historic bethania, nc

Start in the visitors center and get a feel for the town and then do a walking tour of the old homes still standing. Visit the old mill turned into local shopping.

Drove from Charlotte, NC to the village, (1 hour drive). The information said they are open all year Tues-Sat from 10am-4pm. Not! The visitor center was closed and could not see the buildings. Took the hiking trail, a nice 1.4 mile loop, crossing over 3 creeks. Very nice. If they are not open during the winter months, they need to change their info. Would go again, but call first to make sure someone will be there. There were some nice shops across the street and a café, so trip was not as disappointing. Please update your info!

A visit to Bethania is worth your consideration if you are looking for a nice day trip. The Visitor's Center is very well-done and informative and the old church next door is interesting. A nature trail loops around the nearby woodland and could be made a little more friendly with more benches, better landscaping, and marked areas of interest. An old grist mill has been converted into shops carrying local arts/crafts, NC-produced items, antiques, and other interesting items including wines from the owner's vineyard. In fact, my wife and I have come here for the past two years to buy most of our Christmas gifts because they have such a large and varied selection of items for all ages at reasonable prices-and they giftwrap for no charge!! The Muddy Creek Café next door offers very good food including unique hot sandwiches and paninis, homemade soup, and baked items and live music on some weekends.

The history was so interesting. Learned many things I had never heard of before. Hope to visit again sometime.

Historic Bethania is a quaint little village on the northwestern edge of Winston-Salem. It's one of three Moravian historic sites in town, the others being Old Salem and Bethabara. There is a nice visitor's center and some shops in the old mill building. I'd suggest creating a "history day or day and a half" and visiting all three sites. Honestly, you can see all there is to see in Bethania or Bethabara in a few hours; Old Salem can take the better part of a day if you do it right. I wouldn't recommend these sites for small kids - you need to be old enough to appreciate the historical significance of the settlements.

Drove over here to explore and found that it was a nice little town with a big past. There is a visitors center and a house that is sat up in it's original form next door. There is a little shop just down the street with some fun things as well as a small gift shop in the visitors center that goes back to the preservation of the town. There is a small walking trail right by the visitors center that is really peaceful and there is a map that you can get that shows the houses! It was alot of fun

Bethabara Historic District was a small Moravian community located in Forsyth County, North Carolina that was first settled in 1753. It was a trading post on the frontier of Indian lands. It was replaced by Bethania which was established in 1759 as the second Moravian settlement in North Carolina. It was the first farming village in America to follow the Medieval German plan of a central area of houses surrounded by farm lands with each family assigned equal bottomland strip fields and upland orchard lots.The Moravians are mentioned in the Bible, In Revelation 3:4 and were the first Protestants, 100 years before Martin Luther. The 1788 Gemeinhaus in Betharbra is the last surviving example of an 18th-Century German-American church with attached living quarters remaining in the United States. A service is still held in it once each year.Tourists are given a unique opportunity to view a way of life that was a harmony with nature and peace with their fellow men.

We drove here from Greensboro. Drove thru the area & stopped at the Bethania Mill &Village Shops. Few stores & definitely not worth the trip unless you happen to be in the area.

This quiet recreation of the first settlement of Moravians in this area is free. Start in the visitor's center to view a film and study a model of the settlement. You may wander around the resurrected settlement garden including the medicinal garden. There are several foundations and buildings from the original settlement in 1753. Play hide and seek around the new, rebuilt palisade. Picnic on the lawns or wander the trails. Children and pets are welcome.

Community event held at a great time of year in late September. Food, vendors, restored buildings, entertainment, friendly people.

Bethania is such a lovely place to visit. If Moravine or not this is a place to visit. I have memories visiting here with my grandparents, and my grandfather telling me about the history since his father, grandfather, great grandfather, and himself grew up around Bethania.

Bethania has a quaint Main Street with lovely homes close the road and a beautiful walking trail behind the visitor center. It is also home to the Mill, which houses a great gift shop, art gallery, and sandwich shop. Great place to spend a half a day .

what a wonderfully interesting place you really get a feel of what life was like back in the day.I would certainly visit again if in the area again

My wife and I took advantage of a sunny post July 4th weekend. We had seen a documentary on a house that was restored in Historic Bethania, NC. We had wanted to visit the town for about a year, but never got around to visiting it.Bethania is about ten or fifteen miles outside of Winston Salem. It is an old Moravian farming community that dates back to 1759. The town was actually planned out and is relatively still remains much the same as I would imagine it looked many years ago.We had an easy ride up from Charlotte and found Bethania without much difficulty. As we entered the town, we came upon the "Historic Bethania" Visitors Center. The visitors center is part of a restored house (Wolff-Moser) which was a farmhouse and dates back to 1799.We were very fortunate to meet Mark the curator of the house and visitors center. Mark is an absolute pleasure to talk to and has a deep wealth of knowledge regarding both Bethania and Moravian History. Mark gave us a brief history and then took us over to the farmhouse. The house has been restored and is in good shape. It was quite interesting and I am sure Mark would have been able to continue giving us many more facts about the house and the town.He pointed out points of interest in the town and we headed off for a walk and ended up at "God's Little Acre" on a hilltop behind a Moravian Church. The cemetery is very well kept and dates back to 1760. We were actually able to find the grave site of the infant who was first buried there.We also had lunch at a delightful restaurant called the Muddy Creek Cafe. The restaurant is part of an old mill complex diagonal to the Visitor's Center. They have a variety of sandwiches on the menu and the food was quite good. I highly recommend a visit to Historic Bethania. It would be especially enjoyable if you combined a visit to Old Salem. I am not sure if Old Salem promotes Historic Bethania, but it would certainly be a great day trip to combine both locations for a day trip. The Visitor's Center in Bethania is open between Tuesday and Saturday. It might also help if you would call Mark ahead and let him know you were coming.I forgot to mention that the tour was "Free." You can't beat that.