Moravian Heritage 3
Welcome to Old Salem! The Moravians established the settlement of Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) in 1741. A few years later, Bishop Augustus Spangenberg led a party of men to survey a 100,000-acre tract in North Carolina. The tract became known as Wachau (Wachovia) after an Austrian estate of Count Zinzendorf. In Wachovia, Bethabara, Bethania and Salem (now Winston-Salem) became the first Moravian settlements in North Carolina.
Home Moravian Church was established in Salem on November 13, 1771.
The sanctuary building itself, with its distinctive belfry, was completed in 1800, to which the Rondthaler Building (named for a prominent bishop) was added years later. The Sanctuary underwent a major renovation in 1913. A Christian Education and Fellowship Hall building was built prior to World War II.
Salem was to be the industrial and administrative center for the Moravians in North Carolina. Its economy and nurturing groups would enable mission work to go forth to the Cherokees in northern Georgia and other peoples. Home Church established Sunday schools and worship places in many areas of what became Winston-Salem. Those became churches that are part of what is now called Salem Congregation.