The sign in the walk-up window in today’s Mystery Photo is misleading. This business was merely closed at the time the photograph was taken. Can you use these few clues and identify this facility? Try your hand, then send your idea to ebrack2@gmail.com, including your home town.
Of the most recent mystery, Julie Duke of Norcross identified the photo: “This is the old Bethlehem Steel buildings in Pennsylvania. My dad went to Lehigh University and majored in metallurgical engineering in the 40’s after World War II. My mom grew up in Nazareth, Penn. and that’s where they met. It has become quite the event space recently. These holy cities, Bethlehem and Nazareth were settled by the Moravians. Their Love Feast service on Christmas Eve is beautiful! My house is decorated with Moravian stars as my grandmother was Moravian. And we made all the delicious cookies and crumb pies for the holidays. Now we always buy Mrs. Haynes cookies from the Moravian Bakery in North Carolina.”
Jay Altman of Columbia, S.C. also recognized it: “The main event for Christmas 2025 at the former Bethlehem Steel site is the Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem, a large German-inspired holiday market held at the PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, a development on the old steel mill site. The market is set against the backdrop of the dramatically lit historic steel blast furnaces.”
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, wrote: “The steel produced at the plant was used in numerous iconic American structures, including the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, and the Golden Gate Bridge. The plant’s primary steelmaking operations were suspended in the early 1980s, and the site has since been redeveloped into a cultural and entertainment campus called SteelStacks.
What makes this photo particularly relevant for today’s issue of the GwinnettForum is the fact that it was shot in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Although Bethlehem, Penn., is not officially a “sister city” to Bethlehem, Israel, it was founded by Moravian settlers in 1741 and named after the biblical birthplace of Jesus, the holy city for Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Known as ‘Christmas City, USA’ each year the city transforms into a holiday wonderland with German-inspired markets (Christkindlmarkt), historic tours (Bethlehem by Night), ice skating, festive lights (Lights in the Parkway), and unique shops like the historic Moravian Book Shop, offering a blend of Moravian history and modern holiday cheer that lasts well into January.”
Also spotting the photo were Stewart Ogilvie of Rehobeth, Ala.; George Graf of Palmyra, Va., and Howard Hoffman of Berkeley Lake.
- SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Click here to send an email and please mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
