The Bethlehem Page
Allegiant Home Inspections serves Bethlehem PA
If you are considering moving to Bethlehem PA, below you will find background, history and information dealing with home inspections issues in Bethlehem Pennsylvania. Our Home Inspectors are local; they are born and raised in the Lehigh Valley and have a passion for not only the area, but also the historic structures we can all enjoy.
Part of Lehigh County and Northampton County, Bethlehem is located in the heart of the Lehigh Valley. Along with Allentown and Easton, it makes up Pennsylvania's third-largest metropolitan area. Smaller than Allentown but larger than Easton, Bethlehem is the Lehigh Valley's second most populous city with nearly 72,000 people.
A city known for its rich colonial and industrial history, today Bethlehem is experiencing an economic and cultural renaissance thanks to annual festivals like Musikfest and Celtic Classic, and the revitalization of the old Bethlehem Steel Plant by the Casino Industry. Voted by Money Magazine one of the top 100 places to live in the US, this city’s future promises to be as bright as its past.
Neighborhoods
Bethlehem is divided into four main areas: Center City,
West Side, East
Side, and South Side. The West Side is located
in Lehigh County, while the other three neighborhoods are located in Northampton County.
Center City is bordered by the Monacacy Creek to the west, Hanover and Bethlehem townships (both Northampton County) to the north, and Stefko Boulevard to the east.
The West Side begins at the city's western border with Allentown and continues east to the Monocacy Creek and north to Hanover Township (Lehigh County).
The East Side is bordered to the west by Center City and to the east by Bethlehem Township and Freemansburg.
The East Side includes the Pembroke Village area.The South Side's borders are Fountain Hill to the west, the Lehigh River to the north, South Mountain to the south, and Hellertown to the east.
Bethlehem City Hall is located at 10 East Church Street, next to the
Bethlehem Area Public Library at the city center complex.
History
The area that is now Bethlehem has beckoned travelers to experience the warmth and hospitality of this delightful community for hundreds of years. The areas along the Delaware River and its tributaries in eastern Pennsylvania were long inhabited by the Native Americans of the Lenape Nation. Dutch and English colonists from the mid-Atlantic region had been trading with the local inhabitants since they first came to the area.
In 1741, a small group of Moravians settled on the banks of the Lehigh River near the Monocacy Creek. On Christmas Eve of that first year, the Moravians' patron, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf of Saxony, Germany, visited the new settlement. In their two-room log home that housed both man and beast, the Count christened the community "Bethlehem". They built their first two-room log house on the site of the now famous Bethlehem Hotel. By 1747, thirty-six different trades and industries exported their wares from Bethlehem throughout the colonies.
In the days of the Revolution, our nation's leaders, including George Washington, Samuel Adams and the Marquis de Lafayette, met, supped and slept in Bethlehem. In 1762, Bethlehem built 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 in Bethlehem. This is now a historical museum – The Burnside Plantation.
By 1845, the more than 1,000 inhabitants
voted to incorporate the village into a free borough in the County of Northampton. Until the 1850s, only members
of the Moravian Church were permitted to live in Bethlehem. The historic
Brethren's House, Sisters' House, Widows' House and Gemeinhaus
(Congregation House) with the Old Chapel are remnants of this period of
communal living.
Bethlehem became a center of heavy industry and trade during the Industrial Revolution. Bethlehem Steel, founded in 1857, began producing the first wide-flange structural shapes made in the United States. The company was the first to produce the now-ubiquitous "I-beam" used in construction of steel-framed buildings, including skyscrapers.
The company was a major supplier of armor plate and ordnance
products during World War I and World War
II, including the manufacture of 1100 warships. After roughly 140 years of metal production
at its Bethlehem plant, Bethlehem Steel ceased operations there in
1995, overseas competition and declining demand had ended the business.
Bethlehem Steel works, May 1881, Watercolor by Joseph Pennell.
Christmas Star
On December 7, 1937, Mrs. Marion Brown Grace pulled a large switch to turn on the new Christmas streetlights and a large wooden star. Mrs. Grace was the daughter of former South Bethlehem burgess, Charles F. Brown, and wife of Eugene Grace, President of Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Hundreds of citizens attended the ceremony and thousands more listened to the speeches and musical performances on the radio. This was the first year the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce adopted the nickname "Christmas City, USA".
The Bethlehem Globe-Times paid for
the large wooden star erected on the top of South Mountain, at a cost of $460.
The star of Bethlehem viewed from Main Street at night
In 1939, the wooden star was replaced with a star made of Bethlehem steel, at a cost of $5000. It had eight rays with the main horizontal ray extended eighty-one feet and the main vertical ray was fifty-three feet long. In 1967, the star was redesigned, and Plexiglas was installed to protect the 250 50 watt light bulbs. It was installed on the old steel frame. This was ninety-one feet high and twenty-five feet wide at the base, with a depth of five feet, set in concrete. In the summer of 2006, the city repaired the base. When lit, the star can be seen from as far as Wind Gap, 20 miles (32 km) away.
Economy
In December 2006, Las Vegas Sands Corp was
awarded a Category 2 Slot Machine License by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control
Board. LVSC began work on the site,
categorized as both the largest brownfield redevelopment project in the nation
and the largest casino development investment made to date in the Commonwealth.
