Old Salem - Historic Salem

Historic Salem

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) 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.

This town is located near Salem Academy and College.