First House Bethlehem

The First House of Bethlehem was built in 1741. It was important in the founding of Bethlehem, because on Christmas Eve 1741, Count Nicholas Von Zinzendorf sang hymns with other Moravians in the stable part of the house, and while singing "Jesus Call Thou Me" and the stanza "Not Jerusalem, Lowly Bethlehem," the city was named Bethlehem. The First House was originally located on the site of the Hotel Bethlehem, formerly the Eagle Hotel, and it was torn down in the early 1820s to build the hotel.