This is the All My Sons of Raleigh Moving Guide to Winston-Salem. Contact us about moving services. Winston-Salem is the county seat of Forsyth County. The area is part of the Piedmont Triad, composing areas of Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point. Winston-Salem has experienced steady growth. The city is the 4th largest city in North Carolina, with about 225,000 people in the city, and over 1 million people in the entire metro area. The city is located within the Blue Ridge Mountains, 1,000 feet above sea level. In general, Winston-Salem tends to be a slow-moving place. There is a citywide speed limit of 35 MPH in most places, and like in other Southern cities, many businesses are closed on Sundays. The downtown area is both green and wired for Internet.
Salem was initially settled in 1753 by Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg for the Moravian Church, an early Protestant sector. The Moravians were followers of a German-exiled Czech priest who relocated through Savannah, Georgia in 1735. The Moravians established Wachovia, initially naming the area ‘die Wachau’, Latin for Wachovia, the name of an Austrian Moravian Count’s estate. In 1776, the area was named ‘Salem’, a Moravian term for ‘peace’. The Winston area was named in 1849, after Col. Joseph Winston, a Revolutionary war hero and politician. The two towns moved to merge in 1913.
The Moravians were artisans, including potters, furniture- and cabinet-makers, that were a prelude to today’s City of the Arts. There are 42,000 Moravians in the U.S., with about half of the population in Forsyth County. Winston-Salem continues to pay homage to the Moravians with their signature cookies – hand-rolled sweets in flavors of ginger, sugar, lemon, chocolate, butterscotch and black walnut – that are sold in various bakeries and stores.
Downtown Winston-Salem is home to historical buildings, big business, and a thriving arts district. The Reynolds Building, on Main Street was the inspiration for the Empire State Building in NYC, constructed in 1929 by the same architects as the skyscraper. The Wachovia Center is the tallest building in Winston-Salem, constructed in 1994 with Moravian themes. Downtown is also home to the Old Salem District, Historic Bethabara, Reynolds Village, Horne Creek Historic Farm, the Tanglewood Park golf course and the Old Shell Station, a giant seashell off of Peachtree Street. Businesses based downtown include: RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., Branch Banking and Trust Company (BB&T), HanesBrands, Inc., and Blue Rhino. Additionally, there is a large coffee pot at the north end of Old Salem Road and Brookstown Ave that used to be an advertisement for an artisan in Old Salem but now serves as a symbol of hospitality for the city. The Historic West End, located just west of downtown, was originally designed in 1890. The area was home to many of the executives and upper-management of RJ Reynolds and Hanes and grew significantly through the 1920s. The neighborhood is a combination of Queen Anne, Colonial and Victorian architecture and curvy streets with terraced lawns. Today, there are murals painted on many of the older buildings and historical walking and trolley tours. In the evenings, the area is a location for live music.
The city is a thriving location for businesses and has been called “Camel City”, a reference to the tobacco industry and Camel cigarettes. Winston-Salem is most famous for the tobacco, furniture and textiles industries. RJ Reynolds, a Winston-Salem native, was the founder of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, and was a significant contributor to the development of the city. In addition, Hanesbrands, Inc. is based in Winston-Salem. In 1901, J. Wesley Hanes’s Shamrock Hosiery Mills was opened to produce underwear and hosiery. By the 1940s, 60% of Winston-Salem residents worked for Reynolds or Hanes. The city also had incorporations in 1934, by McLean Trucking Company; in 1937, by Krispy Kreme and Quality Oil Co. (now Shell Oil Co); and in 1948 – Piedmont Airlines, now US Airways. The largest employer in the area is Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, with 10,000 employees. The area is also the regional banking headquarters for Wachovia Corp., and home to Novant Health, BB&T, Blue Rhino, Sara Lee Corp, and Reynolds American.
Winston-Salem has a thriving college town atmosphere with many Colleges, Universities and trade schools. Wake Forest University relocated to the area from Wake Forest, NC in 1946, when school officials accepted funding contingent on the move. Wake Forest University, a private, liberal arts school has about 6,300 students today. In addition to Wake Forest, Winston-Salem is home to: Winston-Salem State University, Salem Academy and College, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Piedmont Baptist College, Winston-Salem Baptist College, and Forsyth Technical Community College.
Winston-Salem is or has been home to many famous people, including: Maya Angelou, Louis Farrakhan, Howard Cosell, Actresses Angela Bassett, Pam Grier, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jada Pinkett-Smith; NASCAR notables Ed Berrier, and Richard Childress; NBA players Tim Duncan, Josh Howard, and Earl Monroe; MLB players Mark Grace and Wes Livengood; Musicians Ben Folds and John Tesh; RJ Reynolds and Arnold Palmer. Motion Pictures Mr. Destiny, Thank You for Smoking, George Washington, Junebug, and Leatherheads have all been filmed in the area as well.
The Arts District is located between Sixth and Trade Streets. Winston-Salem was named the “City of the Arts”, mainly due to the fact that, in 1949, it was the first city to have an arts council in the U.S. The Winston-Salem Arts District is home to museums, performing arts centers, and gardens. Downtown museums include: Old Salem Museum, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), Reynolds House Museum of American Art, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), Wake Forest University Museum of Anthropology, SciWorks, and the Children’s Museum of Winston-Salem. Downtown Performing Arts facilities include: University of North Carolina School of the Arts, The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem, the Piedmont Opera Theater, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Stevens Center for the Performing Arts, and Sawtooth Center for the Visual Arts. In addition, the former RJ Reynolds Estate and Gardens are located downtown. The Arts District also has the following festivals: National Black Theatre Festival, RiverRun International Film Festival, Revolve Film and Music Festival, Carolina Music Ways, and the Heavy Rebel Weekender music festival.