On your right, look for the white, castle-like building with a little tower and flags, sitting beside a hefty stone block marked “Masonic Temple.”
Welcome to the Fountain Hill Historic District... a neighborhood with a fancy name and a slightly confusing footprint. It’s officially a national historic district in Bethlehem, but it mostly skips the separate borough of Fountain Hill down to the southwest. Geography is fun like that.
What you’re really seeing is a concentrated show-off of 44 historic buildings plus one notable structure-big, dramatic mansions that once belonged to the people steering industry and railroads, along with more modest homes for managers and merchants. Names like the Linderman and Schwab Mansion from around 1870, the Robert Sayre House from about 1857, and the Elisha Packer Wilbur Mansion from around 1863 tell you exactly who had the better view... and the bigger parlor.
The district also gathers public landmarks like this Masonic Temple, the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, and even the Hill to Hill Bridge-and it earned National Register status in 1988.
When you’re set, head east for about 4 minutes to reach the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem.
