Old Salem
Old Salem is a living history museum that operates within the restored Moravian community Salem. The non-profit organization named Old Salem began its work in earnest in 1950; however, the buildings and lands are still owned by the Moravian Church.
Historic Salem
Salem was originally settled in 1766 by the Moravians, members of a Protestant faith that first began in 1457 in the Kingdom of Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. The first exiles (in 1722) to the estate of Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravian Church, came from the March of Moravia, one of the Czech Crown Lands, hence the nickname of the denomination officially called the Unitas Fratrum or Brüder-Unität or Unity of Brethren. From an earlier settlement in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, they came to the colonial province of North Carolina and founded the transitional settlement of Bethabara, North Carolina in 1753, and the first planned Moravian community in North Carolina, Bethania, North Carolina, in 1759. The central town of a 98,985 acre (400 km²)tract named Wachovia was Salem, where construction began in 1766. The residents focused on skilled trades, rather than farming.
The community merged with nearby Winston many years later, in 1913, and many of Salem's historic buildings remained until the 1950s, when Old Salem Inc. (a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation [1]) was formed to protect threatened buildings, restore the town, and operate portions of it as a museum.
Old Salem today
Today, the town's preserved and reconstructed buildings, staffed by living-history reenactors, present visitors with a view of Moravian life in the 18th and 19th centuries. The features include skilled reenactors such as blacksmiths, shoemakers, gunsmiths, bakers and carpenters, actually practicing their trade while interacting with visitors.
In recent years, substantial historical and archaeological research has focused on Salem's historical African-American population which primarily descended from enslaved, usually Christianized individuals purchased by the church. 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.
Three other museums are housed in a modern building on the site, and part of the same organization. The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), located at Old Salem, is the only museum dedicated to exhibiting and researching the regional decorative arts of the early South. With its 24 period rooms and six 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 1820. The Old Salem Toy Museum contains a wide variety of rare, old toys, mostly from the 19th and early 20th century. The Old Salem Children's museum is designed for children aged 4-9 [2].
Highlights of the village itself include the Salem Tavern, where George Washington spent two nights, May 31 and June 1, 1790, while passing through North Carolina; the Single Brothers' House; Boys' School; and Winkler Bakery; and a host of restored homes and shops, including T. Bagge Merchant and the Moravian Book and Gift Shop. Also of note is St. Philips Moravian Church, a restored church orignially built by the Salem congregation for the enslaved and free African-Americans of the community, following a congregational vote to segregate worship by 1816.
Within the Old Salem historic district exists the campus of Salem College and Academy, with Main Hall, restored Single Sisters' House, 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, will usually have its sanctuary open to visitors during the heavy tourist seasons. Also directly maintained by the Moravian Church, 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, one restored portion of Salem's c. 1778 waterworks, stands on one southwest corner of the square.
In Salem, the "Easter City," the traditional Moravian Easter Sunrise Service has been held in 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 Candletea, an annual fundraiser for local charities held by the Home Moravian Church Women's Fellowship in the Single Brothers' House.
Visitor Center
Old Salem's Visitor Center was rebuilt in 2003, and is where visitors purchase tickets. It features a large hallway with biographies and historic facts on display, as well as a gift shop, a US Post Office, and an auditorium with an organ built in 1800. The old Visitor Center was demolished and replaced with a garden similar to the one that was there in the early days of Salem.
The Coffee Pot
The Old Salem community (and Winston-Salem as a whole) is popularly represented by a tin coffee pot, originally built by Moravian Julius Mickey in 1858 as an advertisement for his tinsmith shop. Traditionally said to hold "740 gallons of coffee", it was originally located at the intersection of Belews Street and Main Street, and represented the border between Winston and Salem at a time when the Moravians still remained isolated from their neighbors. When the cities merged in 1913, it came to symbolize the joining of the two communities.
In 1920, the pot was struck 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 traffic safety reasons; an outcry from residents, led by Wachovia Historical Society head Henry Fries and Moravian Bishop Edward Ronthaler, 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 the plans for Interstate 40 had the expressway go through Belews and Main; it has remained, more or less safely, at its present location at Main Street and Brookstown Avenue since then.
Additionally, Old Salem has started a youth program called Five Yesterdays. It is for children aged rising 3rd graders to rising 8th graders. After you complete your last year you are eligible to become a counselor. It is a very interactive summer camp, lasting five days. Campers would live the life of a colonial person in Salem in the late 17 - early 1800's.