Bethlehem PA Moving Companies

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem is the sixth largest city in Pennsylvania and is located in the center of Lehigh County. The city is known throughout the world as the Christmas City and it has an iconic electrical star atop South Mountain. The city population currently sits at 72,000 and it is steadily growing as more and more people are moving to Bethlehem.

Economy:
Bethlehem’s economy used to be mainly focused on manufacturing of steel up until the 1990. When the historic Bethlehem Steel closed down, the city then focused its resources on heavy urbanization and reinvestment in Brownfield land previously used for industrial purposes. The Bethlehem Steel plant is now being redeveloped into a resort containing, luxury hotel rooms, restaurants, slot machines, retail outlets and shopping malls.

The Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem opened in the 22nd of May 2009 and is currently one of the city’s top earners. It features fine dining, nightclubs, a built in shopping mall, slot machines and gaming tables. Outside downtown are several shopping malls namely the Westgate Mall, Lehigh Shopping Center, Martin Court Shopping Center, and the Bethlehem Shopping Center in Bethlehem Township. The steady development of the local economy has kept Bethlehem city movers busy as more and more investors come in to open up new establishments.

History:
The first inhabitants of Bethlehem were the Lenape Nation who spoke Algonquian. They traded with the Dutch and the English colonists in the mid-Atlantic area. It was on the Christmas Eve of 1741 when two Moravian leaders, Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf and David Nitschmann, established the new community. They named it Bethlehem after the place where Jesus Christ was born. The Moravian church owned all the properties in the area and ministered to the Lenape Native American and Moravians who converted. The city became the headquarters of the Northern Province of the Moravian Church after the Unity Synod of 1848.

Bethlehem built the first water works in America in 1762 to pump water for public usage. During the industrial revolution, the city became a center for heavy industry and trade with Bethlehem Steel being founded in 1857. The same company manufactured warships for the two World Wars but eventually closed in 1995 due to overseas competition and a decline in demand.

Bethlehem is now a city with a modern status but with a heavily preserved past and strong Moravian influence remaining in the culture of its people.

Tourism:
Other than the Sands Casino and great number of shopping malls, there are many other sources of recreational activities in Bethlehem for both locals and tourists to enjoy. Saucon, South Mountian, Monocacy, Johnston and Illick’s Mill are among the many parks in the city that offers trail walking, fishing, hiking, sports activities and picnic facilities. Bethlehem is also complete with its public and private facilities for golf, tennis, swimming, camping, playgrounds and theater performances. Festivals in music, film, harvest and even a Restaurant Week are also celebrated annually.

Colleges and Universities:

• Lehigh University
• Moravian College
• Northampton Community College

Interesting Facts:

• The community was established during Christmas Eve thus the name.
• The original wooden star was replaced in 1939 with one made of Bethlehem Steel.
• It was in 1937 that the city first started to call itself the Christmas city.