Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States

🇺🇸 Winston-Salem is a city in and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. It is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region. It is the fourth largest metropolitan area in North Carolina. Winston-Salem is home to the tallest office building in the region, 100 North Main Street, known locally as the Wells Fargo Center.

Winston-Salem is situated close to Greensboro-High Point. The population of the Winston-Salem metropolitan area spans over the five counties of Forsyth, Davidson, Stokes, Davie, and Yadkin.

Winston-Salem is called the "Twin City" for its dual heritage. "Camel City" is a reference to the city's historic involvement in the tobacco industry related to locally based R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's Camel cigarettes. Many natives of the city and North Carolina refer to the city as "Winston" in informal speech. Winston-Salem is also home to six colleges and institutions, most notably Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem State University, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts which ranks as one the best film schools in America. In 2021, the city ranked No. 46 on the "Best Places to Live" list from U.S. News & World Report. In April 2021, a study from Lendingtree's Magnify Money blog ranked Winston-Salem as the second-best tech market for women.

History Siouan-speaking tribes such as the Cheraw and the Keyauwee Indians inhabited the area. Followers of the Moravian Church had interacted with Cherokees. The city of Winston-Salem is a product of the merging of the two neighboring towns of Winston and Salem in 1913.

History: Salem 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. He called this area "die Wachau" (Latin form Wachovia) after the ancestral estate of Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. The land, just short of 99,000 acres (400 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. 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, 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 Museums & Gardens.

Salem was incorporated as a town in December 1856. Salem Square and 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.

History: Winston In 1849, the Salem Congregation sold land north of Salem to the newly formed Forsyth County for a county seat. The new town was called "the county town" or Salem until 1851, when it was renamed Winston for a local hero of the Revolutionary War, Joseph Winston. For its first two decades, Winston was a sleepy community. In 1868, work began by Salem and Winston business leaders to connect the town to the North Carolina Railroad. By the 1880s, there were many different tobacco factories in the town, with notable ones owned by Pleasant Hanes and R.J. Reynolds. Pleasant Hanes would later go on to found Hanes (formerly called Shamrock Knitting Mills) in 1900.

History: Winston-Salem Robert Gray, as a featured speaker at the 1876 centennial celebration, was the first to mention the two towns as one. In the 1880s, the US Post Office began referring to the two towns together as Winston-Salem. In 1899, after nearly a decade of contention, the United States Post Office Department established the Winston-Salem post office in Winston, with the former Salem office serving as a branch. After a referendum the towns were officially incorporated as "Winston-Salem" in 1913.

The Reynolds family, namesake of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, played a large role in the history and public life of Winston-Salem. By the 1940s, 60% of Winston-Salem workers worked either for Reynolds or in the Hanes textile factories. The Reynolds company imported so much French cigarette paper and Turkish tobacco for Camel cigarettes that Winston-Salem was designated by the United States federal government as an official port of entry for the United States, despite the city being 200 miles (320 km) inland. Winston-Salem was the eighth-largest port of entry in the United States by 1916.

In 1917, the Reynolds company bought 84 acres (340,000 m²) of property in Winston-Salem and built 180 houses that it sold at cost to workers, to form a development called "Reynoldstown". By the time R.J. Reynolds died in 1918, his company owned 121 buildings in Winston-Salem.

In 1920, with a population of 48,395, Winston-Salem was the largest city in North Carolina.

In 1929, the Reynolds Building was completed in Winston-Salem. Designed by William F. Lamb from the architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, the Reynolds Building is a 314-foot (96 m) skyscraper that has 21 floors. When completed as the headquarters of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was the tallest building in the United States south of Baltimore, Maryland, and it was named the best building of the year by the American Institute of Architects. The building is well known for being the predecessor and prototype for the much larger Empire State Building, which was built in 1931 in New York City.

