Timeline of Winston-Salem, North Carolina explained

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.

Prior to 20th century

• 1769 – Single Brothers' House built in Salem.
• 1771 – Moravian cemetery ("God's Acre") in use in Salem.^[1]
• 1784 – Salem Tavern rebuilt.
• 1802 – Salem Academy for girls founded.^[2]
• 1840 – Arista Cotton Mill and Fries Woolen Mills in business in Salem.
• 1843 – Salem Vigilant Fire Company established.
• 1849 – Salem becomes part of the newly formed Forsyth County.^[3]
• 1851 – New town "Winston" created as seat of Forsyth County.
• 1852 – Western Plank Road (Wilmington-Salem) built.
• 1856
  • Salem incorporated.
  • Charles Brietz becomes first mayor of Salem.
  • Western Sentinel newspaper begins publication in Salem.
• 1859
  • Winston incorporated.
  • William Barrow becomes first mayor of Winston.
• 1861
  • St. Philips Moravian Church built in Salem.
  • May 20: State of North Carolina secedes from the Union.
• 1866 – First National Bank of Salem established.
• 1871 – First tobacco factory in Winston begins operating.^[4]
• 1872 – P.H. Hanes & Co. tobacco in business in Winston.
• 1875 – R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in business in Winston.
• 1879 – Wachovia National Bank established in Winston.
• 1890 – Twin-City Daily Sentinel newspaper in publication.
• 1891 – First Catholic Mass held at St. Leo's original church site in the West End.^{[5] [6]}
• 1896 – Population: 5,500 in Salem; 13,500 in Winston.
• 1897 – The Journal newspaper begins publication.^[7]
• 1899 – Winston-Salem post office established in Winston.

20th century

• 1905 – Baseball comes to Winston-Salem
• 1912 – Winston-Salem Hebrew Congregation formed.
• 1913 – Towns of Salem and Winston merge to form Winston-Salem municipality.^[8]
• 1918 – November: Racial unrest.
• 1923 – North Carolina Baptist Hospital opens.
• 1927 –
  • Nissen Building completed - would later be the first building in the Southeastern US to install air conditioning.
  • Miller Municipal Airport established.http://www.smithreynolds.org/airport/history.php
• 1929 – Reynolds Building (hi-rise) constructed.
• 1930
  • WSJS radio begins broadcasting.
  • Shell-shaped Shell Service Station built.^[9]
• 1935 – State Theatre active.
• 1937
  • WAIR radio begins broadcasting.
  • Krispy Kreme donuts in business.^[10]
• 1948 – Piedmont Airlines headquartered in city.
• 1951 – Flamingo Drive-In cinema opens.^[11]
• 1952 – Temple Emanuel synagogue built.^[12]
• 1953 – WSJS-TV begins broadcasting.
• 1956 – Wake Forest College relocates to Winston-Salem.
• 1960 – Winston-Salem exceeds 100,000 for the first time.
• 1965
  • Hanes Corporation headquartered in city.^[13]
  • Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts established.^[14]
  • Parkway Theatre opens.
• 1966 – Wachovia Building (hi-rise) constructed.
• 1967 – November: Racial unrest.
• 1971 – Black Panther Party, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Chapter established.
• 1975 – Hanes Mall opens.
• 1979 – WGNN-TV begins broadcasting.
• 1981 – Wake Forest University's Layton Field baseball park opens.
• 1982
  • Second Harvest Food Bank begins operating.http://www.hungernwnc.org/about-us/index.html^[15]
  • Southern Garden History Society headquartered in Winston-Salem.^[16]
  • RJR Plaza Building constructed.
• 1989
  • Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum opens.
  • Tornadoes hit the Winston-Salem area and Forsyth County on May 5. These tornadoes were part of the May 1989 tornado outbreak across Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.
• 1993 – Mel Watt becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 12th congressional district.^[17]
• 1995 – Wachovia Center (hi-rise) built.
• 1997
  • City website online (approximate date).^[18]
  • Winston Net (computer training nonprofit) established.http://www.winstonnet.org/history.html^[19]
  • Jack Cavanagh becomes mayor.^[20]
• 2000
  • Population exceeds 200,000 for the first time.
  • Sister city relationship established with Ungheni, Moldova.^[21]

21st century

• 2001
  • Allen Joines becomes mayor.
  • Sister city relationship established with Kumasi, Ghana.
• 2005 – Winston Cup Museum opened by Will Spencer.^[22]
• 2006 – Sister city relationship established with Nassau, Bahamas and Shanghai, China.
• 2008 – Wachovia Bank is acquired by Wells Fargo.
• 2010 – Population: 229,617.^[23]
• 2011
  • Sister city relationship established with Buchanan, Liberia.
  • Tennis tournament Winston-Salem Open moves here from New Haven, Connecticut
• 2014 – Alma Adams becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 12th congressional district.^[24]
• 2019
  • Confederate soldier statue on the former grounds of the Forsyth County Courthouse removed after protests and legal challenges.
  • BB&T acquires SunTrust Banks, forming Truist Financial headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina
• 2022
  • A fire at the Weaver Fertilizer Plant on North Cherry Street forces an evacuation within one mile of the plant out of concern for a large-scale explosion^[25]

