innovation history, vitality,

Once the site of textile manufacturing and tobacco production, downtown historic buildings now house modern residences, restaurants, hotels, and galleries.

In Winston-Salem, today’s flourishing arts scene and bustling downtown have colonial roots and a manufacturing history. The Salem area was first settled in 1753 by the Moravians, a religious group from Eastern Europe. A century later, the city of Winston became an industrial hub for textiles and tobacco. In 1913, the two united, and Winston-Salem was born.

Today, more than 120 restaurants, 20 galleries and museums, and dozens of live music and performing arts venues in downtown alone offer dynamic big-city culture with small-town charm. North Carolina’s fifth-largest city is known as a “City of Arts and Innovation,” and it lives up to its moniker with a business culture that celebrates entrepreneurship, a thriving medical community, and nationally acclaimed schools.

Come, be immersed in a place of diversity and activity, of commerce and achievement, and of local flavors and sips. You’ll want to return again and again.

1700s 1800s

1753 Moravians, a religious group from Eastern Europe, settle in the area.

1900s

1851 Winston is officially established. After the Civil War, Winston becomes a thriving industrial center.

1766 Moravians establish the town of Salem.

1772 Salem College, the oldest continuously operating educational institution for women in the U.S., is founded.

1891 Winston-Salem State University is founded and later becomes the first African American institution in the nation to grant elementary school teaching degrees.

1901 Hanes is founded. The company is rebranded as Hanesbrands in 2006.

1920s – 1950s

1929 The art deco R.J. Reynolds Building is completed. It later inspires NYC’s Empire State Building.

1960s – 1990s

1963 UNC School of the Arts opens. It is the first statesupported school of its kind in the nation.

2000s – NOW

2021 Renovated Salem Parkway wins America’s Transportation Award.

1913 Winston and Salem unite as one city: Winston-Salem.

1917 Reynolda House, the historic home of R.J. and Katharine Reynolds, is completed.

1937 Krispy Kreme is founded in Winston-Salem.

1954 Wake Forest University moves from Wake Forest, N.C., to Winston-Salem.

1989 WinstonSalem hosts the first biennial National Black Theatre Festival.

1994 Piedmont Triad Research Park opens in downtown. It's renamed Wake Forest Innovation Quarter in 2013.

2022 WinstonSalem is named one of America's best college towns by Southern Living.

2024 The Arts Council of Winston-Salem (the first arts council in the nation) turns 75.