Moravian Sun Inn

Moravian Sun Inn
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Moravian Sun Inn, October 2011
Location:	564 Main St., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:	40°37′19″N 75°22′54″W / 40.62194°N 75.38167°W / 40.62194; -75.38167Coordinates: 40°37′19″N 75°22′54″W / 40.62194°N 75.38167°W / 40.62194; -75.38167
Area:	less than one acre
Built:	1758
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	73001658 [1]
Added to NRHP:	October 02, 1973

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, 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]

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.

Gallery

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  Original and 1866 elevations

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ Undated, NRHP Nomination Form for Moravian Sun Inn Enter "public" for ID and "public" for password to access the site.
3. ^ "Moravian Sun Inn". Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. A National Register of Historic Places travel Itinerary. http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/delaware/sun.htm. Retrieved April 19, 2011.