building, please visit the "History of the NSDAR House" here.