Winston-Salem formed in 1913 from Salem (1766) and Winston (1849). Old Salem, Bethabara and all 92 National Register listings in the city, with years.

Last checked Oct. 11, 2026. Dates come from NCpedia, the State Library of North Carolina’s encyclopedia, the City of Winston-Salem and the National Park Service’s National Register data. City-County Planning and Development Services, which staffs the Historic Resources Commission: 336-747-7040.

Winston-Salem is two towns joined together. Salem was established in 1766 by Moravians, and Winston was established in 1849 as the seat of the new Forsyth County. They combined in 1913, according to NCpedia. The city is the county seat of Forsyth County.

What this means for you

  • Old Salem, the restored Moravian town, is open Wednesday through Saturday, closed in January.
  • Historic Bethabara Park’s grounds are free and open every day from dawn to dusk.
  • Owners in a local historic district need a certificate of appropriateness before exterior changes; see building permits and zoning.

How the city began

  • 1753: German-speaking Moravians found Bethabara, the first European settlement in the North Carolina Piedmont, according to the city’s Bethabara Park page.
  • 1766: Salem is established as the administrative hub of the Moravian settlements. Its name is a Latinized form of shalom, or peace. In 1772 the school that became Salem Academy opened, and it still operates, according to NCpedia.
  • 1849: Forsyth County is formed. Salem declines to be the county seat, and the church sells 31 acres to the county commissioners to build a new seat, Winston, named for Col. Joseph Winston, who fought at Kings Mountain and Guilford Courthouse.
  • By 1880: the Hanes brothers’ textile mills and R.J. Reynolds’ tobacco factory are running in Winston, and the first Wachovia Bank has incorporated.
  • 1892: Slater Industrial Academy, later Winston-Salem State University, opens.
  • 1913: Winston and Salem combine as Winston-Salem.
  • 1926: City Hall is built at 101 N. Main St.; it is the city’s only example of Renaissance Revival civic architecture, according to the city.
  • 1941 and 1951: Wake Forest College moves its medical program to the city in 1941, and ground is broken a decade later to move the whole school.
  • 1950: Old Salem Inc. is chartered and goes on to save more than 60 buildings of the Moravian town.

The city publishes a decade-by-decade history from 1913 on its city history page.

Places to visit

Place Address Hours as published
Old Salem Museums and Gardens Visitor center, 900 Old Salem Road 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday; closed in January (Old Salem)
Historic Bethabara Park 2147 Bethabara Road Grounds free, dawn to dusk year-round; visitor center 336-924-8191 (city)
Reynolda House Museum and Welcome Center 2250 Reynolda Road 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday; closed Mondays (Reynolda)
Reynolda Gardens 2201 Reynolda Road See Reynolda

Old Salem’s historic district, the Salem Tavern and the Single Brothers’ House are National Historic Landmarks, as are the Bethabara and Bethania historic districts, according to the National Park Service data below.

Markers

The city and county’s Historic Resources Commission runs a local historic marker program and keeps the lists of local historic districts and local historic landmarks.

Every National Register listing in Winston-Salem

The National Park Service lists 92 properties and districts in Winston-Salem on the National Register of Historic Places, from the Old Salem Historic District and Salem Tavern in 1966 to the Bahnson Company Building in 2026. The city’s National Register page links each nomination file at the State Historic Preservation Office.

Bar chart of National Register listings in Winston-Salem by decade listed: 2 in the 1960s, 16 in the 1970s, 15 in the 1980s, 16 in the 1990s, 22 in the 2000s, 14 in the 2010s and 7 so far in the 2020s

Names and addresses are as the National Park Service lists them; the year is the year each was listed. Bethabara and Bethania appear under Winston-Salem in the federal data.

