On Sunday, April 6, from 2-6 P.M., enjoy a walking tour of historic Bethania, with refreshments featuring traditional Moravian fare, and live music.   The Opening Ceremony will be at 2:00  P.M., at the Historic Bethania Visitor Center Experience 250 years of culture, history, and stewardship as the historic town of Bethania celebrates its beginning in 1759. An agricultural and trades community by design, Bethania exemplifies Old World planning and New World adaptation. Bethania's 500-acre Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has also received the highly-respected designation of National Historic Landmark. According to the National Historic Landmark nomination, Bethania is nationally significant because it is a rare example of the agricultural patterns of a German, "open field" agricultural village. Preserve Historic Forsyth invites you to visit 20 of Bethania's original 18th and 19th century historic sites and to meet the stewards who continue to preserve the land and structures of Bethania. Preserve Historic Forsyth, Inc., chartered in 2007, promotes, protects, and advocates for the historic resources in Forsyth County. Details of the tour may be found here.  Images courtesy of Historic Bethania.

Tour 20 Historic Sites

Site 1 - American Indian Trading Path (prehistoric)/The King's Highway-Great Philadelphia Wagon Road)(1750's) Imagine that you and your friends are on a trip far from home. It is October 1753, and you are the Moravian Single Brothers—there are fifteen of you on this journey. Your group is traveling to North Carolina to begin a new settlement, and the route you follow all the way from Pennsylvania does not yet have its famous name: the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road. In colonial America, thousands of people used the very important road that guided the Single Brothers and which might even be called a “colonial highway.” In our state it is known as the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road, the Great Wagon Road, or simply the Wagon Road. In Virginia, it is called the Carolina Road, because it led to Carolina.

Site 2 - Black Walnut Bottom & Dorothea, Muddy Creek's North Fork (1759); State of North Carolina, maintained and used by the Town of Bethania.  The TOB continues to work with the PLC to conserve additional acreage in and around Bethania. Black Walnut Bottom is a 29.98-acre floodplain that extends north from the base of Black Walnut Bluffs. The floodplain has been farmed and used as a garden, woodlot, orchard and picnic ground since colonial times.

Site 3 - God's  Acre  (1760); Bethania Moravian Congregation - Communicant members of the Moravian Church are buried here.

Site 4 - Hauser-Reich- Butner House (Cornwallis House) (1770's); Owners: Michael and Michelle Leonard - The Leonard Family bought the Cornwallis House and began the rehabilitation.   A professional artist, affiliated with the North Carolina Museum of Art, is restoring the remarkable Naeman Reich murals painted before the Civil War when he lived in the house. The Cornwallis House is a Forsyth County Local Historic Landmark.

Site 5 - Lot # 20,  Hege -Butner House     (1780's), Garage (2008); Owners:  Ned and Judy Hipp Ned and Judy Hipp have restored the Hege-Butner house, a Forsyth County Local Historic Landmark. In 2007 Ned and Judy Hipp built a garage to the rear of their historic property, carefully designing the structure and choosing materials to complement  their residence built in the 1780's.

Site 6 - Transou-Lehman House (1782) Owner:  Rosalie Horton Rosalie Horton, a founding  Board Member of Preserve Historic Forsyth , Inc, is restoring the Transou-Lehman House - an early log house built in the 1780's.

Site 7 - Lot # 7 - Reconstructed Bake Oven , Jacob Loesch House Exterior (1780's) Owners:  Robert and Alice Adams

Site 8 - Lot # 6 - Smokehouse (1780's);  Wilson-Stoltz House (1864)  Owners: Jerry and Edie Rogers Smokehouse from the late 18th century.  Dry stack stone was used in Bethania because lime, needed to make mortar, was scarce in the area.

Site 9 - Frederick Hauser House (1780's) Owner:  Mike Smith Mike Smith bought the Frederick Hauser House at auction in 2007 and is rehabilitating the house to comply with the protective covenants that ran with the land.

Site 10 - Michael Hauser House (1780's) Owner: Bob Hansen Bob Hansen explains his plans to restore the Michael Hauser House to Susanne Warren and Joyce Adams.   Hansen bought the house, built in the 1780's, from Preservation North Carolina in 2007.  He's restoring the house and lands to their appearance in the 1850's.

Site 11 - Wolff-Moser House (1790's) Owners:  Historic Bethania Visitor Center Now the home of Historic Bethania and its Visitor Center, open Tuesday through Saturday, 10-4.

