Old Salem
Old Salem is a historic district of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, which was originally settled by the Moravian community in 1766.[3] It features a living-history museum which 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][4] and expanded fifty years later.[5] The district showcases the culture of the Moravian settlement in the Province of North Carolina during the colonial 18th century and post-statehood 19th century via its communal buildings, churches, houses and shops.[6]
Location
Between Race Street, Old Salem Road, Horse Street and Brookstone Avenue and including parts of God's Acre and buildings along the east side of Church Street, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
1766
Germanic in early years, slowly shows English/American influence (i.e., Federal and Greek Revival period architecture)
November 13, 1966[1]
November 13, 1966[2]
Two buildings are individually designated as NHLs: the Salem Tavern and the Single Brothers' House. Additional buildings and properties have been added to the National Register to 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 divided among Old Salem, Inc., Wachovia Historical Society, private owners, Salem College, Salem Academy and Salem Congregation (the successor to the Salem Congregational Council, to whom all ownership of Church properties was transferred).
Salem was originally settled by members of the Moravian Church, a Protestant denomination that first began in 1457, out of the followers of Jan Hus (1369–1415) in the Kingdom of Bohemia and Moravia, now part of the Czech Republic. In 1722, the German-speaking exiles finally found protection on the estate of Count Zinzendorf, a Saxon nobleman, where he allowed them to create the village of Herrnhut as their home. First settling in North America in Savannah, Province of Georgia, in 1735, they moved to the Province of Pennsylvania in 1740, where they founded several communities (Bethlehem, Nazareth and Lititz). Because of development pressures, they looked for more space to create their church communities. Purchasing just over 98,985 acres (400.58 km2) from John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, one of the British Lords Proprietor, in the Piedmont of the Province of North Carolina in 1753, they sent groups from Bethlehem to begin construction. They founded the transitional settlement of Bethabara (translated as "House of Passage," the first planned Moravian community in North Carolina in 1753, in Bethania), in 1759.
Salem was to be the central town of a tract of land named Wachovia. Construction began in 1766 to build the central economic, religious and administrative center of the tract. The outlying communities, eventually five in all (Bethabara, Bethania, Friedberg, Friedland and Hope), were more rural and agriculture focused. Salem and most of the other communities were controlled by the church, which owned all property and only leased land for construction. The worldwide Moravian Church initially owned the property, but Salem Congregation purchased the 5 square miles (13 km2) town lot outright in 1826. 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; 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 North Carolina State Archives, now comprising thirteen volumes. This detailed information is part of the documentation used for the accurate restoration and interpretation of Old Salem and many original documents are still housed in the Moravian archives.
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 of what had become a depressed area from encroaching development.[7] 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.
