TRADITIONAL WHITE LIGHTS AND CANDLES IN THE WINDOWS
For those that have lived in the Historic District for the holiday season, you are aware that residents decorate their homes with white lights and candles in the windows. For those new to the neighborhood, the tradition of candles in the windows goes back to a cold Christmas Eve in 1741, the night Bethlehem was named, when a group of early Moravian settlers gathered together in a small log house. They placed symbolic white candles in each window to guide the footsteps of the infant Jesus, a custom the settlers brought with them from Saxony.
As residents of the Historic District, you are encouraged to observe this longstanding tradition to guide and welcome family, friends, and visitors to Historic Bethlehem as we celebrate the holiday season. The period of illumination begins at dusk on the first Sunday following Thanksgiving.
