Whitefield House and Gray Cottage | |
Location | 214 E. Center St., Nazareth, Pennsylvania |
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Coordinates | 40°44′28″N75°18′28″W / 40.74111°N 75.30778°W |
Area | 2.7 acres (1.1 ha) |
Built | 1740 |
Architect | Boehler, Rev. Peter; Et al. |
NRHP reference No. | 80003589 [1] |
Added to NRHP | May 1, 1980 |
The Whitefield House and Gray Cottage are two historic homes on the Ephrata Tract in Nazareth, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Construction on both buildings began in 1740, by Moravian settlers who moved to Nazareth after the failure of their mission to Native Americans and Europeans in the Savannah, Georgia area, 1735–1740. The two structures were added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 1, 1980. [1] The Ephrata Tract and its buildings are owned by the Moravian Historical Society, and act as the Society's headquarters.
The Whitefield House is a stone building measuring 56 feet long and 35 feet wide. It is named for George Whitefield (1714–1770), who hired a group of Moravians from Georgia to build the house as a school for orphaned slaves. Only a foundation was built however, after theological disputes between Whitefield and the Moravians caused the group to purchase the town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was here they established a Moravian community. When Whitefield went bankrupt, the Moravians purchased 5000 acres of land from him, which would later become the town of Nazareth. They completed the Whitefield House in 1743, just in time for it to be used as a home for 32 couples coming over from England. The house has been in Moravian hands for years, and has operated as a place of worship, boarding school, place for mission work, nursery, the Moravian Theological Seminary, and apartments for furloughed missionaries. Currently, the Moravian Historical Society uses the building as its historical museum, administrative offices, and gift shop. [2] [3]
Whitefield House was briefly fortified with a stockade and sentry boxes from 1756 to 1758, to protect people fleeing from the Gnadenhütten massacre and the Northampton massacre in late 1755. By January 29 1756, 253 refugees were living at Whitefield, including a number of Lenape Moravian converts. The stockade was 236 feet long by 170 feet wide, and 10 feet high, and protected two log houses and a cattle yard as well as Whitefield House. Sentry boxes at the gate were built of green logs chinked with clay to make them fire-resistant. Construction began in February 1756 and was completed in May. Captain Isaac Wayne and a company of soldiers were briefly posted in Nazareth, but after the stockade was built, local settlers and the Moravian Indians kept watch. The so-called "Nazareth stockade" was probably dismantled after hostilities ended following the Treaty of Easton in October 1758. [4] : 252
The Gray Cottage is a 1+1⁄2-story log building with a wood shake covered gable roof. Its name possibly comes from its aged gray coloring. It was restored in 1971 to be used as a private residence, and it is the oldest American Moravian building still standing. The log house was built in October 1740 by the Moravians to shelter themselves during the winter. The building has been used a boys' and girls' school, a choir house for widows, and a nursery. The Moravian Historical Society owns and maintains the building, and rents it out to tenants. [5] [3]
Northampton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,951. Its county seat is Easton. The county was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Its namesake was the county of Northamptonshire in England, and the county seat of Easton was named for Easton Neston, a country house in Northamptonshire.
Nazareth is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough's population was 6,053 at the 2020 census. Nazareth is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of 2020.
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, making it the second-largest city in the Lehigh Valley after Allentown and the seventh-largest city in the state. Among its total population as of 2020, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,343 were in Lehigh County. The city is located along the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River.
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.
Wachovia was the area settled by Moravians in what is now Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. Of the six 18th-century Moravian "villages of the Lord" established in Wachovia, today only the town of Bethania and city of Winston-Salem exist within the historic Wachovia Tract. The historical tract was somewhat larger than present-day Winston-Salem and somewhat smaller than present-day Forsyth County.
Old Salem is a historic district of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, which was originally settled by the Moravian community in 1766. It features a living-history museum which interprets the restored Moravian community. The non-profit organization began its work in 1950, although some private residents had restored buildings earlier. As the Old Salem Historic District, it was declared a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1966, and expanded fifty years later. The district showcases the culture of the Moravian settlement in the Province of North Carolina during the colonial 18th century and post-statehood 19th century via its communal buildings, churches, houses and shops.