See also

• Winston-Salem history
• List of mayors of Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Forsyth County history
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Forsyth County, North Carolina
• Timelines of other cities in North Carolina: Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Raleigh, Wilmington

Bibliography

• Book: Branson's North Carolina Business Directory . Levi Branson . Raleigh, NC . 1896 . Forsyth County . https://books.google.com/books?id=qUY9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA264 . .
• Book: Walsh's Winston-Salem, North Carolina, City Directory . 1904 . W.H. Walsh Directory Co. . Charleston, SC .
  • 1908 ed.
• Book: Winston-Salem . https://books.google.com/books?id=GtINAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA651 . 1919 . Automobile Blue Book . USA . Automobile Blue Book.
• Book: Federal Writers’ Project . North Carolina: A Guide to the Old North State . . 1939 . Winston-Salem . 258+ . https://archive.org/stream/northcarolinagui00fede#page/258/mode/1up . Open Library. . Federal Writers’ Project . . + Chronology
  • Book: Frank Tursi. Winston-Salem: A History. 1994. John F. Blair . Winston-Salem, N.C. . 978-0-89587-115-2. .

External links

• Web site: Town of Salem History . City of Winston-Salem .
• Web site: Town of Winston History . City of Winston-Salem .
• Web site: Forsyth County Public Library . North Carolina Room . Winston-Salem . (local history collection)
• Items related to Winston-Salem, NC, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).
• Web site: Resources for Local History and Genealogy by State: North Carolina . . Humanities and Social Sciences Division . Bibliographies and Guides . Washington DC .

Notes and References

1. Web site: First Burial in God's Acre. This Day in North Carolina History. 7 June 2016 . North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. 13 June 2017.
2. Book: Patterson's American Educational Directory . 29 . 1932 . Chicago . 2027/uc1.b3970358?urlappend=%3Bseq=404 . Hathi Trust . Patterson . Homer L. .
3. Web site: North Carolina: Individual County Chronologies . Atlas of Historical County Boundaries . Scholl Center for American History and Culture . . Chicago . June 21, 2015.
4. Web site: Timeline of North Carolina History . NCpedia . State Library of North Carolina . June 21, 2015.
5. Elliott, J. Eric. Winston-Salem's Historic West End, 2004, page 42.
6. http://www.stleocatholic.org/parish-history St. Leo the Great Catholic Church Parish History
7. Web site: US Newspaper Directory . Washington, D.C. . Chronicling America . Library of Congress . June 21, 2015.
8. Web site: Winston and Salem Merged, 1913. This Day in North Carolina History. 13 May 2016 . North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. 13 June 2017.
9. Web site: It's a Shell of a Building. This Day in North Carolina History. 13 May 2016 . North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. 13 June 2017.
10. Web site: Krispy Kreme Makes its Debut in Winston-Salem. This Day in North Carolina History. 13 July 2016 . North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. 13 June 2017.
11. Web site: Movie Theaters in Winston-Salem, NC . CinemaTreasures.org . Cinema Treasures LLC . Los Angeles . June 21, 2015 .
12. Encyclopedia: Winston-Salem, North Carolina . Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities . . Jackson, Mississippi . June 21, 2015 .
13. Web site: Hanes Brand Began in Winston-Salem. This Day in North Carolina History. 12 June 2016 . North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. 13 June 2017.
14. Book: Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada . 2002 . 15th . 0-7591-0002-0 . American Association for State and Local History . https://books.google.com/books?id=LY0Q5Rv4O3YC&pg=PA625 . North Carolina . Rowman Altamira .
15. Web site: North Carolina Food Banks . Food Bank Locator . . Chicago . June 21, 2015 .
16. Web site: History . Southern Garden History Society . Winston-Salem . September 13, 2016 .
17. Book: 1993–1994 Official Congressional Directory: 103rd Congress . Washington DC . Government Printing Office . North Carolina . 1991/1992- : S. Pub. . 1887 . 2027/uc1.l0072691827?urlappend=%3Bseq=260 . http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.l0072691827?urlappend=%3Bseq=260 . Hathi Trust .
18. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/19970605064918/http://www.ci.winston-salem.nc.us/ . Winston-Salem Home Page . 1997-06-05 . .
19. Web site: Winston-Salem, North Carolina . . New York . Nonprofit Explorer . 9 May 2013 . Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei . June 21, 2015 .
20. Web site: History: Mayors of Winston-Salem, 1913 to present. City of Winston-Salem. June 21, 2015 .
21. Web site: Sister Cities . City of Winston-Salem. June 21, 2015 .
22. https://winstoncupmuseum.com/about-the-winston-cup-museum/ About The Museum
23. Web site: Winston-Salem (city), North Carolina . State & County QuickFacts . U.S. Census Bureau . June 21, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150621164841/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/37/3775000.html . June 21, 2015 .
24. Web site: Members of Congress . . Civic Impulse, LLC . Washington, D.C. . June 21, 2015.
25. Web site: Weaver Fertilizer Plant Fire . Environmental Protection Agency . May 2, 2022.