A hill town set off from Woodbury, chartered in 1787 under the spelling Bethlem, where Joseph Bellamy preached for fifty years and trained ministers in his own parsonage, and where Christmas cards still come for the postmark.

Litchfield County · Record checked October 8, 2026

3,385Population2020 census1
1787Became a townset off from Woodbury as the Town of Bethlem2
14First familieswhen the parish began its own worship in 17383
50 yearsBellamy's pulpitJoseph Bellamy, pastor from 1740 to 17904
3National Registerplaces, all still standing5

Bethlehem on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Bethlehem, Connecticut in 2026, with the Bethlehem Green, the Bellamy-Ferriday House, the Abbey of Regina Laudis and 30 numbered landmarks

2026

Bethlehem today

By KNOWOL

Shaded hills from the Green down to Gulls Hollow, roads from Main Street North to Arch Bridge Road, and a guide of 30 numbered landmarks with the National Register sites marked.6

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Bethlehem

Dr. Bellamy's school in the parsonage

Joseph Bellamy was ordained pastor of the young Bethlehem church in 1740, and he stayed fifty years. His name traveled far beyond the parish, and the University of Aberdeen in Scotland made him a Doctor of Divinity. A New York church tried to hire him away, but a council decided he was more needed in Connecticut. So he stayed, wrote his books, and turned his parsonage into a school for ministers. Levi Hart studied with him and preached his very first sermon from Bellamy's pulpit in 1761. Tradition says a young Aaron Burr studied there too and traded sharp words with his teacher. On Sundays Bellamy met the parish children for Bible lessons, and a later pastor believed Bethlehem had never been without a Sabbath school.478910

Bethlem, by the clerk's pen

In 1738 the north end of old Woodbury was a settlement only four years old, with fourteen families, when it began holding its own worship. The next year the colony made it a society called Bethlehem. Neighbors kept joining. Seven Litchfield men and their families were annexed to the parish in 1741, and in 1764 the people of Woodbury Farms were let in on condition that they help build a meetinghouse at the center. In 1787 the state made the society a town, but the act named it the Town of Bethlem. A Woodbury historian called that a clerical error, though Bellamy himself had always spelled it Bethlem. A special act in 1864 made it Bethlehem, the name that brings Christmas cards to the post office every December.31112132141

Wit from the Bethlehem pulpit

Bethlehem's ministers were remembered for their humor as much as their learning. A neighboring pastor, Mr. Wildman, once asked Bellamy how to get his people to meeting. Put a barrel of rum under the pulpit, Bellamy told him. Wildman answered that he was afraid to, since he'd then have half of Bethlehem's church every Sunday. Azel Backus, who followed Bellamy in 1791, was known for sermons spiced with wit. His election sermon of 1798 ran some fifty printed pages, and the Connecticut Courant praised it. Backus also kept a school in town that did especially well with unruly boys, and in 1812 he left to lead Hamilton College. John Mason once said of him, 'I saw a man up in Connecticut, who had half a bushel of brains!'15161718

Through the years

24 moments from 1730 to today.

  1. 1730Caleb Martin builds the oldest part of his house, on land granted in 1724.19
  2. 1734Settlers begin clearing the land that becomes Bethlehem.6
  3. 1738With just fourteen families, the settlement starts holding its own Sunday worship.3
  4. 1738Joseph Bellamy is granted 104 acres as the parish's first settled minister.20
  5. 1739The colony makes the north end of Woodbury a society named Bethlehem.11
  6. 1740Bellamy is ordained and installed as pastor of the church in Bethlehem.4
  7. 1741Seven Litchfield men and their families are annexed to the Bethlehem parish.12
  8. 1760A violent fever kills thirty-four people in the Bethlehem society.21
  9. 1761Levi Hart, Bellamy's student, preaches his first sermon from Bellamy's pulpit.9
  10. 1764The people of Woodbury Farms join the society and agree to help build a meetinghouse at the center.13
  11. 1767A meetinghouse goes up by the Green. A granite obelisk marks its site today.22
  12. 1774The society votes that the singers may sit in the gallery, the men kept off the women's pews.13
  13. 1787The General Assembly makes the society a town, named the Town of Bethlem.2
  14. 1790Bellamy dies in Bethlehem in the fiftieth year of his ministry.4
  15. 1791Azel Backus is installed as Bellamy's successor.16
  16. 1798Backus preaches the state election sermon, Absalom's Conspiracy, some fifty printed pages long.16
  17. 1812Backus leaves Bethlehem to become president of Hamilton College.16
  18. 1832The Episcopal church on the Green is built.22
  19. 1864A special act of the legislature changes the town's name from Bethlem to Bethlehem.14
  20. 1912Henry Ferriday buys the Bellamy house as a summer home.6
  21. 1947The Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis is founded in town.1
  22. 1968The Old Bethlem Historical Society is founded.6
  23. 1982The Bethlehem Green Historic District, with 63 properties, joins the National Register.22
  24. 1990Caroline Ferriday dies and leaves the Bellamy house to what is now Connecticut Landmarks.6

Places to see

The numbers match the landmark guide printed on the 2026 map.

