Bethlehem dates to 1793, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #398 of 758 in New York. What drives it
14 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 102 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1810.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1833.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bethlehem’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bethlehem is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #398 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bethlehem’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bethlehem’s 37.0 sits near the middle of its state (64% of New York towns have fewer) while its 130 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1793.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Bethlehem’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Eight other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Cedar Hill
1833–1901
Bethlehem Center
1850–1901
Norman's Kill
1852–1873
Adams Station
1868–1885
Beckers Corners
1873–1900
Slingerlands
1873–1906
South Bethlehem
1876–today
Selkirk
1883–today
Delmar
1885–today
Glenmont
1890–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beaver DamBeckers CornersBethlehem CenterBethlehem HeightsBreckenridge Mobile Home ParkCedar HillDelmarElsmereGlenmontHoucks CornersSelkirkSlingerlandsSouth AlbanySouth BethlehemSpawn HollowWemple
Gone or out of use
School Number 1schoolSchool Number 14schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 8schoolSelkirk YardslocaleTri Village Airportairport
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bethlehem
Beth EmethBethlehemCalvaryElmwoodHoly Spirit LutheranKimmeyMount PleasantOur Lady Help of ChristiansSaint Matthew
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Bethlehem’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bethlehem’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
When Henry Hudson sailed up the river that would eventually bear his name, he is thought to have landed at what is now the town of Bethlehem. The spot where he is presumed to have landed is commemorated at the town's Henry Hudson Park. The town was established on March 12, 1793, from the town of Watervliet. In 1832, part of the town was used to form the town of New Scotland.
Bethlehem is in sight, and we are toiling up the hills which Joseph and Mary ascended in this same month of December, long, long years ago. The town of Bethlehem, to my surprise, is in the shape of a horseshoe, the houses extending dear <m to the prongs of the horseshoe, between which I look and see the fields where Ruth gleaned and Boaz was fascinated with her charms, and about which is garlanded the immortal pastoral which, in the Bible, lies peacefully between the war-lyrics of Judges and Samuel. Though David was a "man of war," his great-grandmother, Ruth, was a fanner's wife and a woman of peace. Near one
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The story of Bethlehem Hospital from its foundation in 12471915 · page 17Read the page →
Read the text
Among those who bowed their heads, when the bell proclaimed the stupendous moment of transubstantiation, were crusaders who had drunk of the well of Bethlehem, or had seen its star in the east : they had been parched with the thirst of battle, or had laid down, where they fought, under the walls of Bethlehem. To-day the land, which Simon offered on his knees at the altar to the " church of the glorious Virgin Mary of Bethlehem," is approximately occu-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mr. Schwab has told his vision of the community of Bethlehem as an ideal industrial city, with homes, parks, libraries, educational, art, and musical facilities that shall be exceptional. Upon several public occasions he has referred to his purpose of presenting to the city of Bethlehem a temple of music to be the home of the Bach Choir and also of the Lehigh Valley Symphony
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Musical instruments in Bethlehem, earliest use, 6; first spinet, 6; organs, 7; trombones, 7; Franklin's list of instruments at Bethlehem, 9; played on way to harvest fields, 10; programmes of 1752 and 1782, 11; orchestral instruments used Christmas, 1787, 15; guitars
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Bethlehem, 1790 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1793, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bethlehem’s post office opened in 1833, and the census of 1810 counted 4,430 people here.
How does Bethlehem rank for history?
Bethlehem is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #398 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Bethlehem?
14 listings: 13 buildings, among them the Bethlehem House (listed 1973, the first), and 1 historic district, the Slingerlands Historic District, with 102 contributing buildings. 130 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Bethlehem?
14% of Bethlehem’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1975.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (14), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1891
1891
