It is incredible how many times motorists drive past the white Wilbur Mansion and the hulking, tan-colored Masonic Temple on Wyandotte Street but know little about either building. Even more surprising is the history of the mansion built in 1864- older than the Borough of South Bethlehem itself. But how or why the mansion got there may be traced back to 1791 with the discovery of a hard, shiny black mineral called "anthracite."

Thirty-nine years after anthracite coal was discovered near Mauch Chunk, Carbon County, Pa., untold wealth came to those who mined and transported these "black diamonds." In 1830, the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. officially opened its canal system along the Lehigh River. The canal made possible the transportation of anthracite by barge from Mauch Chunk to Easton, where it connected to a southern canal along the Delaware to Philadelphia markets. Newcomers who accompanied canal traffic had a direct impact on Bethlehem's quiet church-village.

By 1847, Bethlehem became a "hot spot" for real estate investors when the Moravians sold four large farms that flanked the northern slope of South Mountain. Six years later, the village of "Bethlehem South" was the destination of speculators who quickly exploited the region's natural resources. Along the Lehigh River, chemist-inventor-industrialist Samuel Wetherill erected the Pennsylvania and Lehigh Zinc Company, which eventually went into the hands of financial businessman, Joseph Wharton - both men Philadelphia Quakers.

In 1855, canal boat builder Asa Packer completed his fast method of transporting anthracite to Philadelphia - by railroad. He chose chief engineer Robert H. Sayre to relocate and build the Lehigh Valley Railroad headquarters in "Bethlehem South." Along with Sayre came Packer's nephew, Elisha Packer Wilbur who saw to Packer's secretarial and financial matters, and his son-in-law, Garret Brodhead Linderman, physician-turned-coal businessman. Packer's family and associates were Mauch Chunk Episcopalians.

In 1857, Sayre acquired the Saucona Iron Company and changed the name to Bethlehem Rolling Mills and Iron Company. Two years later, he chose John Fritz to supervise the newly named Bethlehem Iron Company. With the blast furnace in operation by 1863, the first inexpensive, high-quality rails were produced in South Bethlehem for Packer's Lehigh Valley Railroad.

At this time, Samuel Wetherill with two fellow Masons from Lodge #152 in Easton, and two Masons from Newark Lodge #7 in New Jersey, constituted "Bethlehem Lodge #283," located between Market Street and Cunow Alley (now Walnut Street) in Bethlehem. Wetherill was first Worshipful Master and a life-member. Later, fellow Masons commemorated his standing by having his portrait painted to hang in Bethlehem Lodge #283.

During the 1850s, Sam Wetherill's Philadelphia friend, artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (1816-1868), sold Wetherill his monumental 6-foot by 9-foot oil painting, depicting the "Departure of the Israelites from Egypt." Leutze studied art in Dusseldorf, Germany, between 1840 and 1855 and dated his epic painting "1845" after which he returned with it to Philadelphia. Leutze is perhaps best known for his 1851 painting, "Washington Crossing the Delaware."

Wetherill was pleased to own Leutze's painting, but because of its great size, Wetherill rolled it up and stored it away safely. Before his death in 1868, Leutze visited Wetherill in Bethlehem and asked to buy back the painting or exchange it for any of his other artwork of Wetherill's choice. But Wetherill declined and said, "I trust that so long as the Bethlehem Lodge exists, [the painting] will be treasured by its members." Consequently, Leutze never got back his painting.

In 1877, Bethlehem Lodge #283 was changed from "Ancient York Masons" to "Free and Accepted Masons." When the Bethlehem Lodge celebrated its 30th anniversary in 1883, Wetherill presented his fellow Masons with Leutze's properly framed painting, with the provision that it should officially hang in the room of any building the Lodge occupied.

At a meeting in September 1885, the Right Worshipful Grand Master and Lehigh University President Robert A. Lamberton received an invitation to participate in laying the cornerstone of Packer Memorial Church on Lehigh's campus. The church, designed by Philadelphia architect Addison Hutton, was a gift of Mary Packer Cummings to the university in memory of her father, Asa Packer who died in 1879. Lehigh Valley Railroad mastermind, Packer was a Mason and Lehigh University founder (1865).

