Old Salem Museums and Gardens
460 Leaders Ave, Winston-Salem, NC
Winston-Salem, NC
A whole eighteenth-century Moravian town survives in the middle of a modern city, its brick houses, gardens, and wood-fired bakery kept alive by people practicing the old trades.
Old Salem is one of the most authentic living-history towns in the country, a restored eighteenth-century Moravian settlement preserved in the middle of Winston-Salem. It was founded in 1766 by the Moravians, a Protestant religious community from central Europe who came to North Carolina to build a carefully planned town of tradespeople, and much of that original town, its brick and half-timbered houses, its church square, its shops and gardens, still stands.
Today those buildings are brought to life by costumed artisans who practice the old trades much as the Moravians did, from the gunsmith and the tinsmith to the potter, the shoemaker, and the baker who tends the wood-fired ovens of the Winkler Bakery. Walking its cobbled streets, past heirloom gardens and craftspeople at work, a visitor steps into the daily life of a colonial community that valued order, industry, and faith, and finds it remarkably intact.
What Guests Love
- A living town where costumed artisans practice eighteenth-century trades
- The wood-fired Winkler Bakery and the smell of Moravian bread and cookies
- Heirloom gardens grown just as the Moravian settlers grew them
- A rare chance to walk through a whole preserved colonial-era town
Worth Knowing
- The town's cobbled streets and paths mean a lot of walking, so wear comfortable shoes
- Buildings and trades keep set days and seasons, so check what is open when you go
- The historic district streets are open to stroll; the trade buildings are ticketed
- The bakery and shops make a good stop even on a short visit
Details
Winston-Salem, NC
Learn about Old Salem Museums and Gardens
The Moravians who built Salem
The Moravians were members of one of the oldest Protestant churches, tracing their roots to central Europe, and they came to North Carolina in the mid-1700s to establish a religious community on a large tract of land they called Wachovia. In 1766 they laid out Salem as their central town, planning it carefully as a place of skilled trades and communal life, with the church at its heart and the work of the community organized for the common good.
The Moravians were unusually skilled and industrious, and Salem quickly became known for the quality of its craftsmen, its music, and its careful record-keeping, which is one reason so much is known about daily life there. Their commitment to building well and keeping records is also why so much of the town survives, and why Old Salem can recreate its trades and gardens with such accuracy today.
The town brought back to life
Old Salem is a living-history museum, which means the past is not shut behind glass but practiced in the open. Costumed interpreters staff the historic buildings and work the trades of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, so a visitor can watch a gunsmith at the forge, a potter at the wheel, a tinsmith shaping metal, and a joiner working wood, each explaining the craft as they go.
The gardens are part of this authenticity. Old Salem is known for its heirloom gardens, planted with the same vegetables, herbs, and flowers the Moravians grew, arranged in the tidy geometric beds they favored. Together the buildings, trades, and gardens give a full and vivid picture of how a colonial town actually fed, clothed, and equipped itself.
The bakery and the Moravian arts
No visit is complete without the Winkler Bakery, where bakers still fire the great brick oven with wood and turn out Moravian bread, sugar cake, and the famously thin, spiced Moravian cookies from recipes handed down for generations. The smell alone draws visitors in, and the bakery is one of the most beloved corners of the town.
The Moravian legacy reaches beyond bread. Salem was a center of decorative arts, music, and fine craftsmanship, and the adjacent Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts holds one of the finest collections of Southern furniture, ceramics, and household objects anywhere. The community's traditions of music and of the Christmas Moravian star and love feast also endure in the wider city.
Winston-Salem around it
Old Salem sits just south of downtown Winston-Salem, a Piedmont city that grew wealthy on tobacco in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and that carries the Salem name in its own. The restored historic district is ringed by the modern city, an unusual and striking contrast, with the campus of Salem College, itself descended from a Moravian girls' school, right alongside.
The city offers much more to explore. The Reynolda House Museum of American Art, in the former estate of the Reynolds tobacco family, holds a fine collection in a grand setting, and the downtown arts district, museums, and restaurants round out a visit. The foothills and mountains of western North Carolina lie a short drive to the west.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Winston-Salem
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
About 5 miles
An American art museum in the former estate of the Reynolds tobacco family, set in gardens and grounds.
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts
In Old Salem
One of the finest collections of Southern furniture, ceramics, and household objects, on the edge of the historic town.
Downtown Winston-Salem
About 2 miles
An arts district of galleries, restaurants, and restored tobacco warehouses just north of Old Salem.
Pilot Mountain State Park
About 25 miles
A distinctive knob rising above the Piedmont, a landmark peak with trails and sweeping views.