In 1892, Simon Green Atkins founded Slater Industrial Academy, which later became Winston-Salem State University, a public HBCU. In 1956, Wake Forest College, now known as Wake Forest University, moved to Winston-Salem from its original location in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

History: Businesses • In 1799, the C. Winkler Bakery, noted for its Moravian cookies, was commissioned, and in 1807, the congregation brought in Christian Winkler of Pennsylvania to operate the bakery; his family owned and operated the business until 1929. It continues to operate today as part of Old Salem. • In 1875, R. J. Reynolds founded R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, later famous for branded products such as Prince Albert pipe tobacco (1907) and Camel cigarettes (1913). Other brands that it made famous are Winston, Salem, Doral, and Eclipse cigarettes. The Winston-Salem area is still the primary international manufacturing centre for Reynolds brands of cigarettes, although employment is down from its peak of nearly 30,000 to under 3,000. • In 1901, J. Wesley Hanes' Shamrock Hosiery Mills in Winston-Salem began making men's socks. Shortly afterward, his brother Pleasant Henderson Hanes founded the P.H. Hanes Knitting Company, which manufactured men's underwear. The two firms eventually merged to become the Hanes Corporation, now known as Hanesbrands, manufacturing textiles. • In 1906, the Bennett Bottling Company produced Bennett's Cola, a "Fine Carbonic Drink". The name was changed to Winston-Salem Bottling Works in 1915. • In 1911, Wachovia Bank and Trust was formed by the merger of Wachovia National Bank (founded in 1879 by James Alexander Gray and William Lemly) and Wachovia Loan and Trust (founded 1893). The company was purchased by First Union in 2001, which changed its name to Wachovia. Wachovia was purchased by Wells Fargo in 2009, and the Wachovia name was retired in 2011. • In 1928, Miller's Clothing Store was opened by Mrs. Henry Miller. Miller's Variety Store operated at the same location at 622 North Trade Street until closing at the end of 2016. Miller's was the first store in Winston-Salem to offer bell-bottoms in the area in the 1960s. Miller's was listed by Playboy magazine in 1968 as a popular place to shop. • In 1929, the local T.W. Garner Foods introduced Texas Pete, a popular hot sauce. • In 1929, Quality Oil Company was organized in December 1929, initially to launch a distributorship for the then-little-known Shell Oil Company. • In 1934, Malcolm Purcell McLean formed McLean Trucking Co. The firm benefited from the tobacco and textile industry headquartered in Winston-Salem, and became the second-largest trucking firm in the nation. • In 1937, Krispy Kreme opened its first doughnut shop on South Main Street. • In 1945, Piedmont Bible College opened (now Carolina University). • In 1948, Piedmont Airlines was formed out of the old Camel City Flying Service. The airline was based at Smith Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem but marked its first commercial flight out of Wilmington, North Carolina, on February 20, 1948. Piedmont grew to become one of the top airlines in the country before its purchase by USAir (later US Airways, merged with American Airlines in 2015) in 1987. American Airlines maintains a reservation centre in the old Piedmont reservations office.

Geography Winston-Salem is in the north-west Piedmont area of North Carolina, situated 65 miles (105 km) north-west of the geographic centre of the state. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 134.74 square miles (349.0 km²), of which 133.53 square miles (345.8 km²) is land and 1.21 square miles (3.1 km²) (0.90%) is water. The city lies within the Yadkin–Pee Dee River Basin, draining mainly via Salem Creek, Peters Creek, Silas Creek, and Muddy Creek.

Less than 30 miles (50 km) north of Winston-Salem are the remains of the ancient Sauratown Mountains, named for the Saura people who once lived in much of the Piedmont area, including what is now Winston-Salem.

Winston-Salem is located 16 miles north-west of High Point, 25 miles west of Greensboro, and 69 miles north-east of Charlotte.

Neighbourhoods The city of Winston-Salem consists of 66 constituent neighborhoods, covering 25 ZIP codes and a total area of 135 square miles. Winston-Salem is the 72nd-largest city by area in the United States and the fifth-largest city in North Carolina by population.

Downtown Downtown, the central business district of Winston-Salem, is the largest in the Piedmont Triad region. With a population of approximately 14,000 and a workforce of over 27,000, downtown Winston-Salem is a hotspot for growth. Fourth Street, the "main drag", consists of bars, restaurants, retail, hotels, and luxury residential units. The area is surrounded by Northwest Boulevard to the north and west, Salem Parkway to the south, and U.S. Route 52 to the east. Downtown features attractions such as Innovation Quarter, Truist Stadium, Old Salem, and the Benton Convention Center.

