24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Nazareth, PA

Nazareth is a borough in Northampton County in the Lehigh Valley that was founded in 1740 by German Moravian immigrants and named for the biblical town of Nazareth, where Jesus spent his youth.

Nazareth's land was purchased from evangelist George Whitefield, and on July 16, 1741, the tract officially became Moravian property.

Early Nazareth was a closed Moravian community by charter — members of other faiths were not allowed to purchase property there — and it was one of the four leading Moravian communities in colonial America, alongside Bethlehem, Emmaus, and Lititz.

The Whitefield House and adjacent Gray Cottage in Nazareth are now home to the Moravian Historical Society, and the borough's Rose Inn was built in 1752 to handle the stream of visitors the town attracted.

Nazareth Hall, built in 1754, became a widely famous boarding school and classical academy for Moravian boys, and its success led to the founding of Moravian College and Theological Seminary in 1807.

The Nazareth Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Nazareth has been home to C. F. Martin & Company since 1839 — the world-renowned guitar maker was founded by Christian Frederick Martin in New York City in 1833 and has been run by the Martin family for six generations.

Martin Guitar's original North Street factory in Nazareth was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018, and its current Sycamore Street headquarters, opened in 1964, includes the Martin Guitar Museum with over 170 historic guitars and offers public factory tours.

Another heritage manufacturer, Kraemer Textiles, has operated a mill in Nazareth since 1887 and still produces yarns, including Merino wool used for U.S. Olympic team sweaters.

Nazareth was home to the Nazareth Speedway, a one-mile tri-oval auto racing track that operated from 1910 until 2004, and it is the hometown of racing champions Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, and Marco Andretti.