Almost 300 years ago a group of German Protestant missionaries in North America were granted land in the wooded Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, west of New York City and north of Philadelphia; on Christmas Eve of 1741, these missionaries founded the Moravian community of Bethlehem. For approximately the next century, Bethlehem was a town run by the Moravian church, operating on principles espousing communal living, hard work, and missionary outreach to local Lenape native American groups (a relationship referenced in the novels of 19th century author James Fenimore Cooper).

There is currently an effort to create a transnational World Heritage Site highlighting Moravian church settlements, with Moravian Bethlehem being added as an extension to the already inscribed Moravian settlement of Christiansfeld, in Denmark. Since I didn't know much about the Moravian church in North America, I took a road trip to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at the beginning of May this year in order to learn more about the Tentative World Heritage Site. There is a visitor center in downtown Bethlehem that regularly runs historical tours on weekends. Because the tour on the weekend I visited was only covering Moravian Bethlehem's colonial industrial quarter, the visitor center helped me arrange for a personal tour with a guide to learn more about the history of the Moravians in Bethlehem.

The tour started off in the Goundie House adjacent to the visitor center, which offered an eye- opening introduction to the role the Moravian church played in 18th and 19th century Bethlehem. John Goundie was a German brewer, businessman, and civic leader instrumental to changes both in Bethlehem and the Moravian church. Under Moravian church practice at the time, any young men who wanted to marry would see church leaders, who would then draw lots to determine whether a marriage would be permitted by God. Goundie was only allowed to marry after six attempts through the lot system, and, as a member of a delegation to the Moravian church synod, he helped campaign to make the lot system optional in the Americas. He also helped invest in private business outside the town boundaries of Bethlehem, and by the mid-19th century, Bethlehem was opened up to non-church members.

The tour continued past the colonial industrial quarter, built on the floodplain of the Monocacy Creek. The quarter includes a smithy, a mill, a tannery, a springhouse, and the ruins of a pottery and dye house, and is considered one of the earliest industrial parks in America. The quarter provided a source of income for the residents of Moravian Bethlehem, and was looked upon favorably by early American leaders such as future President John Adams, who found refuge in the town when the British advanced on Philadelphia in 1777. Of particular interest in the quarter is the waterworks, constructed in the mid 18th century, which was the first municipal pumped water system in North America, and brought spring water to the community living at the top of the hill where the Central Moravian Church now stands.

The heart of historic Moravian Bethlehem would have to be the church and surrounding residential buildings, highlighting the communal aspect of the town. The Gemeinhaus, or community house, is the oldest surviving structure in Bethlehem, and today serves as a museum. This building included a chapel and residential areas for the different "choirs" of community members, including single women and married couples. The Single Brethrens' House was later built across the street from the Gemeinhaus, while the Single Sisters' House was an addition to the community house. Of note, the choir of single women was viewed as equal to men, and worked in jobs that gave back to the community. The Moravian church was forward-leaning in the education of women, and the Moravian Seminary (now Academy) in Bethlehem, founded in 1742, was the first school for girls in the American colonies. Additional houses in this residential area were built for the choir of widows, and later for individual families. At the end of the tour, my guide brought me to the town cemetery, known as God's Acre, where Moravian church members were traditionally buried according to the choir system, separated by age, sex, and marital status.

Bethlehem has a unique heritage as a parochially-run town in early American history, and, as the early center of Moravian activity in North America, I can see where it would make a good addition to a transnational site recognizing how Moravian church settlements adapted to their regions. Beyond its Moravian heritage, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, also provides a fascinating overview of the industrialization of North America, from the early colonial industrial quarter of Moravian Bethlehem to the nearby, and now defunct, Bethlehem Steel mill, which was founded in the mid 19th century and at one time was the second largest steel producer in the United States, providing steel for shipbuilding and structures like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Logistics: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is about ninety minutes west of New York City and a little over an hour north of Philadelphia by car; there is also limited bus transit from the cities.