West End One of the most notable neighborhoods in the city, West End features the West End Historic District, which covers an area of 229 acres and is predominantly residential. Most of the buildings in West End were built between 1887 and 1930. Major thoroughfares in West End are West End Boulevard, Northwest Boulevard, and West First Street, which leads into downtown Winston-Salem. The neighborhood offers an urban lifestyle, with shops, parks, restaurants, and services all located within the neighborhood.

Ardmore Ardmore, the largest neighborhood in Winston-Salem, features the Ardmore Historic District, which contains over 2,000 buildings and two sites. Ardmore is near Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the second-largest hospital in North Carolina. Wake Forest Baptist Health is the largest employer in Forsyth County, with over 13,000 employees, and serves North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Major thoroughfares in Ardmore are South Hawthorne Road, Miller Street, Cloverdale Avenue, and Queen Street.

Buena Vista Sitting north-west of downtown, Buena Vista is close to a wide range of activities and services, such as the Reynolda House and Reynolda Gardens. It is known around Winston-Salem for its quiet tree-lined streets, which give it an "exclusive" feel; most homes in Buena Vista cost between $600,000 and several million dollars. The neighborhood is about ten minutes from downtown and five minutes from one of the city's upscale shopping centres, Thruway. Thruway Center features national chains such as Trader Joe's, Athleta, and J.Crew.

Hanes Mall Boulevard / Stratford Road Located seven miles south-west of downtown is the busiest shopping district in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. The corridor offers a variety of national "big box" retailers, including Target, Costco, and Ethan Allen. Two major companies, Novant Health and Truliant Federal Credit Union, call the boulevard home. The intersection of Hanes Mall Boulevard and Stratford Road is the second-busiest intersection in Winston-Salem, with an average daily traffic count of 54,000.

North Winston North Winston is located three miles north-east of downtown, with Patterson Avenue running north to south and 25th Street serving as the east–west thoroughfare. The area is bound by University Parkway to the west and U.S. Route 52 to the east, stretching from 13th Street to 30th Street.

University area The university area is situated in the north-central and north-western sections of the city, and contains some of Winston-Salem's busiest thoroughfares. University Parkway, the 4- to 8-lane boulevard named after Wake Forest University, serves as the downtown–north connector. Neighborhoods within the area include Alspaugh and Mount Tabor. The area is bound by North Point Boulevard to the north, Coliseum Drive to the south, University Parkway to the east, and Silas Creek Parkway and Reynolda Road to the west. Other thoroughfares within the area are Polo Road, Reynolds Boulevard, and Deacon Boulevard. Attractions in the area include the Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex, which includes LJVM Coliseum; the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds; Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex; Truist Field; Truist Stadium; and David F. Couch Ballpark. The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds also hosts the Carolina Classic Fair, formerly the Dixie Classic Fair. The fair is one of the most visited fairs in North America and the second-most visited in North Carolina, next to the North Carolina State Fair.

Renovations Community renovations are planned for the corner of Peters Creek Parkway and Academy Street. On September 11, 2018, The Winston-Salem Journal reported that The City of Winston-Salem Committee had approved the Peters Creek Community Initiative project, which is a collaboration of The Shalom Project, the North Carolina Housing Foundation, and The National Development Council. The group plans to purchase the former Budget Inn property and build 60 apartment units with a 4,000-square-foot community space. PCCI plans to build a four-story building that will house The Shalom Project in the bottom floor, along with other businesses.

Economy It is the location of the corporate headquarters of HanesBrands, Inc., Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., Lowes Foods Stores, ISP Sports, Reynolds American, Reynolda Manufacturing Solutions, K&W Cafeterias, and TW Garner Food Company. Blue Rhino, the nation's largest propane exchange company and a division of Ferrellgas, is also headquartered in Winston-Salem. PepsiCo has its Customer Service Center located in Winston-Salem.

Although traditionally associated with the textile and tobacco industries, Winston-Salem is transforming itself to be a leader in the nano-tech, high-tech and bio-tech fields. Medical research is a fast-growing local industry, and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is the largest employer in Winston-Salem. Herbalife run a manufacturing facility in in south-eastern Forsyth County.

