Dropping its homage to Lloyd, a Loyalist, the town was incorporated as "Bethlehem" on December 27, 1799, the name having been selected on Christmas Day.

With it traveled tourists from Boston, New York and elsewhere, many to avoid respiratory ailments in the low pollen count environment of "the highest town in New Hampshire" (as claimed on a present-day sign in the village).

Conveniently located near Mount Washington and other attractions of the White Mountains, Bethlehem developed into a Gilded Age resort for the rich and famous.

Seven trains arrived daily, some direct from Grand Central Terminal, stopping at Bethlehem's five depots.

Patrons included Presidents Grant, Hayes, Roosevelt, Taft and Harding, as well as author Thornton Burgess and poet Robert Frost.

Entertainments included strolling Main Street on a two and a half mile raised boardwalk, carriage rides in the countryside, croquet games, or simply lounging about the hotels' sweeping piazzas.

Beginning in 1887, an annual Coaching Parade was held, with prizes awarded for lavishly decorated horse-drawn carriages.

Beginning about 1916, Jewish families began arriving in town, often seeking relief from hay fever symptoms.

[3][4] For a town in northern New Hampshire, contemporary Bethlehem has a sizeable Jewish community (and a number of synagogues), a legacy of its hay-fever-relief experience.

World War II gave the hotels a second life, as tourists avoided war-ravaged Europe and stayed closer to home.

Every year, people from all over the world send Christmas cards to the Bethlehem post office to have them postmarked.

Casella Waste Systems of Rutland, Vermont, through its subsidiary North Country Environmental Services, purchased the town dump and created a landfill.

[5] Bethlehem is drained by the Ammonoosuc, Gale, Zealand and Little rivers, together with Tuttle, Baker and Haystack brooks.