Nazareth Hall

Nazareth Hall (1752–1929) was a school in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. It was built, by master mason Melchior Rasp, in 1754 in hopes that Count Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf would return from Europe and settle permanently in the community; he never came back to America. It is located in the Nazareth Hall Tract, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

In 1759 Nazareth Hall became the central boarding school for sons of Moravian parents. Later it attained wide fame as a "classical academy." This eventually led to the founding in 1807, of Moravian College and Theological Seminary now at Bethlehem.

Nazareth Hall developed into a first-class academy during the Civil War era. Under the guidance of Edward H. Reichel, the school was enlarged and attained a notable scholastic standing. Under the military influences of the Civil War, this school adopted a program of military drill for exercise, but it never was a regular military academy as it was sometimes called.

Toward the close of the century its methods and discipline were considerably altered. Laboratories were set up, a regular program of athletics was introduced, and the handsome old Moravian church building on its campus was converted into a gymnasium. The long and valued service of Nazareth Hall came at last to an end in 1928–1929. Provided by Wikipedia