The Hotel Bethlehem is a 125-room

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

located in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

. The hotel, which was built in 1922, is a member of the

Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels that have maintained their authenticity, sense of pla ...

and was built in a Beaux Arts style. It is listed on 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 v ...

as part of the

Central Bethlehem Historic District Central Bethlehem Historic District is a national historic district located in Bethlehem in Lehigh and Northampton counties in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area of eastern Pennsylvania. The district includes 165 contributing buildings, six ...

, which includes 165

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. It replaced a hotel that was converted from a general store in 1822.

History

19th century

Hotel Bethlehem replaced a hotel that opened in 1822 in a building formerly housing the 1794 general store, and was known as The Golden Eagle, later The Eagle, after a mural by Peter Grosh on the facade. This first hotel was remodeled in the 1870s but in 1920 was demolished for replacement with a more modern and more fireproof structure. The Bethlehem Hotel Corporation built the new Bethlehem Hotel starting in 1921 with funding from

Charles M. Schwab Charles Michael Schwab (February 18, 1862 – September 18, 1939) was an American steel magnate. Under his leadership, Bethlehem Steel became the second-largest steel maker in the United States, and one of the most important heavy manufacturer ...

and others at

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

, and it was opened in 1922. The Pioneer Tap Room is decorated with 1937 murals on the history of

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 ...

by military artist George Gray, which were part of a series commissioned by General

J. Leslie Kincaid James Leslie Kincaid (November 28, 1884 – April 10, 1973) was an American lawyer, politician, businessman, and military officer from New York (state), New York. Early life and education Kincaid was born on November 28, 1884 in Syracuse, New Yor ...

20th century

On January 29, 1989, there was a major fire on the fourth floor. A guest plugged her traveling iron in, causing a large flash from the outlet that quickly caught fire. She called the hotel lobby, and the front desk staff attempted to put it out with a hose, but the fire raged out of control, spreading to the fifth floor. The fire department ultimately extinguished the fire, but four people died and 14 were injured. At the time, the hotel was filled with 20 judges and police officers in Bethlehem for a convention and a college music competition that brought in guests and their families. The former solarium, now a restaurant, has original Moravian tile. After the closure of

in the 1990s, the hotel stood vacant and there were plans to convert it into a combination of facilities for the elderly and a women's dormitory for

Moravian College Moravian University is a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The institution traces its founding to 1742 by Moravians, descendants of followers of the Bohemian Reformation under John Amos Comenius. Founded in 1742, Moravian University ...

. A group of local investors bought it and renovated it extensively in the late 1990s. In 2019 the Bethlehem Hotel came third in the ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' 10 Best Historic Hotels poll.

History

19th century

20th century

References

Further reading