  • 7Caleb Martin HouseMill Pond Road. A saltbox begun in 1730.
  • 8Bethlehem Fairground384 Main Street North. The fair, weekend after Labor Day.
  • 9Joseph Bellamy HouseMain Street North. Bellamy's house, begun around 1754.Visit their website
  • 15Bethlehem Green Historic DistrictTown center. 63 properties around the Green.
  • 22Bethlehem Post Office34 East Street. Christmas postmarks every December.
  • 24Abbey of Regina LaudisSouth of the center. Benedictine abbey founded in 1947.Visit their website
  • 26First Church of BethlehemTown center. One of the churches by the Green.Visit their website
  • 28Old Bethlem Historical MuseumTown center. The old town office and firehouse.Visit their website
  • 29Bellamy-Ferriday House & GardenMain Street North. A garden of roses, lilacs and peonies.Visit their website
  • 30The Gary-the Olivia Performing Arts CenterNear the abbey. Open-air theater for about 200.Visit their website

On the National Register

All 3 places in Bethlehem on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.5

  • Caleb Martin House

    Built 1730 · Listed 1996 · 42 Mill Pond Road

    One of the oldest buildings in town, it grew from a small house of 1730 into a full saltbox by 1745. It still stands on nearly all of its original 1724 land grant, beside the Mill Pond on the Weekeepeemee River.19

  • Joseph Bellamy House

    Built about 1760 · Listed 1982 · 9 Main Street North

    The home of Rev. Joseph Bellamy, the parish's first settled minister and a leading theologian of the First Great Awakening. Caroline Ferriday left it to become a museum, and Connecticut Landmarks runs it today with its formal garden of roses, peonies and lilacs.20

    Visit their website

  • Bethlehem Green Historic District

    Listed 1982 · Parts of North Main Street, South Main Street, East Street, West Road and Munger Lane

    The triangular Green and 63 contributing properties, among them the Congregational church of 1790, the Episcopal church of 1832, the townhouse of 1839 and two 18th-century taverns now used as homes. A granite obelisk marks the site of the meetinghouse of 1767.22

In their words

“Bethlehem! Thou "house of bread," situate like the Bethlehem in the Holy Land, about six miles from thy Jerusalem.”

A toast to Bethlehem at the 200th anniversary of Woodbury's First Church, 1870, in History of ancient Woodbury23

“But Bethlehem was perhaps as good a place as Broadway for writing books.”

History of Connecticut in monographic form, 1925, on Joseph Bellamy8

“I saw a man up in Connecticut, who had half a bushel of brains!”

John Mason on Azel Backus of Bethlehem, quoted in History of Connecticut in monographic form, 192518

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Bethlehem, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  2. The public records of the State of Connecticut (1894), on the incorporation of Bethlem, Internet Archive
  3. History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut (1854), on the first worship in Bethlem, Internet Archive
  4. History of New Haven County, Connecticut (1892), on Joseph Bellamy, Internet Archive
  5. National Register of Historic Places listings in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  6. Map of Bethlehem, Connecticut in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  7. Papers of the New Haven Colony Historical Society (1918), on Dr. Bellamy, Internet Archive
  8. History of Connecticut in monographic form (1925), on Joseph Bellamy, Internet Archive
  9. The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut (1886), on Levi Hart, Internet Archive
  10. Contributions to the ecclesiastical history of Connecticut (1861), on Sabbath schools, Internet Archive
  11. A catalogue of the names of the early Puritan settlers of the colony of Connecticut (1852), Internet Archive
  12. The public records of the colony of Connecticut (1850), on the Litchfield families annexed in 1741, Internet Archive
  13. History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut (1871), on the Bethlehem society's votes, Internet Archive
  14. History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut, volume 2, on the name Bethlem, Internet Archive
  15. History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut (1871), on Mr. Wildman and Dr. Bellamy, Internet Archive
  16. The public records of the State of Connecticut (1894), note on Rev. Azel Backus, Internet Archive
  17. The clergy of Litchfield County (1909), Internet Archive
  18. History of Connecticut in monographic form (1925), on Azel Backus, Internet Archive
  19. Caleb Martin House, Wikipedia
  20. Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden, Wikipedia
  21. History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut (1871), on the fever of 1760, Internet Archive
  22. Bethlehem Green Historic District, Wikipedia
  23. History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut, volume 2, on the 1870 bicentennial toast to Bethlehem, Internet Archive