Historic Preservation Month is here
Historic Preservation Month is being observed in May with lectures, tours of historic sites, the unveiling of a new local historic marker and more.
On May 19 the Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission will unveil a historic marker at 2 p.m. commemorating the Silver Hill community, an 1880s African-American neighborhood built by tobacco workers and domestic servants. The unveiling will be held at the corner of Carolina Avenue and Holiday Street.
Other events during the month include walking tours on May 9 on the history of African-American businesses. The tours will start at the corner of Patterson Avenue and Seventh Street at noon and again at 2 p.m., and are hosted by the Winston-Salem African American Archive.
On May 17, the commission will host a sanctuary tour and presentation at 1:30 p.m. on the history of Home Moravian Church at 529 S. Church St.
And on May 31, the commission will host tours of two historic houses in the Washington Park neighborhood. From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. the Cicero Francis Lowe house at 204 Cascade Ave. and the Burton Craige house at 134 Cascade Ave. will be open to the public.
Also during Historic Preservation Month:
*Old Salem will hold a “lunchtime lecture” at noon May 25 on the virtual 3D exhibit of Old Salem’s “hidden town,” in the James A. Gray Auditorium in the Old Salem Visitors Center, 900 Old Salem Road; and the Moravian Archives will offer a lunchtime lecture on archival resources for local historic preservation and restoration, at 12:15 p.m. May 10 in the Archie K. Davis Center, 457 S. Church St.
*Preservation Forsyth will host a “Historic House Ramble,” May 16, 5 – 7 p.m. at the Conrad-Starbuck House and the Rogers House, 102 & 118 S. Cherry St.
*In Kernersville, the Kernersville Historic Preservation Society will offer self-guided walking tours of the Kernersville Historic District, May 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kernersville Museum, 127 W. Mountain St.; and Korners Folly will hold a reception and behind-the-scenes look at interior restoration, May 22 from 5:30-7:30 p.m., 413 S. Main St., Kernersville. Tickets are $12; attendance limited to ages 21 & over.
*Reynolda House Museum of American Art will host a free tour of the Reynolda House grounds as they existed 100 years ago, at 2 p.m. May 25, starting at the greenhouse.
*The Rural Hall Historic Train Depot and Railroad Museum will hold a 130th anniversary celebration from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 19 at 8170 Depot St., Rural Hall; and the Rural Hall Historical Museum will hold an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 19 at 145 Bethania St., Rural Hall.
*Bethania will host a free guided walking tour of historic buildings at 10 a.m. May 12; a guided walking tour of the historic Black Walnut Trail at 10 a.m. May 26; and a lecture on “Remembering Daniel Boone in Bronze and Stone” at 11 a.m. May 26; all at the Bethania Visitors Center, 5393 Ham Horton Lane, Bethania.
*The Lewisville Historical Society will hold a wine-tasting fund-raiser to benefit restoration of the historic Nissen House, 3 to 5 p.m. May 5 in Shallowford Square. Tickets are $35.
*The New Winston Museum will host a panel discussion on historic hotels, at 5:30 p.m. May 9 at the Brookstown Inn, 200 Brookstown Ave.
For more information about Historic Preservation Month events go to CityofWS.org/HRC or contact Michelle McCullough at (336) 747-7063 or michellem@cityofws.org. Historic Preservation Month activities are presented and coordinated by Preservation Forsyth.
