Moravian Sun Inn

The Moravian Sun Inn was an 18th-century inn built by the Moravian community at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to provide accommodations for non-Moravian merchants who had business with the community. Many people prominent during the American Revolution stayed there, including George Washington, Martha Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and the Marquis de Lafayette. On September 22, 1777 fourteen members of the Continental Congress signed the register and stayed overnight.[2]

Moravian Sun Inn
Moravian Sun Inn, October 2011
Location564 Main St., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°37′19″N 75°22′54″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1758 (1758)
NRHP reference No.73001658[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 2, 1973

The original inn was built in 1758, as a 66-by-40-foot (20 by 12 m), two-story stone building with a mansard roof. In 1826 a third story was added with 17 new rooms. In 1866 the building was again enlarged, almost completely hiding the original inn. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[3]

After Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine much of the American army's baggage and stores were kept near the inn and many people fleeing Philadelphia stayed at the inn. During Fries's Rebellion in 1799 seventeen of Fries's followers were held at the inn and then freed by Fries.

  • Original and 1866 elevations

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes unknown (n.d.). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Moravian Sun Inn" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-11-07.
  3. "Moravian Sun Inn". Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. A National Register of Historic Places travel Itinerary. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
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