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Though synonymous with the brand names of its cigarettes,
WINSTON-SALEM , 105 miles west of Raleigh, instead
owes its spot on the tourist itinerary to the delightful Old
Salem , a well-preserved twenty-block area that honors
the heritage of the city's first Moravian settlers. Escaping religious
persecution in what are now the Czech and Slovak republics, the
first Moravians settled in this rolling area of the Piedmont in
the mid-seventeenth century. They soon established trading links
with the frontier settlers and founded the town of Salem on a
communal basis they permitted only those of the same religious
faith to live here. The demand for their crafts helped establish
the adjacent community of Winston, which, accruing tremendous
wealth from tobacco, soon outgrew the older community. The two
merged in 1913 to form Winston-Salem.
Today visitors can tour ten of Old Salem's buildings
and, with the help of costumed guides, learn about the skills,
trades and customs of the Moravians. Start at the visitor
center at Academy and Old Salem Rd (MonSat 9am5pm, Sun
12.305pm; tel 336/721-7300), and if time is tight, prioritize
the Single Brothers House , built in 1771, where
unmarried men would sleep, worship and make items such as silverware,
hats and paper. There's also a tavern at 736
S Main (tel 336/748-8585) where beers and large lunches and dinners
are served, and a bakery at 525 S Main that produces
great cookies.
There isn't too much to see in Winston-Salem's downtown,
although the city is trying to liven things up by introducing
live music outdoors from April to October, Thursday through Sunday
nights. On Thursdays, Live after Five is at Corpenington Plaza;
Fridays, 4th Street is blocked off for jazz and blues performances;
on Saturdays, Trade Street hosts a variety of music programs;
and on Sundays there's VIP In The Park. Three miles northwest
of downtown, the Reynolda House Museum
of American Art , 2250 Reynolda Rd (TuesSat 9.30am4.30pm,
Sun 1.304.30pm; $6, free to college students; tel 336/725-5325),
uniquely throws together pieces by all the top American artists
from the eighteenth century to the present day in what was the
home of tobacco baron Richard Joshua Reynolds. The mansion, designed
by Charles Barton Keen, is set in lush, landscaped gardens, with
a number of its surrounding buildings converted into fancy stores
collectively known as Historic Reynolda Village
. Close by, and integrating the former home of underwear manufacturer
Charles Hanes, is the occasionally controversial Southeastern
Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) , 750 Marguerite
Drive (TuesSat 10am5pm, Sun 2pm5pm; tel 336/725-1904), which gets
all the area's major shows. About a mile east, Whitaker
Park , off Reynolds Boulevard (tel 336/741-2458; free),
is the impressive, fully automated factory that churns out up
to 275 million Winston, Salem and Camel cigarettes per day; unfortunately
a video has replaced the previous tours and there's not much of
a reason to stop by anymore. At Winston-Salem State University
the renowned Diggs Gallery , 601 Martin Luther
King Bvld (TuesSat 11am5pm; tel 336/750-2458; free), has ten to
fifteen different exhibits yearly, primarily on African-American
art and various educational programs. Be sure to check out the
colorful and somewhat perplexing murals Origins and Ascension
, by John Biggers, in the nearby O'Kelly library.
