Bethabara Historic District | |
Location | North of Winston-Salem on NC 67, near Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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Coordinates | 36°9′16″N80°17′55″W / 36.15444°N 80.29861°W |
Area | 41 acres (17 ha) |
Built | 1753 |
NRHP reference No. | 78001948 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 15, 1978 [1] |
Designated NHLD | January 20, 1999 [2] |
Bethabara Historic District encompasses the surviving buildings and archaeological remains of a small Moravian community, that was first settled in 1753. Located in present-day Forsyth County, North Carolina, it is now a public park of the city of Winston-Salem. It was designated National Historic Landmark in 1999.
Bethabara (from the Hebrew, meaning "House of Passage" and pronounced beth-ab-bra, the name of the traditional site of the Baptism of Jesus Christ) was a village located in what is now Forsyth County, North Carolina. It was the site where twelve men from the Moravian Church first settled in 1753 in an abandoned cabin in the 100,000-acre (400 km2) tract of land the church had purchased from Lord Granville and dubbed Wachovia.
Its early settlers were noted for advanced agricultural practices, especially their medicine garden, which produced over fifty kinds of herbs.
Bethabara was never meant to be a permanent settlement. It was intended to house the Moravians until a more suitable location for a central village could be found. Just six months after arriving in Wachovia, the Seven Years' War (known as the French and Indian War in America) began in western Pennsylvania. The violence quickly spread to southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina. Bethabara hosted a large number of refugees until 1761. The establishment of a central town was delayed for thirteen years because of the growing Moravian population and hundreds of refugees.
Once it was felt safe to do so in 1766, the central town Salem was begun. Many of the buildings in Bethabara were dismantled, and used for the new structures in Salem. As the houses were taken down, the small rootcellars were pushed in and filled.
With Salem completed in 1771, the official seat of government was transferred from Bethabara to Salem. Only a few residents remained behind. Bethabara became a farming community which supplied food to the other Moravians towns in Wachovia.
In 1788, an enslaved person, Johann Samuel, was made superintendent of the farm. He was freed in 1801, after 50 years of servitude to the Moravians. Bethabara continued to decline. The principal industries were farming and pottery, well into the 1850s.
Today, what remains of the village, including the excavated foundations of the original buildings, the restored Gemeinhaus (the Bethabara Moravian Church), and the reconstructed palisade and colonial gardens, is part of Historic Bethabara Park. The site was excavated by noted historical archaeologist Stanley South in the 1960s. The 183-acre (0.74 km2) park and wildlife preserve is located in Winston-Salem and is operated by the City of Winston-Salem Recreation & Parks Department as an open-air museum. The site also features 20 miles (32 km) of nature trails.
There are frequent festivals and reenactments on the weekends, such as the Independence Weekend Celebration held the weekend prior to or during Independence Day.
The Bethabara site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1999. The Gemeinhaus was separately listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. [2] [3]
Forsyth County is a county located in the northwest Piedmont of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 382,590, making it the fourth-most populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Winston-Salem. Forsyth County is part of the Winston-Salem, NC, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC, Combined Statistical Area. Portions of Forsyth County are in the Yadkin Valley wine region.
Bethania is the oldest municipality in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and was most recently incorporated in 1995, upon the reactivation of the original 1838/1839 town charter. In 2009, Bethania celebrated the 250th anniversary of its establishment in 1759. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 341.
Winston-Salem is a city in and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina, and the 90th-most populous city in the United States. The population of the Winston-Salem metropolitan area was estimated to be 695,630 in 2023. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region, home to about 1.7 million residents.
Wachovia was the area settled by Moravians in what is now Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. Of the six 18th-century Moravian "villages of the Lord" established in Wachovia, today only the town of Bethania and city of Winston-Salem exist within the historic Wachovia Tract. The historical tract was somewhat larger than present-day Winston-Salem and somewhat smaller than present-day Forsyth County.
Old Salem is a historic district of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, which was originally settled by the Moravian community in 1766. 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, and expanded fifty years later. 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.
Germanton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Forsyth and Stokes counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, primarily in Stokes County. As of the 2020 census, the community had a population of 790.
Tanglewood Park is a recreation center and park in Clemmons, Forsyth County, North Carolina, USA. It is located on the Yadkin River between Clemmons and Bermuda Run. It is home to the annual "Tanglewood Festival of Lights," a display of lights in the wintertime celebrating the holidays. Additional attractions include the Tanglewood Park Arboretum and Rose Garden, a public pool, a dog park, horse stables, and Mallard Lake for fishing and paddleboat renting. Tanglewood has two golf courses, the Championship Course and the Reynolds Course. The former hosted the PGA Championship in 1974, won by Lee Trevino, with Jack Nicklaus one stroke back.
