Best Web Design in Bethlehem, PA (2026)

Web Design for Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem was founded on Christmas Eve 1741 by Moravian settlers who named it for the biblical town, and it has embraced the "Christmas City USA" identity ever since. For most of the 20th century it was a company town for Bethlehem Steel, whose steel framed the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building; when the mills went cold, the rusted blast furnaces were reborn as the SteelStacks arts campus. Today it hosts the nation's largest free music festival, makes the Peeps you eat at Easter, and its Moravian core is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (The city straddles Northampton and Lehigh counties, with a portion in Lehigh County.)

AppWT works with Bethlehem, PA businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Bethlehem

Also known as. "Christmas City USA" (officially adopted December 7, 1937). "Steel City" (for its Bethlehem Steel heritage).

History. Founded on December 24, 1741 (Christmas Eve) by Moravians; the party was led by David Nitschmann, and Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf named the settlement after Bethlehem in Judea. Bethlehem featured the first documented decorated Christmas tree in the United States in 1747 and built one of America's first pumped municipal waterworks in 1762. The Bethlehem Iron Company, later Bethlehem Steel, was founded in 1857 and grew into the second-largest steel producer in the United States. At its 1940s peak Bethlehem Steel employed more than 30,000 people in Bethlehem alone and produced over 1,100 warships during World War II; its steel went into the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building. Bethlehem Steel's local operations wound down in the 1990s (the last Bethlehem mill closed in 1995) and the corporation dissolved in the early 2000s. In 2024, the Moravian Church Settlement in Bethlehem was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Local economy. After the collapse of Bethlehem Steel, the economy shifted to services, healthcare, education, and tourism. Wind Creek Bethlehem, a casino resort, opened in 2009 on the former Bethlehem Steel plant site and is a major employer and attraction. Lehigh University (founded 1865) and Moravian University (founded 1742) are anchor institutions, alongside the St. Luke's University Health Network. Major employers and companies include medical-device maker B. Braun, The Guardian Life Insurance Company, and confectioner Just Born. Just Born Quality Confections, headquartered in Bethlehem, makes Peeps, Mike and Ike, Hot Tamales, and Goldenberg's Peanut Chews.

Culture and community. Musikfest, held each August, is billed as the nation's largest free (non-gated) outdoor music festival and draws around one million attendees over ten days. The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, founded in 1898, gave the U.S. premiere of Bach's Mass in B Minor in 1900 and still performs the annual Bethlehem Bach Festival. PEEPSFEST, a New Year's Eve celebration, drops a giant illuminated Peep to ring in the new year, mimicking the Times Square ball drop. Christkindlmarkt, a German-style outdoor Christmas market at the SteelStacks complex, features handcrafted gifts and holiday foods. Moravian sugar cake, a yeast-raised coffee cake tied to the city's Moravian heritage, is a traditional local treat.

What makes Bethlehem distinct. Bethlehem is credited with the first decorated Christmas tree in America (1747) and was literally named on Christmas Eve, cementing its "Christmas City" claim. Bethlehem Steel F.C. (1907-1930) was one of America's earliest professional soccer dynasties, winning five National Challenge Cups and becoming the first U.S. pro soccer team to tour Europe, playing in Sweden in 1919. The Philadelphia Eagles held their NFL preseason training camp at Lehigh University from 1996 to 2012. Steel forged in Bethlehem framed some of America's most famous structures, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building. The city's Moravian founders ran a semi-communal "General Economy" in its early years, with shared labor and housing organized by the church.

Bethlehem Landmarks and Local Life

• SteelStacks - a 10-acre arts and events campus that opened in 2011 beneath the preserved blast furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel plant
• The Star of Bethlehem - a 91-foot illuminated star on South Mountain, installed in 1967 and lit year-round
• The Moravian Book Shop (established 1756) - regarded as one of the oldest continuously operating bookstores in the world
• The Sun Inn (1758) - a historic Moravian inn that hosted Continental Congress delegates and figures such as George Washington, John Adams, and the Marquis de Lafayette
• Hotel Bethlehem (built 1922) - Central Moravian Church, and the Hill to Hill Bridge over the Lehigh River