Site 12 - Lot #4 -- Shore-Lehman House Exterior (1805); corncrib, well house (1880), shed and barn (1890), privy (1920) Owner:  Seth Brown Before the Civil War, Nathan, an enslaved African American, worked and lived in the shoe shop at the north end of the Shore-Lehman house.  His master was Christian Lehman.  After the Civil War,  Lehman built a dwelling for Nathan behind the main house.   Seth Brown, and his late wife Mary, restored the Shore-Lehman House over a three-year period during the 1990's. Instrumental in the revival of the town's charter in 1995, Seth served as the first Mayor of Bethania.  He is also a longtime member of the City-County Historic Resources Commission. The Shore-Lehman House is a Forsyth County Local Historic Landmark.

Site 13 - Bethania Moravian Church (3rd Gemeinhaus) (1809) The cornerstone for the third church building (3rd Gemeinhaus)  was placed in 1806. More than 1,800 people attended the dedication services in 1809 marking the 50th Anniversary.   In 1884, the sanctuary was changed from European to Colonial interior to accommodate the growing congregation. After a devastating fire in 1942, the sanctuary was re-opened once again.

Site 14 & 16 - Building (1926)  and Graveyard (1847) of Bethania AME Zion Church Owners: Bethania AME Zion church Bethania AME Zion Church, founded in 1875 by African-Americans, will soon celebrate its 163rd anniversary. The 1926 church building of the Bethania AME Zion congregation, now encased by brick veneer added in 1971. The first person buried in the church's historic graveyard in 1847 is Milly, an enslaved African-American.

Site 15 - The Plank Road: the Farmers' Highway (1852)

Site 17 - Alpha Chapel (1894), (Bethania Town Hall) (1999) Owners:  Town of Bethania Now the town hall for the Town of Bethania.   The original bell was recently recovered by Bethania  resident Wayne Purgason!

Site 18 - Pythian Hall-Bethania Schoolhouse (1897)  Owners: Bethania Historical Association Built in 1897 for the use of the Knights of Pythias, Pythian Hall was originally two stories.  About 1910 the building became the first high school in Forsyth County outside the towns of Salem and Winston.  The last class graduated in 1923. During the Depression, the second story was removed by the WPA.  The Bethania Historical Association plans to restore the old schoolhouse.  The Bethania Historical Association,  maintains Pythian Hall, as well as a collection of Bethania resources and artifacts. The collection is open by appointment.

Site 19 - Bethania Mill & Village Shops (1899)(2008) Owners: Patricia and Michael West The mill at Bethania  operated for over one hundred years, grinding grains of all kinds into flour.   Originally known a the Lehman-Butner Roller Mill and in later years as Manning Mill, the property is assuming a new life as Bethania Mill and Village Shops, now being rehabilitated by Michael and Patricia West.   Retail shops will open later in 2008.

Site 20 - Nature Trail (2008)  Owners: Town of Bethania This particular nature trail is named “the Black Walnut Bottom Trail.”  Other trails are in the works.  Eventually trails will span across/throughout the entire town.

Tour FAQ
Date:	Sunday, April 6, 2008
Tour Hours:	2-6 PM
Tour Duration:	It depends of you.  The tour is self-guided.
Admission:	Adults $10, Youth 7-17 $5, and Children 0-6 free. Advance Tickets Available at Moravian Book and Gifts in Old Salem and at the Historic Bethania Visitor Center
Registration:	Historic Bethania Visitor Center
Parking:	General parking at Bethania Moravian Church;  Handicapped parking will be at the Historic Bethania Visitor Center
Handicap Access:	Handicapped visitors are welcome on the tours. However, the streets and sidewalks in Bethania reflect the historic nature of the community and are often irregular or non-existent. In addition, most of those tour sites that include interior views are not designed to accommodate wheelchairs or other assisted mobility devices. The Historic Bethania Visitor Center facilities, including Alpha Chapel, Wolff-Moser House, and Moravian Book and Gift Shop, are fully wheelchair accessible.
Directions:	Registration for the event begins at the Historic Bethania Visitor Center, 5393 Ham Horton Lane, At the Corner of Bethania Road and Main Street, Bethania, North Carolina 27010, Telephone:  (336) 922-0434 From Winston-Salem Take Reynolda Road/NC HWY 67 West beyond Wake Forest University, Pass Bethabara Park Boulevard, Old Town School, Shattalon Drive. Turn Right on Bethania Road, following signs to Bethania. Turn Left onto Horton Lane, just before Three-Way Stop Sign.  From Other Cities Take US HWY 52 North to Exit 118. Turn Left onto Bethania-Rural Hall Road. Travel approximately three miles, enter Bethania Town Limits. At Stop Sign, Turn Left onto Main Street. At Three-Way Stop Sign, Turn Left onto Bethania Road. Turn Right Immediately onto Ham Horton Lane.