The Lost Neighborhood

First Moravian Church

Stained glass medallions

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First Moravian Church

First Moravian Church

Lehigh University students know Christmas-Saucon Hall as the oldest building on campus. Before it became an academic building, however, it was a place of worship. Moravians had constructed the building to house their growing congregation and serve the South Bethlehem community. The building was nearing completion around the time of Lehigh University’s founding in 1865. As a result, the church sold their building to the university in 1866 and moved to a site to the north of Packer Avenue. Two church buildings occupied the property on Packer Avenue.

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First Moravian Church

Lehigh acquires First Moravian Church for demolition and university expansion

On December 18, 1962 Lehigh's Brown and White newspaper ran a short story about the acquisition of the First Moravian Church at Packer Ave. and Webster St. Original plans for campus expansion had the church remaining on the corner, with a Lehigh Chemical Engineering Lab building (later named Whitaker Laboratory) built around it. But this article explains that Lehigh had acquired the church and was going to demolish it, as well as the sexton's house on Packer, and the parsonage, on Webster.

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