Sign Of Bethlehem ...

“Life is one big road with lots of signs.”

            ~ Bob Marley

               ~ 1945 ~ 1981

 

The iconic Hotel Bethlehem sign atop the historic hotel lets travelers on various roads leading to the Pennsylvania town know they’ve arrived in The Christmas City. A trace of snow can be seen below the chimney as winter prepares to segue into spring on this mid-March afternoon in this monochrome capture.

During the Prohibition in 1922, Charles M. Schwab built the Historic Hotel Bethlehem as it’s known it today. However, that little spot in the town of Bethlehem has a history with deep roots.

In 1741, a group of Moravian missionaries built, on that very spot, the famous First House of Bethlehem. It was a log house, built to shelter the Moravians as they expanded their presence in the area. The structure also served as a stable. On December 24, 1741, the leader of the Moravian missionaries, Count Nicholaus Ludwig Von Zinzendorf, sang a song about Bethlehem, which inspired the citizens to name the town.

The Moravians were very dedicated to their mission. Using this spot as a home base, they started “schooling the unschooled” and converting the “heathen” indigenous people. The Moravians were so passionate and dedicated that within 20 years, they had built 50 more buildings and were working on several different industries. All from within the structures they had built.

In the late 18th century, under the first presidency, George Washington, the First House of Bethlehem was converted to the Golden Eagle Hotel. The hotel operated in this incarnation until 1919, when the building started housing convalescing soldiers returning from World War I.

In 1922, Schwab’s fortune was on the rise and he was one of the stars of American Steel. Schwab built the hotel to cater to the clients of the enormous Bethlehem Steel Company and even back then, it featured amenities equivalent to modern day luxuries, such as, a fitness center, a barber shop, shoe shine, and coffee shop.

Nowadays, the Historic Hotel Bethlehem proudly displays its story in its lower lobby's Hall of History. Artifacts from the town’s history (religious settlement to industrial boomtown) such as photographs and printed materials are showcased as well. A 1936 George Gray painting located in the Mural Room depicts the transformation of the culture surrounding the building.

Historic Hotel Bethlehem, a member of Historic Hotels of America since 2002, dates back to 1922. The year 2024 marked the fourth consecutive year Historic Hotel Bethlehem was named America’s Best Historic Hotel by USA Today – a grand slam. Bruce Haines is the longtime owner of the hotel.

Bethlehem is known as The Christmas City. Since that Christmas Eve 1741when a small group of Moravians were singing a hymn with the stanza “Not Jerusalem, Lowly Bethlehem” Count Nicolaus Ludwig Von Zinzendorf christened this little town “Bethlehem.” Since that time Christmas in Bethlehem has been central to the city’s identity. From the first documented decorated Christmas tree in America to the efforts of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce to get Bethlehem nicknamed “Christmas City USA” in 1937, to the current time when both sides of the river boast Christmas markets filled with artisan craft, retail and food vendors, Bethlehem is rife with one Christmas celebration after another.

 

A Wisp Of Nature ...

“Some believe that art is the imitation of nature; in fact, nature is so sublime that it cannot be imitated.”

            ~ Kahlil Gibran

               ~ 1883 ~ 1931

It’s a wisp of nature on a beautiful early July afternoon along the banks of the Monocacy Creek as a bee is nectaring on the summer sweetness of a purple coneflower, sharing the petals with a ladybug at Monocacy Park, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

 

Steel Blue ...

  “The man who has done his best has done everything. The man who has done less than his best has done nothing.”

            ~ Charles M. Schwab

           ~ 1862 ~ 1939

    ~ American steel magnate, President & Chairman of Bethlehem Steel ~ under his leadership, Bethlehem Steel became the second-largest steel maker in the United States, and one of the most important heavy manufacturers in the world.

The iconic rusted blast furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel in Southside Bethlehem, Pennsylvania stand tall along the Lehigh River, framed by the green leaves of spring against a steel blue sky, on a gorgeous early May afternoon along the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail).

I captured this scene after setting out from the D&L Trailhead at Sand Island, Bethlehem.

Bethlehem Steel was an American steel and shipbuilding company that began operations in 1904 and was America’s second-largest steel producer and largest shipbuilder. The company’s roots trace to 1857 with the establishment of the Bethlehem Iron Company. Bethlehem Steel stopped producing steel in November 1995, and the company was dissolved in 2003. It was one of the world’s leading steel manufacturers for most of the 20^th century.

Much of the former home plant of Bethlehem Steel, the second largest steel manufacturer in the nation, has been transformed into SteelStacks, a ten-acre campus dedicated to arts, culture, family events, community celebrations, education and fun. SteelStacks has indoor and outdoor venues, hosting festivals, concerts and community events.

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

Steel blue is a shade of blue color that resembles blue steel, i.e. steel which has been subjected to bluing for protection from rust. The first recorded use of steel blue as a color name in English was in 1817.

Kindness Is Like Snow ...

“Kindness is like snow ~ it beautifies everything it covers.”

            ~ Kahlil Gibran

                ~ 1883 ~ 1931

The cold winter waters of the Monocacy Creek spill over Monocacy Falls in a cascading dance before the waters ramble past the snowy banks through Monocacy Park, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on a beautiful February afternoon, three days after the region was blanketed with 27.3 inches of snow.