In 1978 the society acquired the entire Whitefield House, the nearby Gray Cottage , built of logs in 1740, and the surrounding land known as the Ephrata Tract. The Moravian Historical Society now owns and maintains the historic property, the oldest existing Moravian site in North America. The society has a research library of over 3000 books and other materials, focusing primarily on Moravian church history, music, locations and people, and on local history. The staff will bring materials to a research room where they can be used. The research collection includes extensive records on local genealogy, including over 200,000 Lehigh Valley obituaries, files and family charts, family history books, and cemetery records.
Individuals are welcome to use the records.
The museum organizes and produces permanent, changing, and traveling exhibits. Permanent exhibits are located on the second floor of the museum, and include sections on Moravian history, local settlements and schools, worship, music, decorative arts, and world-wide missions. The museum also produces occasional traveling exhibits, photographic displays designed to be installed in a non-museum setting, which can be booked for several weeks by churches, schools and other institutions. The society s staff can provide programs and presentations for meetings of service and civic organizations, church groups, Scout groups, and school classes. Programs are available on a variety of topics, at minimal or no charge.