Listed Property Address or location
1966 Salem Tavern (National Historic Landmark, 1964) 800 S. Main St.
1966 Old Salem Historic District (National Historic Landmark, 1966) 600 S. Main St. (Salem College campus and area near Salem Sq.)
1970 Single Brothers’ House (National Historic Landmark, 1970) S. Main and Academy Sts.
1971 Bethabara Moravian Church 2147 Bethabara Rd.
1973 Zevely House 734 Oak St.
1976 Bethania Historic District (National Historic Landmark, 2001) N of Winston-Salem on NC 65, SR 1611, 1628, and 1688
1976 Shell Service Station Sprague and Peachtree Sts., NW
1977 Arista Cotton Mill Complex 200 Brookstown Ave.
1978 Smith, W. F., and Sons Leaf House and Brown Brothers Company Building 4th St. between Patterson and Linden
1978 Shamrock Mills 3rd and Marshall Sts.
1978 Poindexter, H. D., Houses 124 and 130 West End Blvd.
1978 Graylyn Reynolda Rd.
1978 Bethabara Historic District (National Historic Landmark, 1999) N of Winston-Salem on NC 67
1978 South Trade Street Houses 434, 440, and 448 S. Trade St.
1979 Atkins, S. G., House 346 Atkins St.
1979 Hill, J. S., House 914 Stadium Dr.
1979 Paisley J. W., House 934 Stadium Dr.
1979 Single Brothers Industrial Complex Site Address restricted
1980 Reynolda Historic District Reynolda Rd.
1982 Rogers, James Mitchell, House 102 S. Cherry St.
1982 Gilmer Building 416-424 W. 4th St.
1983 Ludlow, Col. Jacob Lott, House 434 Summit St.
1983 Nissen Building 310 W. Fourth St.
1983 Salem Town Hall 301 S. Liberty St.
1983 Hylehurst 224 S. Cherry St.
1984 Sosnik-Morris-Early Commercial Block 500 W. 4th St.
1984 Washovia Bank and Trust Company Building 8 W. 3rd St.
1984 O’Hanlon Building 103 W. 4th St.
1984 Spruce Street YMCA 315 N. Spruce St.
1984 Bland, Joseph Franklin, House 1809 Virginia Rd.
1984 Lowe, Cicero Francis, House 204 Cascade Ave.
1985 Blair, William Allen, House 210 S. Cherry St.
1986 West End Historic District Roughly bounded by W. End Blvd., Sixth, Broad, and Fourth Sts., I-40, Sunset Dr., and Peters Creek
1990 Conrad-Starbuck House 118 S. Cherry St.
1991 Reynolds, Richard J., High School and Richard J. Reynolds Memorial Auditorium 301 Hawthorne Rd.
1991 Brickenstein-Leinbach House 426 Old Salem Rd.
1991 St. Philip’s Moravian Church E side, S. Church St. near Race St., Old Salem
1991 Winston-Salem Southbound Railway Freight Warehouse and Office 300 S. Liberty St.
1992 Washington Park Historic District Roughly bounded by Leonard St., Acadia Ave., Sunnyside Ave., Vintage Ave., Broad St., Bond St. and Washington Park
1998 Brown, W.C., Apartment Building 311-317 E. 7th St.
1998 Craver Apartment Building 706-712 Chestnut St.
1998 Goler Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 630 Patterson Ave.
1998 Lloyd Presbyterian Church 748 Chestnut St.
1998 Robinson, A., Building 707-709 Patterson Ave.
1998 Union Station 300 Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr.
1999 Goler Metropolitan AME Zion Church 1435 E. Fourth St.
1999 Mars Hill Baptist Church 1331 E. Fourth St.
1999 Indera Mills 400 S. Marshall St.
1999 Atkins High School (former) 1215 N. Cameron Ave.
2000 Black, George, House and Brickyard 111 Dellabrook Rd.
2000 Snyder, John Wesley, House 2715 Old Salisbury Rd.
2000 Middleton House 2721 Robinhood Rd.
2001 Bahnson, Agnew Hunter, House Jct. of W. Fifth and Spring Sts.
2001 Wachovia Building 301 N. Main St.
2001 Winston-Salem City Hall 101 S. Main St.
2002 Holly Avenue Historic District Roughly bounded by Broad and Marshall Sts., Holly Ave. and Business I-40
2002 Downtown North Historic District Roughly bounded by W. Fifth, W. Eighth, N. Main and N. Cherry Sts.
2002 Oak Grove School Oak Grove Circle, 0.3 mi. E of jct. with Bethabara Rd.
2004 Ardmore Historic District Roughly bounded by Knollwood, Queen, Duke, and Ardsley Sts.
2004 Nissen Building (Boundary Increase) 314 W. Fourth St.
2004 North Cherry Street Historic District N. Cherry St. bounded by Fourteenth, Twenty-third and Seventeenth St., Lincoln and Pittsburg Ave.
