Bethlehem
This unfinished watercolor, made at Bethlehem during the latter part of July, depicts the landscape in the direction of Mauch Chunk, center of an important anthracite coal mining operation some fifty miles away. It includes a view of Wohler's vineyards near the inn of that name on the outskirts of Bethlehem.
The Mauch Chunk Canal: Wohler's Inn
Before sunup on July 25, Maximilian and Bodmer set out for Bethlehem, at that time a settlement of about a thousand persons located on the stage line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. On the evening of his arrival, Maximilian met a German physician, Lewis Saynisch, who accompanied him on several outings in the area. At Bethlehem, Bodmer occupied himself with sketching various points of local interest.
View of Bethlehem on the Lehigh