D E PA R T M E N T S T R A V E L
SITES, SCENTS AND TASTES OF THE PAST
SOAK UP A SPRING TOUR OF WINSTON-SALEM’S HISTORIC GARDENS
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARILYN JONES
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pringtime in Winston-Salem is a time to celebrate warmer weather, balmy breezes, and the sights and scents of colorful flowers and vegetables growing in the city’s exceptional gardens. Winston-Salem dates back to 1753, when 15 Moravians walked to North Carolina from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and purchased a 100,000-acre tract of land to create the settlement of Bethabara. Other members of this Germanspeaking Protestant sect who had fled Bohemia and Moravia (now known as the Czech Republic) due to religious persecution soon followed, assisting in the creation of a series of Moravian settlements in North Carolina. These settlers were good at many things—including gardening.
HISTORIC BETHABARA PARK
Historic Bethabara Park
The site of the Moravians’ first home, Historic Bethabara Park, accommodates a number of gardens filled with historically accurate flowers and vegetables once grown here by its settlers. On a sunny May morning, the gardens are flowering with blooms and vegetables that are thriving and lush. The park’s “kitchen garden,” which everyone in the Moravian community tended to and benefitted from, is now called the Community Garden. It’s the only known, well-documented colonial community garden in the U.S. The Moravians’ medicinal garden contained plants used to treat ailments endured by both the settlers and their livestock during the 18th century. This space—the first European medicinal garden ever planted in America—remains intact today at Historic Bethabara Park, thanks to volunteers who abide by archeological data, and historic illustrations and maps. The park’s pollinator garden is new, but preserves the spirit of the Moravians’ relationship with the environment and tradition of respecting and understanding nature’s balance. All of the gardens are surrounded by restored original buildings, including the Log House (1834), the Gemeinhaus (1788), the Potter’s House (1782), the Brewer’s House (1803), and reconstructions including the 1754
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