Historic Bethlehem, long admired in the Lehigh Valley for its beautifully restored historic buildings and landmarks, is also on the national radar.

This Old House magazine named it a Best Old House Neighborhood because of its architecture, preservation efforts and neighborhood amenities.

Historic Bethlehem is one of 64 neighborhoods in the United States and Canada to receive the honor. Only one neighborhood in each state, one in Puerto Rico and one in each of Canada’s provinces and territories was selected.

According to the magazine’s website, places chosen have “some of the best, most architecturally eye-popping older houses in the continent.”

The neighborhoods are profiled in the April issue of the magazine and at http://www.thisoldhouse.com.

Historic Bethlehem ranked well in a number of categories. It was listed to be among the best for: college town, retiree, family-friendly, Victorian and walk-ability.

This Old House editors did not return phone calls. But in a letter seeking nominees, Associate Editor Keith Pandolfi said, “The point of this contest is … to familiarize This Old House readers with outstanding, sometimes overlooked neighborhoods or towns that have exceptional older houses and residents working hard to both restore them and maintain them for future generations.”

Describing Historic Bethlehem in the magazine and on the website, its editors write:

“Many retired millworkers still live here, these days next door to 30- and 40-something professionals who’ve chosen Bethlehem for its almost-sane metropolis commute….The neighborhood is stocked with 21/2 and three-story Italianates, Queen Annes, Second Empires and Gothic Revivals built near the turn of the 20th century. Got elbow grease? One of these ornate Victorians can be had starting at $300,000. A fully restored one is more likely to ring up for $600,000 or more. Historic Bethlehem also has rowhouses in the $175,000 range, and wherever you stroll, history abounds.”

“Historic Bethlehem is just incredible,” said Charlene Donchez Mowers, president of Historic Bethlehem Partnership. “It has unbelievable structures and an ambiance that has created a wonderful, neighborly feeling.”

Mayor John Callahan said: “This is the neighborhood you show to those who come to visit Bethlehem. You show them Main Street and Market Street — the beautiful, stately homes. It’s a great historic neighborhood that has withstood the test of time.”

Callahan praised the “neighborhood preservation people and its residents” for the care they put into their homes. He also credited city leaders of the past for establishing preservation guidelines.

“This goes back 50 years to 1961, when we were the first state-recognized historic district in the commonwealth,” he said. “It shows the value of historic preservation and putting guidelines into place for maintaining properties in great neighborhoods.”

On Thursday, Callahan said, he’ll hold a news conference to “discuss the new programs and incentives the city is putting in place to make more of that happen in other great neighborhoods.”

In the last five years, Bethlehem received several honors, said Bekah Rusnock, project manager in Bethlehem’s Office of Economic Development. In 2006, the city ranked 88 in Money magazine’s “Best Places to Live” and was listed in the book, “Best Places to Raise Your Family.”

In 2007, its Colonial Industrial Quarter was listed as one of “1,000 Places to See in the United States and Canada Before You Die.” And in 2008, Bethlehem ranked 58 on a list of “100 Best Places to Live and Launch” by Fortune Small Business magazine.

“It’s always nice when you are recognized by someone not in the area,” Rusnock said.

In addition to beautiful old homes, Historic Bethlehem has “Good houses, shopping, places to have lunch and dinner, nice things to look at in great museums,” says Barbara Faust, a Bethlehem real estate agent who nominated the area. “The people here have gone out of their way to do something amazing.”

As a real estate agent, she is well aware of the neighborhood’s appeal to people of all ages, from young people starting out to retirees looking for a place where most of their needs are within walking distance, she said.

To gather the information Faust needed to nominate Historic Bethlehem, she pulled out a few listings and tapped a friend active in Historic Bethlehem for more material. “It didn’t take long. I had 99 percent of it at my fingertips,” she said.

She was called in late December by a fact-checking team, which gave her hope Historic Bethlehem was being considered.

Faust was thrilled that This Old House editors agreed with her. They wrote: “On Main Street, the Moravian Bookshop, the country’s oldest continuously operating tome seller, stands among well-traveled restaurants and coffeehouses. Historic Bethlehem has a community feel: Neighbors attend town meetings, walk to the single-screen Boyd Theatre for a flick, and catch their dinner at Monocacy Creek, a trout stream off the Lehigh River.”

And they quote Faust: “You can traverse centuries in eight blocks.”

“We work very hard to preserve the character of our city,” said Callahan. “It makes all of us proud to see that work recognized by an organization as prestigious as This Old House.”

This Old House magazine, with a circulation of 950,000 and an audience of almost 6 million, is affiliated with the home-improvement TV program “This Old House,” which provides audiences with expert advice on design, remodeling and restoration. It is not yet known if Historic Bethlehem will be the focus of future programmng.

Irene.kraft@mcall.com

610-820-6597