Heritage
The first Moravians in North Carolina settled here more than 250 years ago on 100,000 acres, known as Wachovia Tract. These German-speaking Protestants established the first colonial town in the Carolina Piedmont in an area known today as Historic Bethabara Park. Salemtowne is located almost 500 yards from Historic Bethabara Park, a National Historic Landmark.
Founded in 1766 to house professional Moravian craftsmen, Salem, a congregational town and trading center, was a haven for entrepreneurs. Now known as Old Salem, it is one of America’s most authentic and well-documented colonial sites with 100 restored and reconstructed buildings. Visitors learn from costumed interpreters the household activities of European and African Americans who resided here through 1840. Skilled trades such as pewtering, pottery making, woodworking, shoemaking and tailoring are demonstrated. Be sure to visit the gardens of Old Salem described as the “best documented historic landscape in the United States." |
