Timeline of Winston-Salem, North Carolina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States.
Prior to 20th century
- 1753 – November 17: Moravian settlers establish Bethabara in present-day Winston-Salem, the first community in the Wachovia tract.[1]
- 1766 – January 6: Work begins on Salem, planned as the administrative center of Wachovia.[2]
- 1769 – Single Brothers' House completed in Salem.[3]
- 1771 – June 7: First burial in Salem's Moravian cemetery, God's Acre.[4]
- 1772 – School that became Salem Academy and Salem College opens in Salem.[5]
- 1784 – Salem Tavern rebuilt after fire.[6]
- 1822 – African and African-American Moravian congregation later known as St. Philips Moravian Church organized in Salem.[7]
- 1840 – Salem Cotton Mill operating in Salem.[8]
- 1843 – Salem Vigilant Fire Company established.[9]
- 1849 – Salem becomes part of the newly formed Forsyth County.[10]
- 1851 – New town "Winston" created as seat of Forsyth County.[9]
- 1854 – Fayetteville and Western Plank Road completed to Forsyth County.[11]
- 1856
- 1857 – Charles Brietz becomes first mayor of Salem.[14]
- 1859
- 1861
- May 20: North Carolina secedes from the Union.[16]
- December 15: Brick church later known as St. Philips Moravian Church consecrated in Salem.[7]
- 1866 – First National Bank of Salem established.[17]
- 1870 – Hamilton Scales begins manufacturing plug tobacco on Liberty Street in Winston.[18]
- 1872 – P. H. Hanes and Company organized to manufacture tobacco in Winston.[19]
- 1873 – Piedmont Warehouse, Winston's first tobacco warehouse, established.[18]
- 1875 – R. J. Reynolds builds his first tobacco factory in Winston.[20]
- 1879 – Wachovia National Bank established in Winston.[17]
- 1890 – Twin-City Daily Sentinel newspaper in publication.[21]
- 1891 – First Catholic Mass held at St. Leo's original church site in the West End.[22][23]
- 1892 – September 28: Slater Industrial Academy, a school for African Americans, founded.[24]
- 1896 – Population: 5,500 in Salem; 13,500 in Winston.[25]
- 1897 – The Journal newspaper begins publication.[21]
- 1899 – United States Post Office Department merges the Winston and Salem post offices as the Winston-Salem Post Office.[26]
20th century
- 1905 – Professional baseball comes to Winston-Salem.[27]
- 1912 – Winston-Salem Hebrew Congregation formed.[28]
- 1913
- May 13: Town of Salem and city of Winston merge to form Winston-Salem municipality.[29]
- Camel cigarettes introduced by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.[30]
- 1918 – November 17–18: Riot occurs after a mob gathers at the city jail amid lynching rumors.[31]
- 1919 – October 14: Winston-Salem Foundation established with seed money from Col. Francis Henry Fries.[32]
- 1923 – May 28: North Carolina Baptist Hospital opens.[33]
- 1926
- Nissen Building constructed.[34]
- June 1: Safe Bus Company begins offering transportation to African-American residents of Winston-Salem.[35]
- 1927 – Miller Municipal Airport established.[36]
- 1929 – April 23: Reynolds Building officially opens.[37]
- 1930
- WSJS radio begins broadcasting.[38]
- Shell-shaped Shell Service Station built.[39]
- 1935 – State Theatre active.[40]
- 1936 – Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation established in Winston-Salem.[41]
- 1937
- WAIR radio begins broadcasting.[38]
- Krispy Kreme donuts in business.[42]
- 1943 – June 17: Tobacco workers at R. J. Reynolds begin a sit-down strike that leads to Local 22 labor and civil-rights activism.[43]
- 1948 – Piedmont Airlines founded in Winston-Salem.[44]
- 1949 – August 9: Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County founded as the first locally established arts council in the United States.[45]
- 1951 – Flamingo Drive-In cinema opens.[40]
- 1952 – Temple Emanuel synagogue built.[28]
- 1953 – WSJS-TV begins broadcasting.[46]
- 1956
- Wake Forest College's new Winston-Salem campus opens.[47]
- Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art founded by James G. Hanes.[48]
- 1960
- 1965
