Bethlehem Information: Tickets, Venues, Events and More

Bethlehem is one of the hillside cities in Grafton County, New Hampshire, the USA. This tiny city is home to Cushman and Strawberry Hill state forests. Its eastern half is within the White Mountain National Forest while the Appalachian Trail crosses in the south.

Named after James Lloyd of Boston after being granted as Lloyd's Hills in 1774, this city was developed by the Colonial Governor John Wentworth. The original grant for development could not be found in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War. Lack of documentation deterred its settlements until 1787 when the first permanent houses were built here.

The population of this city grew to 950 by 1850. By then it was already equipped with a gristmill, 5 large sawmills and 2 starch factories. The railroad came to Bethlehem in 1867. It was a great achievement for this city, and useful for the tourists to travel from Boston, New York and elsewhere. Bethlehem developed into a Gilded Age resort for the richer sections as it is conveniently located near the Mount Washington and other attractions of the White Mountains.

At the beginning of a building boom in 1873, Governor Henry Howard of Rhode Island built Howard House here. Over 30 hotels too were built in its main streets. Seven trains used to arrive here each day then. Big summer cottages were prepared here on the hills and the thoroughfares. An annual Coaching Parade was held in 1887 with the prize awards for the lavishly decorated horse-drawn carriages.

The Jewish families began to migrate into this city by 1916. They often took relief from the hay fever symptoms. It was, in fact, at Bethlehem that the National Hay Fever Relief Association was founded. This town is known today for its special Christmas postal cancellation stamps. People from all over the world send Christmas cards to the Bethlehem post office each year to have them postmarked.

As per the 2000 census, the population of Bethlehem is 2,199. It has a total area of 91.0 square miles, of which 90.9 sq mi is land and 0.1 sq mi is water.