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Old Salem Historic District
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| Location: | Between Race St., Old Salem Rd, Horse St. and Brookstone Ave. and including parts of God's Acre and buildings along the east side of Church St., in Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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| Built: | 1766 |
| Architect: | Unknown |
| Architectural style: | Germanic in early years, slowly shows English/American influence (ie.-Federal and Greek Revival period architecture) |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 66000591 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | November 13, 1966[1] |
| Designated NHLD: | November 13, 1966[2] |
Old Salem is a historic district of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It features a living history museum (operated by the non-profit Old Salem Museums & Gardens,organized as Old Salem Inc.) that interprets the restored Moravian community. The non-profit organization began its work in 1950, although some private residents had restored buildings earlier. As the Old Salem Historic District, it was declared a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1966.[2][3] The district showcases the culture of the Moravian settlement in North Carolina during the 18th and 19th centuries, communal buildings, churches, houses, and shops.[4]
Two buildings are individually designated as NHL, the Salem Tavern and the Single Brothers' House. Additional buildings and properties have been added to the National Register that expand the historic area (see St. Philips Moravian Church below, Single Brothers Industrial Complex Site, and West Salem Historic District). Ownership of the buildings and land is currently divided among Old Salem, Inc., Wachovia Historical Society, private owners, Salem Academy and College, Home Moravian Church, and the Moravian Church Southern Province.
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Salem was originally settled by members of the Moravian Church, a Protestant denomination that first began in 1457, out of the followers of John Huss (Jan Hus (1369–1415) in the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Moravia, now part of the Czech Republic. In 1722, the exiles finally found protection on the estate of Count Zinzendorf, a Saxon nobleman, where he helped create the village of Herrnhut as their home. First settling in North America in Savannah, Georgia in 1735, they eventually moved to Pennsylvania in 1740, where they founded several communities (Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Lititz). Due to development pressures, they looked for more space to create their church communities. Purchasing just over 98,985 acres (400.58 km2) from Lord Granville, one of the British Lords Proprietor, in the Piedmont of North Carolina in 1753, they sent groups down to begin construction from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They founded the transitional settlement of Bethabara, North Carolina (translated as "House of Passage," the first planned Moravian community in North Carolina in 1753, in Bethania, North Carolina in 1759).
Salem was to be the central town of a 98,985-acre (400.58 km2) (400 km²) tract named Wachovia. Construction began in 1766 to build the central economic, religious, and administrative center of the Wachovia tract. The outlying communities, eventually five in all (Bethabara, Bethania, Friedberg, Friedland, and Hope), were more rural and agriculturally focused. Salem and most of the other communities were controlled by the Church, which owned all property and only leased land for construction. All people in the communities had to be members of the church and could be expelled from the town if they acted contrary to the community's regulations. The several governing bodies all kept meticulous records, of which copies were sent to the Bethlehem and Herrnhut archives. Most of this information has been translated and published in the "Records of the Moravians in North Carolina" by the NC State Archives, now comprising 13 volumes. This detailed information is part of the documentation used for the accurate restoration and interpretation of Old Salem.
In 1849, Forsyth County was created, but Salem was unwilling to be the county seat and sold property directly to the north to become the new courthouse town. This town became Winston, which quickly grew into a thriving industrial center.
In 1857, the Church finally divested control of the town and allowed the residents to purchase their property. Salem then became a legal municipality.
Salem merged with nearby Winston in 1913, becoming known as Winston-Salem. This was the only community to ever be officially designated as a hyphenated name for a Post Office by the US Postal Service.
A local architectural review district was created in 1948 (the first in North Carolina and probably the fifth in the country) to protect the historic remains what had become a depressed area from encroaching development(Griffin, 1985). In 1950, Old Salem Inc. (a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation) was formed to protect threatened buildings, restore the town, and operate portions of it as a museum.
Today, the town's restored and reconstructed buildings, staffed by living-history interpreters, present visitors with a view of Moravian life in the 18th and 19th centuries. The features include skilled interpreters such as tinsmiths, blacksmiths, cobblers, gunsmiths, bakers and carpenters, actually practicing their trades while interacting with visitors. Approximately 70% of the buildings in the historic district are original, making this a truly unique living history museum.
Substantial historical and archaeological research has focused on Salem's historical African-American population. Moravians even educated enslaved members of their community, teaching literacy skills and even some professional trades. Holistic studies directed towards understanding ethnicity and cultural identity of African-Americans in Salem have resulted in significant additions to the historical interpretation presented at Old Salem.
