Category: Historic Bethabara Park

A City of Winston-Salem Park and National Historic Landmark, Bethabara is the site of the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina. In 1753, fifteen Moravians set out on a long journey down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania to North Carolina and settled a small village, naming it Bethabara or “house of passage.” By the 1760s, Bethabara had developed into a bustling industrial trade center. After the completion of Salem, the population of Bethabara decreased, but remained an active agricultural community through the early 20th century.

Historic Bethabara Park encompasses 183 acres of wildlife preserve, historic gardens, over 10 miles of trails, four historic structures, including the oldest standing Gemeinhaus, or church with attached residence, in the United States, and a reconstructed French and Indian War palisade and colonial village.

The collections include the Stanley South Archaeological Manuscript Collection, the Edwin L. Stockton Manuscript Collection, thousands of artifacts, and hundreds of antiques. This site is home to a digitized portion of the Historic Bethabara Park collection.

https://historicbethabara.org/