'Bethlehem' is a city in
Lehigh and
Northampton Counties in the
Lehigh Valley region of eastern
Pennsylvania, in the
United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 71,329, making it the eighth largest municipality in Pennsylvania.
Bethlehem lies in the center of the Lehigh Valley, a
731 square miles (1,893 km²) area that is home to more than 650,000 people. The Lehigh Valley region embraces a trio of cities (Bethlehem,
Allentown and
Easton) within two counties (Lehigh and Northampton), making it Pennsylvania's third-largest metropolitan area. Smaller than Allentown but larger than Easton, Bethlehem is the Lehigh Valley's second most populous city.
There are three general sections of the city, North Bethlehem, South Bethlehem and West Bethlehem. Each of these sections blossomed at different times in the city's development and each contains areas recognized under the National Register of Historic Places.
In July 2006, ''
Money'' magazine included Bethlehem as one of its "Top 100 Best Places to Live."
[1]
History
Religious roots
Graveyard and steel mill, 1935
On
Christmas Eve in
1741,
Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf of
Saxony,
Germany, leading a small group of
Moravians, founded the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the "Forks of the Delaware" River along the banks of the
Monocacy Creek by the
Lehigh River. They named the settlement after the town of
Bethlehem in Judea, the place where
Jesus Christ was born.
In
1762, Bethlehem became home to 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, which is now a historical museum (
Burnside Plantation).
[2] The prosperous village was incorporated into a free borough in the County of Northampton in 1845.
On March 27, 1900,
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem presented the American debut of Lutheran composer
Johann Sebastian Bach's
Mass in B Minor in the city's Moravian church.
Bethlehem Steel F.C.
In the early part of the 20th century, Bethlehem was a hotbed of American soccer, with the corporate
Bethlehem Steel team, named
Bethlehem Steel F.C. after the company, winning the 1918-19 championship in the National Association Football League (NAFL), and then winning what amounted to national championships three more times during the next decade (1920-21 in the NAFL; 1926-27 in the American Soccer League I; and in 1928-29 winning the EPSL II). The Bethlehem Steel sides consisted largely of
British imported players and also had the distinction of being the first American professional soccer team to play in
Europe, which it did during its tour of
Sweden in 1919. The team also won the US Open Cup, now called the
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup after billionaire sports franchise owner
Lamar Hunt, five times beginning in 1915, and for the last time in 1926.
The "Christmas City"
Main Street in downtown Bethlehem in 2007
In
1937, the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce, mindful of Bethlehem's historic tie to the
Christmas story since its founding, adopted the nickname "Christmas City, USA" for Bethlehem. Many tourists now come to Bethlehem each year at Christmas time to see the historic downtown and the
81 foot (25 m) high electric "
Star of Bethlehem" on South Mountain. The city's
Musikfest festival in late summer can also draw more than one million people. Since the 1990s,
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem has recorded four "Christmas In Bethlehem" volumes.
Center of American heavy industry
South Bethlehem in 1935, looking north to houses and steel mill
Bethlehem became a center of heavy industry and trade during the
industrial revolution.
Bethlehem Steel, founded in
1904, began producing the first wide-flange structural shapes to be made in America,and was the first company to produce the now-ubiquitous 'I-beam', and was a major supplier of armor plate and ordnance products during
World War I and
World War II. After roughly 140 years of metal production at its Bethlehem plant, Bethlehem Steel ceased operations in Bethlehem in 1995.
Geography
Bethlehem is located at (40.626198, -75.375673).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 50.3
km² (19.4
mi²). 49.9 km² (19.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (0.88%) is water.
Necessitated by the large volumes of water that were required in the steelmaking process, the city owns
22,000 acres (89 km²) in the Pocono Mountains where its water is stored in reservoirs.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 71,329 people, 28,116 households, and 17,094 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,429.9/km² (3,704.4/mi²). There were 29,631 housing units at an average density of 594.0/km² (1,538.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 81.85%
White, 3.64%
African American, 0.26%
Native American, 2.22%
Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 9.44% from
other races, and 2.56% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 18.23% of the population.
