__NOTOC__ The Moravian Sun Inn was an 18th-century inn built by the Moravian community at

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 ...

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, ...

to provide accommodations for non-Moravian merchants who had business with the community. Many

American patriots Patriots, also known as Revolutionaries, Continentals, Rebels, or American Whigs, were the colonists of the Thirteen Colonies who rejected British rule during the American Revolution, and declared the United States of America an independent n ...

prominent in launching and supporting the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

stayed there, including

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 21, 1731 — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington served as the inaugural ...

, Alexander Hamilton,

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

Samuel Adams Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, an ...

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of t ...

, and the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...

. On September 22, 1777 fourteen members of the Continental Congress signed the register and stayed overnight. ''Note:'' This includes The Sun Inn received its original license from King George III and the original part of the building was built in 1758 as a , two-story stone building with a mansard roof. In 1758, the Moravian missionary community in Bethlehem was considered to be located at the western frontier of colonial America. It was the Moravians’ official “

Gasthaus A Gasthaus (also called ''Gasthof'', ''Landhaus'', or ''Pension'') is a German-style inn or tavern with a bar, a restaurant, banquet facilities and hotel rooms for rent. Gasthäuser are typically found in smaller towns and are often family-own ...

” and its guests included Governors John and Richard Penn; Governor William Franklin of New Jersey; Sir William Johnson, British Commissioner of Indian Affairs; General Thomas Gage, Commander of the British forces in America; and James Allen, son of William Allen, the founder of Allentown. Throughout the American war for independence, the Sun Inn hosted statesmen and military officers including Generals George Washington; Greene; Knox; the Marquis de Lafayette; the Marquis de Chastellux; Horatio Gates; Benedict Arnold, and Ethan Allen; Count Casimir Pulaski and Baron Von Steuben; Captain John Paul Jones; Alexander Hamilton; and John Jay. ef: http://paheritage.wpengine.com/article/sun-inn-restored According to the National Register Nomination form, members of the Continental Congress, including John Adams, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee and John Hancock, stayed at the inn in 1777 when the British occupied Philadelphia. The inn acquired an international reputation for its hospitality and accommodations, fine food and was one of the first inns to offer a private suite. John Adams, President of the United States, stated that it is, “the best Inn I ever saw.” In 1816, under the management of Christian Jacob Wolle a third story was added to the building with 17 new rooms. In 1866 the building was again enlarged, almost completely hiding the original inn. The inn claims the distinction of having lodged fifty-one chiefs and warriors of the Iroquois Nation, including Chief Cornplanter, the Seneca leader and orator. After Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine, much of the American army's baggage and stores were kept near the inn and many people fleeing

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

stayed at the inn. During Fries's Rebellion in 1799, seventeen of Fries's followers were held at the inn and then freed by Fries. In the nineteenth century, the inn was altered and enlarged and continued to host famous visitors including Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, who was a guest at the inn during the summer of 1821. In 1836, General William Henry Harrison, who was later the President of the United States, led a parade to the inn where he addressed townspeople. The Sun Inn ceased operations as a hotel in 1961, two hundred years after receiving its original license. To save the inn from deterioration and demolition, the Sun Inn Preservation Association was created in 1971 to raise funds and acquire the property. The inn 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 1978. The Sun Inn has been restored to its original eighteenth-century appearance and is back in operation as a museum, restaurant, tavern, and micro-distillery.

Gallery

FIle:Sun Inn_HABS.jpg, Original and 1866 elevations

References

External links

Sun Inn, 564 Main Street, Bethlehem, Northampton County, PA
5 measured drawings at

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

Sun Inn website
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Hotel buildings completed in 1758 Buildings and structures in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Moravian settlement in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Northampton County, Pennsylvania