Editing Winston-Salem, North Carolina (section)

===History of Salem===
[[File:Bethabara Historic Park-1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bethabara Moravian Church]], built in 1788, is part of the [[Bethabara Historic District]].]]
The origin of the town of Salem dates to 1753, when Bishop [[August Gottlieb Spangenberg]], on behalf of the [[Moravian Church]], selected a settlement site in the three forks of [[Muddy Creek (Deep River tributary)|Muddy Creek]]. He called this area "die Wachau" ([[Latin]] form [[Wachovia Tract|''Wachovia'']]) after the ancestral estate of [[Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf|Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf]].
The land, just short of {{convert|99000|acre|km2}}, was subsequently purchased from [[John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville]].

On November 17, 1753, the first settlers arrived at what would later become the town of [[Bethabara Historic District|Bethabara]]. This town, despite its rapid growth, was not designed to be the primary settlement on the tract. Some residents expanded to a nearby settlement, called [[Bethania, North Carolina|Bethania]], in 1759. Finally, lots were drawn to select among suitable sites for the location of a new town.

The town established on the chosen site was given the name of Salem (from "Shalom", Hebrew meaning "Peace", after the Canaanite city mentioned in the [[Book of Genesis]]) chosen for it by the Moravians' late patron Count [[Zinzendorf]]. On January 6, 1766, the first tree was felled for the building of Salem. Salem was a typical Moravian settlement congregation, with the public buildings of the congregation grouped around a central square (today [[Salem Square]]). These included the church, a Brethren's House, and a Sisters' House for the unmarried members of the congregation, which owned all the property in town. For many years, only members of the Moravian Church were permitted to live in the settlement. This practice had ended by the [[American Civil War]]. Many of the original buildings in the settlement have been restored or rebuilt and are now part of [[Old Salem|Old Salem Museums & Gardens]].<ref name="winston-salem book">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WFIg7mDiPlEC|publisher=[[NYU Press]]|year=1997|page=1|title=From Congregation Town to Industrial City |first=Michael|last=Shirley|isbn=978-0-8147-8086-2}}</ref>

Salem was incorporated as a town in December 1856.<ref>Michael and Martha Hartley. "Town of Salem Survey". 1999. Prepared for NC Division of Archives and History.</ref> Salem Square and [[God's Acre Cemetery (Old Salem)|God's Acre Cemetery]], the Moravian graveyard, have been the site of the Moravian [[sunrise service]] each [[Easter]] morning since 1772. This service, sponsored by all the Moravian church parishes in the city, attracts thousands of worshipers each year, some from overseas.<ref name="Drabble">{{Cite news |url=http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/thousands-flock-to-easter-sunrise-service-in-old-salem/article_cb5d6bca-dbe8-11e4-b497-07b8d10e9049.html |title=Thousands flock to Easter sunrise service in Old Salem |last=Drabble |first=Jenny |date=Apr 5, 2015 |work=Winston-Salem Journal |access-date=Dec 22, 2017}}</ref>