Nazareth Hall (1752–1929) was a school in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. It was built, by master mason Melchior Rasp, in 1754 in hopes that Count Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf would return from Europe and settle permanently in the community; he never came back to America. It is located in the Nazareth Hall Tract, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, also known as the 1741 Gemeinhaus and the Lewis David de Schweinitz Residence, is a historic house museum at 66 West Church Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Built in 1741 to house the early Moravian community as well as the community's place of worship, the Saal, it is the oldest surviving building in Bethlehem, the largest surviving log house in continuous use in the U.S. and also significant for its association with the botanist and mycologist Lewis David de Schweinitz (1780–1834). It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975. The building is part of the Historic Moravian Bethlehem District which was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 2012 and later named to the U.S. Tentative List in 2016 for nomination to the World Heritage List.
The Bethlehem Waterworks, also known as the Old Waterworks or 1762 Waterworks, is believed to be the oldest pump-powered public water supply in what is now the United States. The pumphouse, which includes original and replica equipment, is located in the Colonial Industrial Quarter of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, between Monocacy Creek and Main Street. It was declared a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1971, an American Water Landmark in 1971, and a National Historic Landmark in 1981.
The Tannery is a historic tannery building constructed by the colonial Moravians in Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. It is a limestone building built in 1761, and is part of the Bethlehem Colonial Industrial Quarter.
The Gristmiller's House, also known as The Miller's House, is an historic home which is located in Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
Nazareth Hall Tract is a historic Moravian school complex located at Nazareth, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. It consists of the manor house Nazareth Hall, the 1840 Moravian Church, the "First Room" Building (Parsonage), the Principal's House, the Single Sister's House, and a monument. In 1759, it became the central boarding school for sons of Moravian parents known as Nazareth Hall. The school closed in 1928-1929.
The Nazareth Historic District is a national historic district located in the center of the Borough of Nazareth, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, which is located ten miles northeast of Bethlehem and seven miles northwest of Easton.
Fort Hyndshaw was a fort in Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, built in 1756. It was the northernmost of a line of Pennsylvania defenses erected during the French and Indian War. The fort was abandoned by its militia garrison in July 1757, but was still used by local settlers as a refuge from Native American attacks, until June 1758 when it was captured by Native American warriors and its inhabitants were taken prisoner.
The Historic Moravian Bethlehem Historic District encompasses a complex of the oldest surviving buildings in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The National Historic Landmark District is a subset of the larger Central Bethlehem Historic District which is specifically focused on the early buildings constructed by the Moravians, who settled the city in the 18th century.
The Moravian Historical Society in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1857. Its mission is to preserve, interpret, and celebrate the rich culture of the Moravians. It is the third oldest historical society in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Moravian Historical Society is located in the 1740-1743 Whitefield House in downtown Nazareth.
Fort Allen was a military structure built in Franklin Township, in Carbon County, Pennsylvania in 1756. It was first of several frontier defenses erected by Benjamin Franklin for the Province of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. The garrison was rarely more than fifty men, and the fort never saw combat, however it became a center of contact and trade with Native Americans and served as a stopping point for Indians traveling to and from Bethlehem, Easton and Philadelphia. It was abandoned in 1761 near the end of the French and Indian War, and briefly reoccupied during Pontiac's War and again during the American Revolutionary War.
The Gnadenhütten massacre was an attack during the French and Indian War in which Native allies of the French killed 11 Moravian missionaries at Gnadenhütten, Pennsylvania on 24 November 1755. They destroyed the mission village and took one woman prisoner, and only four of the sixteen residents escaped. Following the attack, Benjamin Franklin was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Provincial Council to construct forts in the area, and in other parts of the Province of Pennsylvania, to defend against Native American attacks, which were becoming increasingly frequent due to the French and Indian War.
In December 1755, the Northampton massacre was a series of attacks on people in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. These attacks terrified the population, who then demanded military protection from the Pennsylvania government. On 10 and 11 December, a party of Native American warriors attacked the Hoeth family farm and killed Frederick Hoeth and his wife, and took three of their children captive. They also set fire to Daniel Brodhead's Plantation, and attacked and burned about a dozen farms in the area. The Moravian mission at Dansbury was also destroyed.