There were 28,116 households out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were
married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.0% under the age of 18, 14.4% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,815, and the median income for a family was $45,354. Males had a median income of $35,190 versus $25,817 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $18,987. About 11.1% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 20.7% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.
The city is served by
Lehigh Valley International Airport, which also serves
Allentown, Pennsylvania and the greater Lehigh Valley.
Politics and government
The city government is composed of a
mayor and a 7-person city council. The current mayor of Bethlehem is
John B. Callahan, who was elected to his 2nd term in November of 2005. His election marks the 10th year that a Democrat has sat in the mayor's office in Bethlehem.
[3]
He is a member of the
Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,
[4] a
bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by
Boston Mayor
Thomas Menino and
New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg.
Post-secondary and primary education
Colleges and universities
Bethlehem is home to two highly-respected institutions of higher learning,
Lehigh University and
Moravian College. Moravian College also has a Theological Seminary with approximately 100 students of differing religious backgrounds. Founded in
1742 as ''Bethlehem Female Seminary'', Moravian College is also the sixth oldest
college in the nation. Northampton Community College is also located in neighboring
Bethlehem Township.
Primary and secondary education
Bethlehem is home to
Liberty High School for grades 9 through 12. Liberty is part of the Bethlehem Area School District. The district's other high school,
Freedom High School, also hosting 9th through 12th grade students is located in neighboring
Bethlehem Township. Liberty High School is the larger of the two schools.
Bethlehem also has two private high schools,
Bethlehem Catholic High School, which serves grades 9 through 12, and
Moravian Academy, which serves all primary and secondary school grades. The city is also the home of the
Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts, or LVPA.
Bethlehem Catholic, Freedom and Liberty all compete in Pennsylvania's
Lehigh Valley Conference, one of the most competitive high school athletic conferences in the state.
Bethlehem is also home to four public middle schools for grades six through eight: Broughal Middle School, East Hills Middle School, Nitschmann Middle School, and Northeast Middle School. It has 19 public elementary schools for grades K-5. In addition, it has a number of smaller, parochial and other religious grade schools that serve students Pre-K through 8th grade.
Media
Bethlehem's daily newspaper, ''The Globe-Times'', ceased publication in 1991. ''
The Morning Call'', based in Allentown, and the ''Express-Times'', based in Easton, are now the city's dominant newspapers. The newspapers used to have offices on Bethlehem's historic Main Street, separated by only a couple of buildings, but the ''Express-Times'' has moved several blocks away. Other smaller newspapers include the ''Bethlehem Press'', an award-winning weekly, ''Pulse Weekly,'' based in Allentown, ''Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal,'' based in Bethlehem, ''The Comenian,'' based in
Moravian College in Bethlehem, ''Lafayette,'' based in
Lafayette College in Easton, ''The Brown & White,'' based in
Lehigh University in Bethlehem, and ''Weekly,'' based in
Muhlenberg College in Allentown.
Religious broadcaster
WBPH is the only television station licensed in Bethlehem, though
WLVT Channel 39, a
PBS affiliate, has its operations in Bethlehem.
WFMZ Channel 69, an independent station, is based in neighboring Allentown. Bethlehem is part of the Philadelphia
DMA and its cable systems also receive select radio and television broadcasts from New York City.
Bethlehem has two licensed commercial radio stations, variety
WGPA AM, and
hard rock WZZO FM (though the latter's facilities are in
Whitehall Township). There is also one non-commercial station, WLVR FM, operated by Lehigh University. In addition,
public radio WDIY FM, while licensed in Allentown, maintains its facilities in Bethlehem. There are numerous other stations broadcast from Allentown and Easton representing a variety of commercial formats, as well as several
translators of public stations from Philadelphia and New Jersey.