Public and private investment of $713 million has created the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, an innovation district in downtown Winston-Salem which features business, education in biomedical research and engineering, information technology and digital media, as well as public gathering spaces, apartment living, restaurants, and community events.

Largest employers The largest employers in the city include: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center; Novant Health; Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools; City/County Government; Reynolds American, Inc.; Wells Fargo; Hanesbrands Inc; Truist Financial; Wake Forest University; Lowe's Foods.

Major industries The major industries in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County are by percentage: 1 Health Care and Social Assistance 29%; 2 Trade, Transportation and Utilities 19%; 3 Professional and Business Services 14%; 4 Manufacturing 10%; 5 Leisure and Hospitality 10%; 5 Financial Activities 6%; 7 Public Administration 4%; 8 Construction 3%; 9 Other Services 3%; 10 Information 1%.

Attractions • Bethabara Historic District is a site where Moravians from Pennsylvania first settled in North Carolina. The 195-acre (0.79 km²) area includes a museum and a Moravian church and offers hiking, birdwatching and many varieties of trees and plants. • Old Salem is a restored Moravian settlement founded in 1766. Seventy percent of the buildings are original, and the village is a living history museum with skilled tinsmiths, blacksmiths, cobblers, gunsmiths, bakers and carpenters practicing their trades while interacting with visitors. Along with the original 18th-century buildings, Old Salem is also home to the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), a gallery of 18th- and early 19th-century furniture, ceramics, and textiles. In addition, Old Salem hosts the Cobblestone Farmers Market every Saturday during the spring season through early autumn. The market is dedicated to providing the public access to sustainably grown food and products. • Reynolda Gardens is a 4-acre (16,000 m²) formal garden set within a larger woodland site, originally part of the R. J. Reynolds country estate. • The Wake Forest University Museum of Anthropology is an anthropological museum, maintained by Wake Forest University, that has many artifacts and other pieces of history. • Kaleideum North (formerly SciWorks) – An interactive museum for children, SciWorks has 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²) of exhibit space, 119-seat Planetarium and 15-acre (61,000 m²) outdoor Environmental Park. Permanent exhibits include a Foucault pendulum, PhysicsWorks, SoundWorks, HealthWorks, BioWorks and KidsWorks. The Environmental Park includes habitats for river otter, deer and waterfowl. • Kaleideum Downtown (formerly the Children's Museum of Winston-Salem) offers exhibits and programs designed to develop creative thinking, strengthen language skills, and encourage curiosity for children ages birth to eight. Despite the name, it is primarily an indoor playground for children with activities (admission fee or membership required). • New Winston Museum is the community history museum for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. It focuses on time periods since 1850 and features exhibitions and public programs. • Truist Stadium is a minor-league stadium primarily used for baseball, with a seating capacity of 5,500. The stadium is located next to Salem Parkway near downtown Winston-Salem and is home to the Winston-Salem Dash. The stadium broke ground in October 2007 and officially opened in April 2010. • Tanglewood Park is a recreation centre located on the Yadkin River between Clemmons and Bermuda Run with a pool, lazy river, tennis courts, paddle boats, golf, walking trails, and other recreation. Tanglewood Park also hosts the Festival of Lights every year, a drive-through light show that celebrates the holidays. The Festival is ranked as a " Top 100" event in America and a "Top 20" in the Southeast. • The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex is an event venue that hosts the Carolina Classic Fair (formerly Dixie Classic Fair) every year in autumn. The fair is located across from the Lawrence Joel Coliseum. In 2007 it had a record-breaking attendance, with over 371,000 visitors. This ranked the fair the 50th most attended fair in North America. The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds also holds hundreds of events and has a capacity of 7,000. • Salem Lake is located in south-eastern Winston-Salem. Salem Lake features a seven-mile dirt trail, a lake, and wildlife. The walking trail offers an abundance of activities such as hiking, walking, fishing, biking, dog leashing, running, and more. Salem Lake is often referred to as the "hidden diamond in the city". • Hanes Mall is a two-story shopping mall that has over 200 stores and five anchor tenants. Hanes Mall serves 25 counties in North Carolina and Virginia. It is the largest shopping mall in the region, covering 1,558,860 square feet. • The Reynolda House Museum of American Art features collections from the colonial period to the present day. The museum was built in 1917 by Katherine Smith Reynolds and her husband R.J. Reynolds. The facility became an art museum in 1967 and first started as a centre for education and arts in 1965. Behind the house is a 16-acre lake called "Lake Katherine", which was reverted into wetlands and has a wide variety of wildlife. Many of buildings were changed into shops, boutiques, and restaurants that still operate today. This house still is a main attraction in Winston-Salem. • The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art is a multimedia contemporary art gallery in Winston-Salem that was founded in 1956 and accredited by the American Alliance of Museums in 1979, one of 300 museums to receive this accreditation. There is no permanent collection of art exhibits but includes art by artists with regional, national, and international recognition. SECCA has three exhibit halls, with 9,000 square feet, and a 300-seat auditorium. • One of seven original Shell Service Stations was opened by Quality Oil Company in 1930.