Housed in a modern building on the site the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA)[5] is the only museum dedicated to exhibiting and researching the regional decorative arts of the early South. In its galleries, MESDA showcases the furniture, paintings, textiles, ceramics, silver, and other metalwares made and used in Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee through the early 19th century.
Highlights of the town itself include the Salem Tavern, where George Washington spent two nights, May 31 and June 1, 1791, while passing through North Carolina during his "Southern Tour"; the Single Brothers' House; Boys' School; Winkler Bakery; and a host of restored homes and shops, and several stores including T. Bagge Merchant and the Moravian Book and Gift Shop.
Also of note is the St. Philip's Moravian Church complex. Original site of an 18th century graveyard, the (now reconstructed) 1823 'Negro Church' was built following a congregational vote to segregate worship in accordance with North Carolina state law in 1816. Prior to that the African-Americans who joined the Moravian church attended Home Church. In 1861, St. Philip's Church was constructed. Now restored, the church was originally built by the Salem congregation for the enslaved and free African-Americans of the community. It is the oldest surviving African-American church built for that purpose in North Carolina. Completed just before the Civil War in 1861, the Emancipation Proclamation was read there to the congregation in 1865 by the chaplain of the 10th Ohio Regiment. The Church continued to grow and was expanded in the 1890s. The congregation moved to a new location in 1952 (and still exists at a third location), and the building stood vacant until its restoration. The original St. Philip's Church is now individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Partially within the Old Salem historic district is the campus of Salem College and Academy, with Main Hall, the Single Sisters' House, the Inspectors House (with the President's office and the college book store) on the Square, and Gramley Library just down Church Street. High school students attending the Governor's School of North Carolina stay in the college's dormitories each summer.
Home Moravian Church, while not a part of the official Old Salem tour per se, opens its sanctuary to visitors on a regular schedule. Still owned by the Moravian Church Southern Province, Salem Square, in the center of the district, hosts many special events throughout the year, including a long-running band concert series in the summer. The famous water pump, a restored portion of Salem's c. 1778 waterworks, stands on the southwest corner of the square.
In Salem, the "Easter City," the traditional Moravian Easter Sunrise Service has been held annually since 1773, and draws several thousand people to the Salem Square and Moravian graveyard. The first two weeks of December play host to the Candle Tea, an annual fundraiser for local charities held by the Home Moravian Church Women's Fellowship in the Single Brothers' House.
Old Salem has a summer youth program called Five Yesterdays. It is a day camp for children aged rising third graders to rising eighth graders; upon completion in the oldest grade, former campers are eligible to become counselors.
Old Salem's Visitor Center was built in 2003, and is the main location where museum visitors purchase tickets. The building features a large concourse along a serpentine glass wall with interpretive panels about the history of Wachovia and Salem. The preliminary design was developed by Venturi Scott Brown and Associates, with local firm Calloway, Johnson, Moore, and West completing the project. The building also houses a food service, gift shops, and the James A. Gray Jr. Auditorium. The Gray Auditorium is home to the 1800 Tannenberg Organ.
The former 1964 Visitor Center and parking lot was demolished to allow partial reconstruction of the 18th-century Single Brothers' Garden.
The Old Salem community (and Winston-Salem as a whole) is popularly represented by a tin coffee pot, originally built by Moravian brothers, Samuel and Julius Mickey, in 1858 as an advertisement for their tinsmith shop. Traditionally said to hold "740 gallons of coffee", it was originally located at the intersection of Belews Street and Main Street in front of his shop. That location was the border between Winston and Salem before the two towns merged. When the cities merged in 1913, it came to symbolize the joining of the two communities.
The pot was knocked down numerous times by traffic. Finally in 1920, after the pot was struck again by an out-of-control car and knocked from its spot, the city forced the coffee pot's removal from its place on the street for violating advertising laws and for traffic safety reasons. An outcry from residents, led by Wachovia Historical Society head Henry Fries and Moravian Bishop Edward Rondthaler, had it restored, but placed in a much safer location, further back from the road. The pot was finally moved for good in 1959 when Interstate 40 went through the location at Belews and Main. The Coffee Pot is owned by the City and is located at the north end of Old Salem at a traffic island formed by Old Salem Road, Main Street and Brookstown Avenue.
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