Growth of Bethlehem
Bethlehem remained an exclusively
Moravian community for well over a century. Finally, in 1854, the
Moravian church gave up its mandate to govern Bethlehem and its claim to
exclusive control of the land. Soon a new industrial town was laid
out and built on the south side of the 
Lehigh
River, opposite the Moravian community. In 1853, the Pennsylvania
and Lehigh Zinc Company opened, and two years later Lehigh Valley Railroad
was formed. (51) The Saucona Iron Company opened in South
Bethlehem in 1857. Since Moravian religion accepts business as a
way of participating in life, many Moravians invested in the new companies.
However, few wished to give up the orderly way of life in their community
in order to move to South Bethlehem, so Bethlehem proper remained a distinct
area. (52) Mary Procter observes that "… a more rambunctious town was
developing on the south side of the Lehigh as workers came to the Zinc
and iron mills." (53) First came the Pennsylvania Germans,
then the Irish. In the 1870’s a wave of Slovak and Hungarian immigrants
came to the South Side. Few company homes were built, so many
various structures were built by the workers, scattered across the sides
of South Mountain that had been farmland.(53)Jan 24, 1991 A1:2)
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