City of Arts and Innovation Winston-Salem was officially dubbed the "City of Arts and Innovation" in 2014.

Arts The city created the first arts council in the United States (Arts Council of Winston-Salem Forsyth County), founded in 1949, because of the local art schools and attractions. These include the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, The Little Theatre of W-S, Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance, Spirit Gum Theatre Co., the Piedmont Opera Theater, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Stevens Center for the Performing Arts, the Downtown Arts District, the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts, the Hanesbrands Theater, Piedmont Craftsmen, and the Sawtooth School for Visual Arts.

The city's Arts District is centered around Sixth and Trade Streets, where there are many galleries, restaurants and workshops; nearby is also the ARTivity on the Green art park, established by Art for Art's Sake.

Winston-Salem is also home to the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), and the Reynolda House Museum of American Art (the restored 1917 mansion built by the founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and now affiliated with Wake Forest University).

The city plays host to the National Black Theatre Festival, the RiverRun International Film Festival and the Reynolda Film Festival.

Winston-Salem is also the home of the Art-o-mat and houses nine of them throughout the city.

Drive-In Studio, a recording studio owned by Mitch Easter, former guitarist for The dB's and Let's Active, was in operation between 1980 and 1994. With the recording equipment set up in his parents' garage, Easter's studio became an important part of the early indie rock scene of North Carolina. R.E.M. recorded its debut EP, Chronic Town, at the Drive-In in 1981, while other artists who recorded there include Pylon ("Beep"), Suzanne Vega ("Gypsy"), Game Theory (The Big Shot Chronicles) and The Connells (Boylan Heights).

Baity's Backstreet Music Garden, a popular live-music venue, once stood on Baity Street, at its former intersection with 30th Street. Owned by Tim Mabe, the venue was established in 1982. It burned down in 1993. Artists who played there include the Ramones, R.E.M., Guns N' Roses and Blue Öyster Cult.

The city is also home to Carolina Music Ways, a grassroots arts organization focusing on the area's diverse, interconnected music traditions, including bluegrass, blues, jazz, gospel, old-time stringband, and Moravian music.

Once a year the city is also the home of the Heavy Rebel Weekender music festival, featuring over 70 bands, primarily rockabilly, punk and honky tonk, over three days.

Innovation The east end of downtown Winston-Salem is anchored by the Innovation Quarter, one of the fastest-growing urban-based districts in the United States. Governed by the Wake Forest School of Medicine, the Innovation Quarter is home to 90 companies, over 3,600 workers, 1,800 students seeking a college degree, and more than 8,000 workforce trainees. The Innovation Quarter is a place for research, business, biomedical science, digital media, and clinical services. It consists of over 1,900,000 square feet (180,000 m²) feet of office, laboratory, and educational space covering more than 330 acres (130 hectares). There are more than 1,000 residential units within the Innovation Quarter. The goal is to drive even more economic development and create programs for tenants and residents for new ideas. Because of its location in downtown Winston-Salem, the Innovation Quarter serves as a creative and welcoming urban place for scientists, innovators, and technology leaders. In 2019, the Innovation Quarter became one of the first nine steering committee members of the Global Institute on Innovation Districts, making it one of the leading districts of its kind in the world.

