Originally, Bethlehem was a typical Moravian Settlement Congregation, where the Church owned all the property. Until the 1850s, supposedly only members of the Moravian Church were permitted to lease land plots in Bethlehem. However, a member of a group of families that were part of a Huguenot settlement in the Delaware River Valley also landed in Bethlehem, and a decade or two before 1800 had established grist and saw mills known as Calvin's Mills. One member of this family was part of the Bethlehem Township council from 1798 to 1802. The historic Brethren's House, Sisters' House, Widows' House and "Gemeinhaus" (Congregation House) with the Old Chapel are remnants of this period of communal living.