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Historic Bethania Protection Initiative
Forsyth County - 75 Acres Protected
Historic Bethania was the first of 35 planned agricultural villages within the 100,000-acre Wachovia Tract when it was settled in 1759 by members of the Moravian Church. In 1976, 50 acres of Bethania were designated as a National Register Historic District, which was enlarged in 1991 to include the 400-500 acres that best reflect the original design of the town. It was one of fifteen places in the country to be designated as a National Historic Landmark on August 27, 2001.
Surveyor Christian Philip Gottleib Reuter designed Bethania to withstand the challenges and dangers of the often hostile frontier landscape during the tumultuous years of the French and Indian Wars. Borrowing from town designs used in Medieval Europe, Reuter clustered the individual home lots in the center of the 2,500 acres that comprised the Bethania Town Lot and surrounded these residential lots with land segregated into orchard lots, bottom land lots, and upland lots. The town included houses, tradesman shops, a church, school, barns, animal husbandry facilities and gardens. Now more than 200 years later, historic Bethania is the only example of a European style “open field” agricultural village remaining in North Carolina.
Just eight miles from downtown Winston-Salem, Bethania is currently designated as a future growth area in Forsyth County’s Legacy Development Guide (adopted 2000). Census figures indicate the increased growth in this area: Winston-Salem grew 29.5% and Forsyth County grew 15.1% from 1990 to 2000. Since the Piedmont is one of the most rapidly expanding areas in North Carolina, these growth rates are expected to continue in the future. Additionally, the construction of the Winston-Salem Northern By-Pass will impact Bethania on both its northern and southern ends due to the location of two of the proposed interchanges within three miles of the town and increase development pressures even further..
Piedmont Land Conservancy first began working with the Town of Bethania, community members, and the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources to permanently protect the open and forested lands surrounding the residential area of Bethania in 1997. With the designation of Bethania as a National Historic Landmark Area and increasing development pressures, it is vital to the preservation of Bethania’s nationally significant historic landscape that PLC and our partners continue to work quickly to protect the remaining critical open lands that surround Bethania as recommended in a recently completed Bethania Land Protection Plan.
Sites Protected in this Initiative
Click each property to open and close the full story.
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farmland |  |
water resources |  |
natural heritage |  |
urban natural areas |
Walnut Bluffs ~ 20 acres, Forsyth County
Gladys Sprinkle, Frances Trivette-Helsabeck, Mr. and Mrs. Neal Hertwick, and Pat McGee. Bargain Sale of Land.
The Forsyth County Natural Heritage Inventory published in 1998 determined that the natural plant communities occurring on this property were the same as those described in an inventory conducted in 1768 during the early years of Bethania. Large mature trees, indicative of the later stages of succession, give this property forest significance. Additionally along the ridge there are soft rock outcrops which provide important wildlife habitat. Over time these rocky soils will weather into fine textured soils that support a diverse array of plant communities including those of agricultural interest. It is believed that the presence of these soils was one of the reasons this area was chosen for the location of the Bethania settlement.
In 1997, PLC in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources and the Town of Bethania secured the protection of Walnut Bluffs through its purchase at a bargain sale. Comprised of a forested bluff rising along the banks of Muddy Creek, one can see the entire historic settlement of Bethania below. Owned by the State of North Carolina and managed in partnership by the NC Department of Cultural Resources and the Town of Bethania this property is dedicated as a State Nature Preserve.
Project funding provided by the landowners, the NC Natural Heritage Trust Fund and the Town of Bethania
Walnut
Bottoms ~ 29 acres, Forsyth County
Vivian Allred, Faye Beroth, Charlie Wolff, Ed Wolff, and Katie Wolff Nelson. Bargain Sale of Land.
Working with the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources and the Town of Bethania, PLC facilitated the acquisition of this property in 1998 by the Conservation Fund which subsequently transferred the property to the State of North Carolina. Located adjacent to the previously protected Walnut Bluffs, this site is largely comprised of floodplain of Muddy Creek that has been used mostly for farming since the initial settlement of Bethania.
Project funding provided by the landowners, Conservation Fund, the NC Natural Heritage Trust Fund and the Town of Bethania.
Muddy Creek Floodplain ~ 7 acres, Forsyth County
C.W. Myers Trading Post. Donation of Land.
Located upstream from the previously protected Walnut Bluffs and Bottoms, this seven acre floodplain serves to protect the water quality of Muddy Creek, a tributary of the Yadkin River, and protect additional open space in the historic Town of Bethania. PLC accepted this donation of land in 2002 and subsequently transferred it to the State of North Carolina to be managed with other protected lands in Bethania by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources and the Town of Bethania for public benefit.
Project funding provided by the landowner and PLC.
Muddy Creek Bluffs ~ 10 acres, Forsyth County
Bobby and Alice Adams. Bargain Sale of Land.
Adjacent to previously protected Muddy Creek Floodplain, this bluff provides further protection of the water quality of Muddy Creek. This site is adjacent to the boundary of the Bethania’s National Landmark Area; hence, its protection safeguards the integrity of the designated Area. PLC facilitated the acquisition of the site by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources in 2003. Today, the Town of Bethania and the State cooperatively manage it for the benefit of the public.
Project funding provided by the landowner and the NC Natural Heritage Trust Fund.
Old Apple Orchard I & II ~ 17 acres, forsyth County
Johnny Butner and David and Ruby Drage. Sale of Lands.
In 2002, PLC facilitated the acquisition of a 10 acres located on NC 65 at the northeastern entrance to the Town of Bethania by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. In 2005, PLC assisted the State in acquiring an adjacent 7-acre parcel. In the original design of Bethania, these two parcels were designated as community orchard lots. The acquisition of these two parcels ensures that the integrity of Bethania’s National Landmark Area designation will be protected on this side of Bethania forever.
Project funding provided by the NC Natural Heritage Trust Fund, Town of Bethania, and PLC.
Cedar Grove school site~ .5 acres, forsyth County
Joseph Glenn. Sale of
Land.
Situated across from Old Apple Orchard I and II in Bethania, this small parcel contains the foundation remnants of Cedar Grove School, an African-American one room school house that served Bethania and the surrounding area. In 2005, PLC acquired this historic property from its current owner and later transferred it to the State to be managed by the NC Department of Cultural Resources. The successful protection of this property marks the seventh project protecting historic lands in Bethania.
Project funding provided by the Conservation Fund, NC Natural Heritage Trust Fund, Town of Bethania, AME Zion Church, and Bethania Historic Association.