Economy: Retail Winston-Salem is home to Hanes Mall, one of the largest shopping malls in North Carolina. The area surrounding the mall along Stratford Road and Hanes Mall Boulevard has become one of the city's largest shopping districts.

Other notable shopping areas exist in the city, including Thruway Center (the city's first shopping center), Hanes Point Shopping Center, Hanes Commons, Stratford Commons, Stratford Village, Reynolda Village, Pavilions, Shoppes at Hanestowne Village, Burke Mill Village Shopping Center, Oak Summit Shopping Center, Stone's Throw Plaza, Cloverdale Plaza Shopping Center Silas Creek Crossing, and the Marketplace Mall.

Sport The Winston-Salem State University Rams have men's and women's NCAA Division II sports teams, which are members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).

The Winston-Salem Dash are a Class High-A Minor-League baseball team currently affiliated with the Chicago White Sox. After 52 years at historic Ernie Shore Field, the Dash now play their home games at the new Truist Stadium, which opened in 2010. Previous names for the team include the Winston-Salem Cardinals, Twins, Red Sox, Spirits and, most recently, the Winston-Salem Warthogs. Players have included Vinegar Bend Mizell, Earl Weaver, Bobby Tiefenauer, Harvey Haddix, Stu Miller, Ray Jablonski, Don Blasingame, Gene Oliver, Rico Petrocelli, Jim Lonborg, George Scott, Sparky Lyle, Bill "Spaceman" Lee, Dwight Evans, Cecil Cooper, Butch Hobson, Wade Boggs, Carlos Lee, Joe Crede, Jon Garland, and Aaron Rowand, all of whom have played extensively at the major league level.

The Carolina Thunderbirds minor-league hockey team began play in 2017 at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex in Winston-Salem.

Wake Forest University is an original member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Wake Forest's football team plays its games at Truist Field at Wake Forest (formerly BB&T Field, and Groves Stadium), which seats 32,500. Wake Forest's soccer program made four consecutive final four appearances (2006–2009) and were NCAA champions in 2007.

The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum is home to Wake Forest and some Winston-Salem State basketball games.

NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing takes place from March until August at Bowman Gray Stadium. The K&N Pro Series East also races here. It is NASCAR's longest-running racing series, dating to the 1940s. In the fall, the stadium is used for Winston-Salem State Rams football games.

Winston-Salem hosts an ATP tennis tournament every year, the Winston-Salem Open. The matches are played at the Wake Forest tennis center.

Education Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools has most of its schools inside Winston-Salem. WS/FC Schools include 51 elementary schools, 25 middle schools and 13 high schools. The school with the largest student body population is West Forsyth High School, with over 2,400 students as of the 2017–2018 school year. The district is the most diverse school system in North Carolina. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System is the fourth-largest school system in North Carolina, with about 59,000 students and over 90 schools operating in the district.

Private Private and parochial schools also make up a significant portion of Winston-Salem's educational establishment. • Catholic elementary schools include St. Leo The Great and Our Lady of Mercy. Protestant Christian schools include Winston-Salem Christian School (formerly First Assembly Christian School), Calvary Day School (Baptist), Gospel Light Christian School, Salem Baptist Christian School, Redeemer School (Presbyterian), St. John's Lutheran, Cedar Forest Christian School, Winston-Salem Street School, Salem Montessori School, Berean Baptist Christian School and Woodland Baptist Christian School. Until 2001, Winston-Salem was home to Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School (now in Kernersville, North Carolina), one of only three Catholic high schools in North Carolina. • Forsyth Country Day School (in nearby Lewisville, North Carolina) and Summit School are secular private schools that serve the area. • Salem Academy, located in Old Salem, has been providing education to young women since 1772.

Post-secondary institutions Winston-Salem has a number of colleges and universities, including: • Carolina Christian College (formerly Winston-Salem Bible College) • Carolina University (originally Piedmont Bible College) • Forsyth Technical Community College • Living Arts Institute • Wake Forest University, a four-year private research university, founded in 1834 and moved to Winston-Salem in 1956 • Winston-Salem State University, a historically black university founded in 1892 • University of North Carolina School of the Arts (formerly the North Carolina School of the Arts) • Salem College, the oldest continuously operating educational institution for women in America, founded in 1772

Media: Print The Winston-Salem Journal is the main daily newspaper in Winston-Salem. Yes! Weekly is a free paper covering news, opinion, arts, entertainment, music, movies and food. Triad City Beat is a free weekly paper in the Triad area that covers Winston-Salem. The Winston-Salem Chronicle is a weekly newspaper that focuses on the African American community.