2005 West Salem Historic District Roughly bounded by Business 40, Poplar, Salem Ave., Walnut, Shober, Hutton Sts, Granville Dr. and Beaumont St.
2005 Waughtown-Belview Historic District Roughly bounded by Dacian, Waughtown St, Bellwauwood, Sprague, Ernest, Goldfloss, and Gilbreath Dr.
2005 Hanes, P.H., Knitting Company 675 N. Main St., 101 W. Sixth St. and 600 N. Chestnut St.
2005 Shultz, Christian Thomas, House 3960 Walnut Hills Dr.
2006 Dyer, James B. and Diana M., House 1015 W. Kent Rd.
2007 Nissen, S.J., Building 310 E. Third St.
2008 Reynoldstown Historic District Portions of 800 & 900 blks. of Camel, Cameron, Graham, Jackson & Rich Aves., E. 10th St.& Cameron Ave Bridge
2008 Centerville Historic District Roughly bounded by Waughtown, Vargrave, Haled & Chapel Sts.
2008 Sunnyside-Central Terrace Historic District Roughly bounded by Haled, Junia, Monmouth, Glendale, Goldfloss, Brookline & Main Sts.
2009 Winston-Salem Tobacco Historic District Bounded by Chestnut St. on the W., 5th and 7th Sts. on the N., Linden St. on the E., and 4th and Fogle Sts. on the S.
2011 Chatham Manufacturing Company-Western Electric Company 750 & 800 Chatham Rd.
2012 Hanes, Robert M., House 140 N. Stratford Rd.
2013 Forsyth County Courthouse 11 W. 3rd St.
2014 Hoots Milling Company Roller Mill 1151 Canal Dr.
2014 North Cherry Street Historic District (Boundary Decrease and Additional Documentation) 1407, 1408, 1409, 1410-12, 1411-13, 1415, 1419, 1463, 2067 N. Cherry St.
2014 Chatham, Thurmond and Lucy, House 112 N. Stratford St.
2014 Reynolds Building 51 E. 4th St.
2014 Pepper Building 100-106 W. 4th St.
2014 Old German Baptist Brethern Church 4916 Charnel Rd.
2016 Hanes Hosiery Mill-Ivy Avenue Plant 1245 & 1325 Ivy Ave.
2016 Oak Crest Historic District 1141-1537 Polo & Fred’s Rds., Friendship, Crepe Myrtle & Rosedale Circles, Idlewilde Dr., Harmon Ave., Hobart St
2017 Reynolds, R.J., Tobacco Company Buildings 2-1 and 2-2 951 Reynolds Blvd.
2019 Womble, Bunyan S. and Edith W., House 200 North Stratford Rd.
2019 Evergreen Farm 1532 Jonestown Rd.
2020 St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 520 Summit St.
2022 Downtown Winston-Salem Historic District 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, Spring, Spruce, Marshall, Cherry, Town Run, Trade, Liberty, and Church Sts.
2023 Hanes, Alexander S. and Mary R., House 525 North Hawthorne Rd.
2023 Coan-Gray House 1121 Arbor Rd.
2023 Winston Lake Golf Course 3535 Winston Lake Road, 2790 New Walkertown Road
2024 R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Buildings 82 and 83 821 East Twenty-Fifth Street
2026 Bahnson Company Building 1001 South Marshall Street

More: parks and trails, population and growth and moving to Winston-Salem.

Frequently asked questions

When was Winston-Salem founded?

Winston-Salem was formed in 1913 when the towns of Winston, established in 1849, and Salem, established in 1766, combined, according to NCpedia, the State Library of North Carolina’s encyclopedia.

Who was Winston-Salem named for?

Winston was named for Col. Joseph Winston, who fought at Kings Mountain and Guilford Courthouse in the Revolutionary War. Salem takes its name from a Latinized form of shalom, meaning peace.

What is the oldest settlement in Winston-Salem?

Bethabara, founded in 1753 by German-speaking Moravians, was the first European settlement in the North Carolina Piedmont, according to the city. Its 183-acre park is open free from dawn to dusk.

How many National Register of Historic Places listings are in Winston-Salem?

The National Park Service lists 92 properties and districts in Winston-Salem, from the Old Salem Historic District in 1966 to the Bahnson Company Building in 2026.

What are Old Salem’s hours?

Old Salem Museums and Gardens is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and closes for the month of January. The visitor center is at 900 Old Salem Road.