The W-S Journal’s Scott Sexton criticized the City’s utilization of Union Station recently (Union Station provides context at a cost-11/20/2022). But as usual, Sexton was far too easy on the City of Winston-Salem. Sexton asked, “for $11.1 million – and counting-was the renovation of a building that hou… More
In 2016, the City of Winston-Salem partnered with North Carolina A&T’s Landscape Architecture program. Seniors in the program (with the input of local residents) created various adaptive reuse plans for the Nissen Wagon Works complex. Undoubtedly, these plans would have been expensive to implement. But that is the co… More
Old Salem is a local treasure. It’s a historical time capsule, a sacred historic space for residents of our city. Though the Old Salem history project started out mighty white, in recent years, Old Salem has come clean about Salem’s embrace of enslavement and white supremacy. Old Salem’s Hidden Town project is a f… More
For nearly a decade now, there have been serious plans to ‘transform’ the Cleveland Avenue homes. The process of erasing the Cleveland Avenue Homes and building NEWside has begun. According to HAWS’ documents, the first group of 28 residents has been relocated. On Monday, HAWS Director Kevin Cheshire told HAWS… More
Fifty years ago this weekend, a Downtown Winston-Salem landmark was demolished. On a cold late March morning back in 1972, a crowd gathered in front of First Baptist on Fifth Street to witness the Robert E. Lee Hotel’s demolition. The Robert E. Lee Hotel long ago surrendered to the whims of urban planners. The grand hotel with a p… More
I found this article in the Central Library’s North Carolina Room some time ago. It’s eye-opening. In the article below (that I am sharing for educational purposes) we learn that some prime real estate near Buena Vista has a hidden history. It was once used by Francis Fries to house enslaved Africans who were too old to be e… More
Recently, baseball great Hank Aaron died at age 86. The celebrated home run hitter overcame a shameful barrage of racist hostility when he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record on April 8, 1974, in Atlanta. It’s time for the Atlanta Braves to change their name to the Hammers, in honor of “hammering” Hank Aaron.
I… More
Last Thursday, just ahead of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, The Chronicle ran a piece on King’s visit to Winston back in 1964. King visited Goler Metropolitan AME Church as well as recently desegregated Wake Forest University. King’s visit to Camel City came just one year after his iconic “I Have a Dream&#… More
For nearly forty years (1975-2012), Winston’s Union Station was just another garage. It was Davis Garage, an auto repair and towing service owned and operated by Harvey Davis. The Davis family bought Union Station for a song back in 1970 and had ambitions of one day redeveloping it. Harvey Davis’ dreams were dashed when … More
Today, I’m posting the first of what I hope to be many Throwback Thursday posts. Every Thursday, for the foreseeable future, I am planning on examining, at length, a video from the City of Winston-Salem’s YouTube channel and other sources. The City of Winston-Salem has a number of excellent documentaries that deserve m… More
