page_title: Moravian Historical Society
section_title: Ephrata Tract
hierarchical_section_title: Moravian Historical Society / Site / Ephrata Tract
caption_attribution_description: English: The exterior marker for the Moravian Historical Society
context_page_description: The Moravian Historical Society in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1857. It aims to preserve and present the art, history, and culture of the Moravians in America, and it is the third oldest historical society in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Society is housed in the 1740/1743 Whitefield House on the Ephrata Tract in downtown Nazareth. The Society is affiliated with the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the repository for records of the Moravian Church in North America, Northern Province.
  The Society collects objects relating to Moravian history in North America, provides research assistance, publishes, and offers lectures, programs, events, and activities for all ages and levels of interest.
context_section_description: In 1740, a Moravian group from Savannah, Georgia was hired by landowner and British cleric George Whitefield to build a school for orphaned slaves. Whitefield wanted to build his school on a 5000-acre area he called Nazareth, which he had purchased from William Allen that same year. Tensions arising from theological disputes between Whitefield and the Moravians led the Moravians to purchase and begin to establish Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, leaving Whitefield's school building unfinished. When Whitefield later went bankrupt, the Moravians purchased the 5000 acres, which included the Gray Cottage, First House, and the bottom portion of the Whitefield House. This area became known as the Ephrata Tract. The town of Nazareth was laid out in 1771 several blocks to the west. The First House was demolished in 1864, but the Whitefield House and Gray Cottage still stand.  The buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 1, 1980.
caption: The marker for the Moravian Historical Society
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