Among the articles the Masons deposited in the church cornerstone were: the Ahiman Rezon, a plate containing the name of Grand Lodge officers and the Masonic Register of 1885; the first annual report of the Home for Free and Accepted Masons; and a list of the committee of Arrangement of Bethlehem Lodge #283, F. & A.M. stamped with the official seal.

In 1891, South Bethlehem architect A.W. Leh designed two new buildings on Main Street, Bethlehem: the Person & Riegel Building and the Lerch & Rice Building. The latter three-story building attracted Bethlehem Lodge #283 members who occupied the lofty 50-by-160-foot second floor. To celebrate the event, a banquet was provided for lodge members. Perhaps due to their industrious presence, the building was affectionately known as "The Bee Hive."

The "Bee Hive" is a Masonic symbol for Industry. "It had been asserted that the hive is man-made-and that the honeycomb, a sign of industry, is a symbol of Perfection. One man could accomplish little or nothing. Masons could see themselves as 'bees.' They could readily see in the honey-producers the symbol of the industry they, as builders of great cathedrals, practiced." (From The Craft and Its Symbols: Opening the Door to Masonic Symbolism, 1974.)

The Lerch & Rice "Beehive" building changed ownership with Bush & Bull; later that century, it became Orr's Department Store. On Jan. 24, 1904, 184 Master Masons celebrated the 50th anniversary of Bethlehem Lodge #283. Nine years later, area Masons discussed forming a single lodge that would include other lodges.

The Masonic "Bethlehem Temple Association" incorporated on Oct. 25, 1913, included Bethlehem Lodge #283 and the H. Stanley Goodwin Lodge #648 of South Bethlehem. On Nov. 6, 1917, the Bethlehem Temple Association relocated the lodge across Main Street in the Brodhead Building next to the Sun Inn.

Elisha Packer Wilbur founded E.P. Wilbur Trust Co. and resided north of Robert Sayre on Wyandotte and Brighton Streets, South Bethlehem. Wilbur became president of the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1884, the same year he transferred his Masonic membership from Philadelphia to Bethlehem Lodge #283 where his sons Warren and Rollin became Masons.

In 1920, Wilbur's widow, Stella died 10 years after his passing. Eldest son Warren A. Wilbur presided over E.P. Wilbur Trust Co. in the Flatiron Building at West Fourth Street and Broadway. Warren was executor of his father's will and held the deed to Wilbur Mansion and property.

In search of a "formal home," the Bethlehem Temple Association contacted fellow Mason Warren Wilbur and found him negotiating with a buyer interested in Wilbur Mansion. Warren stipulated NOT to remove or destroy any interior woodwork. In 1924, the Association members voted to buy Wilbur Mansion and property and agreed to retain the woodwork by adding an extra $1,000 to the selling price to $15,000 (valued at $197,000 today).

On March 25, 1925, ground was broken for the new Masonic Temple. With a sensitivity that kept the 1864 Mansion intact, Philadelphia architect W.H. Lee (known for his monumental theater buildings), attached the new Masonic Temple to the southeast corner of the Mansion's former kitchen, and retained the ornately appointed rooms.

On Jan. 5, 1926, the Masons held their first meeting in the Temple, situated on the corner of Wyandotte and Brighton streets. The main floor featured a great banquet hall, stage and balcony, restrooms and large institutional-size kitchen.

The second floor featured rooms for the main lodge designed in the Egyptian style used for Blue Lodges, Chapter, Council and Eastern Star for special meetings and equipped with a pipe organ. The smaller lodge room was laid out for meetings according to Masonic regulations.

Wilbur Mansion became the Bethlehem Temple Association's "clubhouse" where Masons and their spouses enjoyed a champagne toast to fellow Freemason E.P. Wilbur.

In 1986, the Wilbur Mansion and Masonic Temple property was placed on the Old Fountain Hill National Register. At present, members of the Bethlehem Temple Association are negotiating the sale of the property, which includes the visually iconic Mansion and Temple buildings - and the rich unseen heritage that made South Bethlehem history.