- North Carolina School of the Arts opens in Winston-Salem.[52]
- Hanes Hosiery Mills Company and P. H. Hanes Knitting Company merge to form Hanes Corporation.[53]
- Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts established.[54]
- Parkway Theatre opens.[40]
- 1966 – Wachovia Building completed.[55]
- 1967
- Reynolda House Museum of American Art becomes the setting for a collection of American art.[56]
- November 3–5: Civil unrest follows the death of a Black man in police custody; the National Guard is called in and the city is placed under curfew.[57]
- 1969 – Black Panther Party, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Chapter established.[58]
- 1972 – Winston-Salem Transit Authority purchases the assets of the Safe Bus Company.[35]
- 1975 – Hanes Mall opens.[59]
- 1979
- North Carolina Black Repertory Company founded by Larry Leon Hamlin.[60]
- WGNN-TV begins broadcasting.[61]
- 1981 – Wake Forest University's Layton Field baseball park dedicated.[62]
- 1982
- Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina opens.[63]
- Southern Garden History Society founded in Winston-Salem.[64]
- RJR Plaza Building completed.[65]
- 1989
- National Black Theatre Festival held for the first time in Winston-Salem.[60]
- Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum opens.[66]
- May 5: Tornadoes strike Winston-Salem and Forsyth County as part of the May 1989 tornado outbreak.[67]
- 1993 – Mel Watt becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 12th congressional district.[68]
- 1995 – Wachovia Center completed.[69]
- 1997
- 2000 – Sister city relationship established with Ungheni, Moldova.[72]
21st century
- 2001
- November: Allen Joines elected mayor.[73]
- July: Sister city relationship with Kumasi, Ghana, formalized.[72]
- WinstonNet, a community technology nonprofit, established.[74]
- 2005 – Winston Cup Museum opens.[75]
- 2006
- September 5: Hanesbrands becomes an independent, publicly traded company after its spin-off from Sara Lee Corporation.[76]
- October 23: Sister city relationship with Nassau, Bahamas, formalized.[72]
- December 18: Sister city relationship with Yangpu District, Shanghai, formalized.[72]
- 2008 – Wachovia acquired by Wells Fargo.[77]
- 2010
- BB&T Ballpark opens as home of the Winston-Salem Dash.[78]
- Population: 229,617.[79]
- 2011
- February 21: Winston-Salem City Council considers a resolution establishing a sister-city partnership with Buchanan, Liberia.[80]
- Winston-Salem Open tennis tournament begins at Wake Forest University.[81]
- 2012 – Wake Forest Biotech Place opens in converted R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company buildings downtown.[82]
- 2013 – Piedmont Triad Research Park renamed Wake Forest Innovation Quarter.[82]
- 2014 – Alma Adams becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 12th congressional district.[83]
- 2016 – Kaleideum formed by the merger of the Children's Museum of Winston-Salem and SciWorks.[84]
- 2019
- March 12: Confederate Dead Monument removed from the former Forsyth County Courthouse property.[85]
- December 6: BB&T and SunTrust Banks complete merger of equals to form Truist Financial, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.[86]
- 2020
- October 9: Atrium Health and Wake Forest Baptist Health combine as a single enterprise.[87]
- Population: 249,545.[79]
- 2022 – January 31: Fire at the Winston Weaver Company fertilizer plant on North Cherry Street prompts evacuation within a one-mile radius because of explosion risk from ammonium nitrate.[88]
- 2023 – December 16: Winston Cup Museum closes to the public.[89]
- 2024 – February 17: Kaleideum opens its new downtown museum.[90]
- 2025 – December 1: Gildan completes acquisition of Hanesbrands.[91]
See also
- History of Winston-Salem
- List of mayors of Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- History of Forsyth County
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Forsyth County, North Carolina
- Timelines of other cities in North Carolina: Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Wilmington