Athletics
The
Philadelphia Eagles of the
National Football League hold their pre-season training camp each summer at the Bethlehem-based football facilities of 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.
[5][6]
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.
Bethlehem Steel F.C., founded in 1911, was one of the most successful early American soccer clubs. Bethlehem Steel won the American Cup in 1914, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1924. Additionally, they won the National Cup, currently the
U.S. Open Cup, in 1915, 1916, 1918, 1919, and 1926, the Allied Amateur Cup in 1914 and the Lewis Cup in 1928. The team folded in 1930.
The Lehigh Valley RFC
rugby union team play their matches in Bethlehem at Monocacy Park.
Recreation and entertainment
The city is famous for its
Musikfest, a music festival that happens every summer. Other festivals include
Celtic Fest, 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 Libraryis another popular destination for recreation and entertainment. The Banana Factory
[4] houses studios of area artists and is open to the public every first Friday of the month.
Historic Bethlehem hosts the famed Musikfest and also features many specialized boutiques, spas and clubs along it's main streets. The Boyd, Pop-mart and
Club 40 Below are among the prominent spots to hang out amongst local college students. The Boyd Theatre boasts a phenomenal sound system and classic 1920's architecture, while Pop-mart features New York fashion and designer names in this quaint town. Club 40 Below has recently been renovated and features the largest dance floor in the Lehigh Valley.
Lehigh University's
Zoellner Arts Center offers a variety of musical and dramatic events through the year.
The city will also be the future location of a large casino, the
Sands BethWorks, located on the former Bethlehem Steel property.
Bethlehem is also home to an amazing number of locally-based bands, of which the most popular include
Sandlot Heroes and
Eighteenth Hour.
People from Bethlehem
★
Michael Andretti, professional racing team owner, former professional race car driver.
★
David A. Bader,
Georgia Tech professor.
★
Chuck Bednarik, former professional football player,
Philadelphia Eagles,
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, 1967.
★
Pete Carril, former professional and collegiate basketball coach.
★
Alexandra Chando, actress, ''
As The World Turns''.
★
H.D., writer, poet.
★
Russell Davenport, publisher and writer.
★
Jimmy DeGrasso, former drummer,
Megadeth.
★
Edwin Drake, landmark oil driller.
★
Jonathan Frakes, director and actor, ''.
★
Eugene Grace, industrialist, President of Bethlehem Steel Corp. in 1916-1945.
★
Mel Harris, actress,
ABC's ''
thirtysomething''.
★
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, professional wrestler and actor.
★
Steve Kimock, rock musician.
★
Gelsey Kirkland, ballerina.
★
Nathan Homer Knorr, religious leader and 3rd president,
Jehovah's Witnesses.
★
Barry W. Lynn, executive director of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
★
Billy Packer,
CBS basketball analyst
★
Daniel Roebuck, actor,
ABC's ''
Lost''.
★
Charles M. Schwab,industrialist, former President of United States Steel Corp., incorporated Bethlehem Steel in 1904.
★
Sheetal Sheth, actress, ''
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World''.
★
John Spagnola, former professional football player,
Green Bay Packers,
Philadelphia Eagles and
Seattle Seahawks.
★
Sarah Strohmeyer, novelist, creator of ''
Bubbles''.
★
Jonathan Taylor Thomas, actor,
ABC's ''
Home Improvement''.
Sister cities
★ '
Murska Sobota',
Slovenia
★ '
Tondabayashi',
Japan
★ '
Schwäbisch Gmünd',
Germany
References
1. [1]
2. [2]
3. [3]
4. Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members
5. Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp
6. "Ins, Outs, All Arounds of an Eagles Camp", by Dave Spadaro, July 24, 2005.
External links
★
Bethlehem, PA Online
★
City of Bethlehem Offical Web Site.
★
History of Bethlehem.
★
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