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Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
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Source:  Moravian Settlement, Winston-Salem. Photo by M.C. Wilcox, courtesy of HMdb.org

  • Monument Name

    Moravian Settlement, Winston-Salem

  • Type

    Marker

  • Subjects

    Colonial History

  • City

    Winston-Salem

  • County

    Forsyth

  • Description

    The Wachovia Settlement memorial marker is an unfinished narrow slab of stone several feet tall. The stone has a somewhat rounded top; with an inscription damaged in places and difficult to read. Next to the marker which stands at the corner of the historic Bethabara Moravian Church is a modern plaque on a metal pole that gives the history of the marker.

  • Inscription

    1806 Tablet: WACHOVIA / SETTLEMENT / BEGUN / 17 NOVEMBER / 1753.

    Modern plaque: MEMORIAL MARKER 1806 / ON NOVEMBER 26, 1806, THIS MARKER WAS ERECTED AS A / MEMORIAL TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE / UNITY OF BRETHREN (MORAVIANS) IN WACHOVIA. IT WAS / MOVED HERE IN 1850, HAVING BEEN PLACED ORIGINALLY AT THE SITE OF / THE FIRST CABIN OCCUPIED BY THE BRETHREN IN 1753. THE FIRST SUCH / MEMORIAL MARKER HAD BEEN ERECTED BY THE MORAVIANS IN 1770.

    "BR. BENIZIEN WAS PRESENT AND ANNOUNCED THAT THE HELFER CONFERENZ FURS / GANZE (MINISTER'S CONFERENCE) HAD DECIDED TO PLACE A MONUMENT BEARING THE / WORDS 'THE 17TH NOVEMBER 1753' ON THE SITE OF THE FIRST HUT WHICH WAS OCCUPIED / BY THE TWELVE (SIC: 15) SINGLE BRETHREN WHEN THEY ARRIVED." / BETHABARA DIARY, DECEMBER 10, 1803.

  • Custodian

    City of Winston-Salem, Recreation and Parks Department

  • Dedication Date

    November 26, 1806

  • Decade

    1800s

  • Geographic Coordinates

    36.154990 , -80.297250 View in Geobrowsemap pin

  • Supporting Sources

      "Bethabara Moravian Church, near Winston-Salem, N.C." in North Carolina Postcard Collection (P052), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill Link

      "Wachovia Settlement," The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed June 18, 2017) Link

      Marshall III, R. Jackson. 2006. “Bethabara,” NCPedia.org, (accessed June 18, 2017) Link

      “Historic Bethabara Park,” City of Winston-Salem.org, (accessed June 16, 2017) Link

      “Memorial Marker 1806,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed June 18, 2017) Link

  • Public Site

    Yes

  • Materials & Techniques

    Stone

  • Sponsors

    Unity of Brethren (Moravians) in Wachovia

  • Subject Notes

    Bethabara is a National Historic Landmark which marks the site of the first German-speaking, Protestant settlement in North Carolina. Bethabara, meaning "house of passage," was established on November 17, 1753 by 15 Moravian men sent down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania. It was situated on a 99,000-acre tract of land purchased by the Moravians they named Wachovia.

  • Location

    The marker is located at Historic Bethabara Park (Old Town) just north of Winston-Salem, NC on the grounds of Bethabara Moravian Church (2100 Bethabara Rd.). The marker is on the left when traveling north on Bethabara Road.

  • Landscape

    The Historic Bethabara Park settlement nestles in a picturesque, wooded 183-acre wildlife preserve.

  • Relocated

    Yes

  • Former Locations

    The marker was relocated in 1850, having been placed originally at the site of the first cabin occupied by the Brethren in 1753.

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