Central Bethlehem Historic District is a national historic district located in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

in Lehigh and Northampton counties in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

metropolitan area of eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The district includes 165 contributing buildings, six contributing sites (including Nisky Hill Cemetery), nine contributing structures, and four contributing objects. It is primarily residential, but also includes commercial buildings along Main Street. Most of the buildings were built between the mid-18th to early-20th century. The buildings are primarily 2 1/2 stories tall and constructed of brick or stone. More recent residences are frame construction. The district encompasses buildings that reflect Bethlehem's development from a Moravian community, 1741-1844, to an industrial based economy, 1845-1938. Notable non-residential buildings include several communal Moravian buildings, the George H. Myers Building, and the Hill to Hill Bridge. Located in the district is the separately listed

Lehigh Canal The Lehigh Canal, or the Lehigh Navigation Canal, is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of twenty years, beginning in 1818. The low ...

. ''Note:'' This includes and ''Note:'' This includes Central Bethlehem's Historic Distric was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1972, and a boundary increase to this designation was added in 1988.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Historic districts in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Historic districts in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania