Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem is a city located in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in eastern Pennsylvania, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 71,329. Bethlehem lies in the center of the Lehigh Valley region, a 731-square-mile area that is home to more than 650,000 people. The Lehigh Valley region embraces a trio of cities (Bethlehem, Allentown and Easton) within two counties (Lehigh and Northampton), making it Pennsylvania's third-largest metropolitan area.

History

On Christmas Eve in 1741, Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf of Saxony, Germany, leading a small group of Moravians, founded the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania along the banks of the Monocacy Creek by the Lehigh River. They named the settlement after the town of Bethlehem in the Middle East said in the Christian Christmas story to be the place where Jesus was born.

Related Topics:
Christmas Eve - 1741 - Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf - Saxony - Germany - Moravians - Monocacy Creek - Lehigh River - Bethlehem - Jesus

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In 1762, Bethlehem became home to the first water works in America to pump water for public usage. While George Washington and his troops stayed in Valley Forge, his personal effects were stored at the farm of James Burnside, which is now a historical museum. http://www.tnonline.com/archives/news/1998_weeklies/09.23/lehigh/briefs.html The prosperous village was incorporated into a free borough in the County of Northampton in 1845.

Related Topics:
1762 - George Washington - Valley Forge - 1845

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In 1937, the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce, mindful of Bethlehem's historic tie to the Christmas story since its founding, adopted the nickname "Christmas City, USA" for Bethlehem. Many tourists now come to Bethlehem each year at Christmastime to see the historic downtown and the 81 foot high electric "Star of Bethlehem" on South Mountain. The city's Musikfest festival in late summer can also draw more than one million people.

Related Topics:
1937 - Christmas - Star of Bethlehem

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Bethlehem became a center of heavy industry and trade during the industrial revolution. The Bethlehem Steel Corporation, founded in 1904, began producing the first wide-flange structural shapes to be made in America, was the first company to produce the now-ubiquitous 'I-beam', and was a major supplier of armor plate and ordnance products during World War I and World War II. After roughly 140 years of metal production at its Bethlehem plant, Bethlehem Steel ceased operations in Bethlehem in 1995.

Related Topics:
Industrial revolution - Bethlehem Steel Corporation - 1904 - World War I - World War II - 1995

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