Its mission was to create reinvestment and urbanization in the area. At a
projected cost of $743 million, the historic Bethlehem Steel plant is being
redeveloped as a fully integrated resort, to include 3,000 slot machines, over
300 luxury hotel rooms, 9 restaurants, 200,000 square feet of premium retail
outlet shopping, and 46,000 square feet of flexible multi-purpose space. In
2007, the casino resort company of Las Vegas Sands began the construction of Sands
Casino Resort Bethlehem. The Sands Casino has been projected to bring in
approximately one million dollars in revenue per day as of 2009.
Another major economic anchor to the city is St. Luke's Hospital located in the Fountain Hill section of the city. That Hospital and Health Network is the second largest of its type in the Lehigh Valley.
Education
Bethlehem is home to the Bethlehem Area School District. It covers a 40 square-mile area that includes the city, the boroughs of Fountain Hill and Freemansburg, and Bethlehem and Hanover Townships. The district operates two high schools for grades 9-12: Liberty High School near center city and Freedom High School in neighboring Bethlehem Township.
The district also has four public middle schools for grades 6-8: Broughal Middle School, East Hills Middle School, Nitschmann Middle School, and Northeast Middle School. In addition, BASD maintains 19 public elementary schools for grades K-5. Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts (LVPA) is also operated by the district, though it accepts students in grades 9-12 from throughout Northampton and surrounding counties.
Bethlehem has two private high schools: Bethlehem Catholic High School, which serves grades 9-12, and Moravian Academy, which serves all primary and secondary school grades. Notre Dame High School, located just north of the city, also serves grades 9 through 12.
Bethlehem Catholic, Freedom and Liberty all compete athletically in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley Conference.
Colleges and universities
Moravian College's south campus in Bethlehem. 
Bethlehem is home to two institutes of higher education. Lehigh University, located on South Mountain on the city's South Side, has 4,800 undergraduates and 2,100 graduate students. The university, which was founded in 1865, was ranked #35 in U.S. News & World Report's 2010 ratings of America's best colleges.
Moravian College, located in the center city area, is a small, highly respected liberal arts college. Founded in 1742 as Bethlehem Female Seminary, Moravian is the sixth oldest college in the nation. Besides undergraduate programs, the college also includes the Moravian Theological Seminary, a graduate school with approximately 100 students from more than a dozen religious denominations.
Northampton Community College is also located in neighboring Bethlehem Township.
Recreation and Entertainment
The city is famous for its annual Muskfest, a largely free, ten-day music festival that draws over a million people to the city each August. Other festivals include The Celtic Classic, which celebrates Celtic culture, food and music, and the SouthSide Film Festival, a non-competitive, not-for-profit film festival. The city has also been the past and current host of the North East Art Rock Festival, or NEARFest, a popular 3-day Progressive rock music event.
The Bethlehem Area Public Library is a popular destination for recreation and entertainment. The Banana Factory houses studios of area artists and is open to the public every first Friday of the month. Touchstone Theatre, also on the SouthSide, houses the Valley's only professional resident theatre company, producing and presenting original theatre performances.
On the first Friday of the month, the businesses of the Southside Shopping District hosts First Friday, a celebration of arts and culture. Stores, restaurants and art galleries stay open late and offer special discounts, refreshments, gallery openings and more.
Lehigh University's Zoellner Arts Center offers a variety of musical and dramatic events through the year.
The city is the location of Pennsylvania's largest casino, the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, located on the former Bethlehem Steel property.
The Lehigh Canal provides hiking and biking opportunities along the canal towpath that follows the Lehigh River in Bethlehem.
The Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League hold their pre-season training camp each summer at the football facilities of Bethlehem's Lehigh University. The Eagles camp in Bethlehem is among the most highly-attended training camps in the entire NFL, drawing thousands of fans to each practice. During training camp, Eagles' practices typically are held twice daily (at 8:45am and 2:45pm) and are usually open to the public. An estimated 10,000 fans attended Eagles practice daily, the highest of any NFL team's training camp, in the summer of 2006.
Bethlehem also is home to Lehigh University's Stabler Arena, which hosts numerous athletic and music events. Stabler is home to the Continental Indoor Football League's Lehigh Valley Outlawz and to Lehigh University collegiate basketball.
City Parks
Bethlehem owns 39 park sites, encompassing 568 acres. Among the city's parks are Buchannan Park, Elmwood Park, Illick's Mill Park, Johnston Park, Monocacy Park, Rockland Park, Rose Garden, Sand Island, Saucon Park, Sell Field, South Mountain Park, Triangle Park, West Side Park, and Yosko Park.
Radon in Bethlehem and Northampton & Lehigh County
Radon, the second leading cause of lung cancer, is a radioactive gas that comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil and rock and gets into the air you breathe. It moves through the ground and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation where it can accumulate to unsafe levels. Because it is odorless, colorless, and tasteless, testing is the only way to know if you and your family are at risk from radon. Have Allegiant Home Inspections add a radon test to your Home Inspection. Our Home Inspectors are certified with the PA DEP to conduct radon test. If your test show you are at risk, most times a mitigation system can be negotiated into the price of your home at closing.
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