The Moravian Church in North America is part of the worldwide Moravian Church Unity. It dates from the arrival of the first Moravian missionaries to the United States in 1735, from their Herrnhut settlement in present-day Saxony, Germany. They came to minister to the scattered German immigrants, to the Native Americans and to enslaved Africans. They founded communities to serve as home bases for these missions. The missionary "messengers" were financially supported by the work of the "laborers" in these settlements. Currently, there are more than 60,000 members.
The Bethania Historic District encompasses the historic planned center of the town of Bethania, North Carolina. A National Historic Landmark District, it is a rare example of a Moravian linear agricultural village in the United States, planned and founded in 1759. Land use and road patterns of the original plan are still discernible in the community. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001, and is at 500 acres (2.0 km2) the largest historic district in Forsyth County.
Founded as the first Moravian settlement in Wachovia on November 17, 1753, Bethabara served until 1766 as the center of Moravian work in the South. The old historic church was built in 1788. Designed by Moravian administrator Friedrich Wilhelm von Marschall, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Bethabara Moravian Church facility was built in 1788 in what is now Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Salem Tavern is a historic museum property at 800 South Main Street in the Old Salem Historic District in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina. It was a tavern in the 18th-century town of Salem, which is now part of Winston-Salem. The tavern is owned by Old Salem Museums & Gardens and open as an Old Salem tour building to visitors. Built in 1784 and enlarged in 1815, it was the first entirely brick building in what is now Old Salem, and is one of the oldest surviving brick tavern buildings in the United States. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
The Single Brothers' House was built to house the Single Brethren of the Moravian Congregation of Old Salem, North Carolina. It is part of Old Salem Museums & Gardens and open as an Old Salem tour building to visitors. It is located at 600 South Main Street, at Academy Street, on the southwest corner.
The Winston Tower is a 410 ft tall skyscraper in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina, completed in 1966 with 29 floors. It was the tallest building in North Carolina, succeeding the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, until it was passed by Charlotte's Jefferson First Union Tower in 1971.
St. Philips Moravian Church is the oldest surviving African American church building in North Carolina. The Moravian church was built in 1861 on the east side of South Church Street, near Race Street, in Old Salem, North Carolina. St. Philips was enlarged in 1890 and remained in continuous use until 1952. In 2004 it was restored by Old Salem Museums & Gardens for use as an interpreted building. Currently only worship services are held at the church weekly.
Stanley A. South was an American archaeologist who was a major proponent of the processual archaeology movement. South's major contributions to archaeology deal in helping to legitimize it as a more scientific endeavor. Additionally, South participated in the excavation and research of a number of historic sites throughout North and South Carolina, including Town Creek Indian Mound, Charles Towne Landing (SC), Brunswick Town, North Carolina, Bethabara Historic District, the John Bartlam site at Cain Hoy (SC), and Santa Elena, as well as Fort Dobbs and the Fayetteville Arsenal.
J. S. Hill House was a historic home located at Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina. The house was built about 1893, and was a large two-story, three-bay, frame dwelling. The front facade had a projecting two-story bay with prominent gable. It was built by J. S. Hill, the chief fund raiser for the Slater Industrial Academy for African-American students. The house has been demolished.
Arista Cotton Mill Complex, also known as Salem Cotton Manufacturing Company and Arista Cotton Mill and Lentz Transfer & Storage Co., is a historic cotton mill complex located at Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina. The complex includes two buildings: a brick building built in 1836 by part of the Moravian congregation of Salem and the original home of the Salem Cotton Manufacturing Company, and the other is the original Arista Mill, built in 1880 by F. and H. Fries Cotton Arista Mills. The 1836 Salem Cotton Mill is a three-story, brick building with a monitor roof. The 1880 mill is a three-story brick building, 14 bays long, with bracketed eaves with timber supports. A two-story roughly triangular brick building was added about 1900. The 1836 building has been converted to a hotel known as The Historic Brookstown Inn.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
The Adam Spach Rock House Site is a historic archaeological site in Davidson County, North Carolina. Located near the community of Friedberg, it consists of the ruins of a stone house built in 1774 by Adam Spach, founder of the Friedberg Moravian Church. Spach, who came to the area in 1754, supposedly built the house as a fortified defense against attacks from local Native Americans, setting it on top of a spring to provide a regular water source.
Elisabeth Oesterlein Christ was an American educator. She founded Salem College in today's Old Salem, North Carolina. She was also the school's first teacher.
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