WS Chronicle

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Historic Preservation Month is being observed in May with lectures, walking and trolley tours of historic sites, the unveiling of two new local historic markers and more.

The Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission will unveil a historic marker about the Brothers Spring and the African School in what is now Happy Hill Park at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 20 at the park. The unveiling will be followed by a tour of the Happy Hill neighborhood by Cheryl Harry, the director of African-American programming for Old Salem.

References to the spring date back to the early years of Salem and it was a popular bivouac site for military units in transit. However, the exact site of the spring was not recorded and it was not until 2013 that its location was pinpointed by Old Salem’s archaeologist. The spring was included in the land the Moravian Church provided to the African-American community to establish the first school for African-American children in Forsyth County.

On May 18, the Commission and the Black History Archives of Winston-Salem will host a trolley tour of the historic residences along East 14th Street. Trolley tours will also be held May 20 along the old streetcar routes in Winston-Salem, and of the expanded Old Salem National Historic Landmark.

And on May 25, the Commission will hold an architectural tour of downtown Winston-Salem at noon, beginning at Mission Pizza Napoletana, 707 N. Trade St.

Also on May 25, Preservation Forsyth will present its 2017 Preservation Awards at 6:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 520 Summit St.