The Moravians began construction of the Whitefield House in 1740, but after a doctrinal dispute with George Whitefield they were asked to leave and established Bethlehem. One year later, Whitefield's financial difficulties forced him to sell Nazareth to the Moravians, and the Whitefield House was completed in 1743. Its first and second floors served as common, worship, and workshop spaces, the third story as a dormitory, the attic for storage, and the basement for the kitchen and dining hall. Over time it housed Nazareth's first settlers, a girls' school, a children's nursery, French and Indian War refugees, the Moravian Theological Seminary, missionaries on furlough, and the Moravian Historical Society. In 1906, local architect A.W. Leh extended the building to add rooms, electricity, plumbing, and heat. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Moravian Historical Society, established in 1857 as the third oldest historical society in Pennsylvania, operates it while sharing the story of the Moravian Church and its contributions to American history and culture.