Media: Radio These radio stations are located in Winston-Salem, and are listed by call letters, station number, and name. Many more radio stations can be picked up in Winston-Salem that are not located in town. • WFDD, 88.5 FM, Wake Forest University (NPR Affiliate) • WBFJ, 89.3 FM, Your Family Station (Contemporary Christian music) • WSNC, 90.5 FM, Winston-Salem State University (Jazz) • WXRI, 91.3 FM, Southern Gospel • WSJS, 600 AM, News-Talk Radio • WTRU, 830 AM, The Truth (Religious) • WPIP, 880 AM, Berean Christian School • WTOB, 980 AM, Classic Hits • WPOL, 1340 AM, The Light Gospel Music (simulcast on 103.5 FM) • WWNT, 1380 AM, Top 40 Oldies • WSMX, 1500 AM, Oldies, Carolina Beach • WBFJ, 1550 AM, Christian Teaching & Talk Radio • Wake Radio, Wake Forest University's online, student-run radio station.

Media: Television Winston-Salem makes up part of the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point television designated market area. These stations are listed by call letters, channel number, network and city of license. • Spectrum News 1 North Carolina, cable only • WFMY-TV, 2, CBS, Greensboro • WGHP, 8, Fox, High Point • WXII-TV, 12, NBC, Winston-Salem • WGPX, 16, Ion, Burlington • WCWG, 20, CW, Lexington • WUNL-TV, 26, PBS/UNC-TV, Winston-Salem • WLXI-TV, 43, TCT, Greensboro • WXLV-TV, 45, ABC, Winston-Salem • WMYV, 48, My, Greensboro.

Transport: Public The Winston-Salem Transit Authority (WSTA) has the responsibility of providing public transportation. It took over from the Safe Bus Company, founded in the 1920s as the largest black-owned transportation company in the United States, in 1972. Operating out of the Clark Campbell Transportation Center at 100 West Fifth Street, WSTA operates 30 daytime bus routes, 24 of which also provide night service; 24 routes that operate from morning until midnight on Saturday; and 16 Sunday routes. WSTA makes nearly 3 million passenger-trips annually. In February 2010 WSTA added 10 diesel–electric buses to its fleet.

The Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART) operates a daily schedule from the Campbell Center connecting Winston-Salem to Boone, Mt. Airy, High Point and Greensboro, where other systems provide in-state routes to points east. PART also offers Route 5 (the Amtrak Connector), which provides daily service to and from the Amtrak station in High Point multiple times during the day.

Transport: Road US 52 (which runs concurrent with NC 8) is the predominant north–south freeway through Winston-Salem; it passes near the heart of downtown. US 421 (Salem Parkway) is the main east–west freeway through downtown Winston-Salem; this was the original routing of I-40, and was the main east–west route through the city until 1992, when a bypass loop of I-40 was completed. US 421 splits in the western part of the city onto its own freeway west (signed north) toward Wilkesboro and Boone, North Carolina. I-74 (which was once US 311) links Winston-Salem to High Point (southeast). Silas Creek Parkway is a partial limited access corridor that traverses from the north-western section of the city to the south central section. The corridor bypasses several neighborhoods surrounding downtown, and serves as a popular connector to Wake Forest University, Hanes Mall, The LJVM Coliseum, and Forsyth Tech.

The Winston-Salem Northern Beltway is a freeway that will loop around the city to the north, providing a route for I-74 on the eastern section and the Auxiliary Route I-274 on the western section.

In November 2018, US 52 south of I-40 was signed Spur Route I-285.

Major arterial thoroughfares in Winston-Salem include Reynolda Road (which also carries NC 67 for a portion of its length), NC 150 (Peters Creek Parkway), US 158 (Stratford Road), University Parkway, Hanes Mall Boulevard, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, North Point Boulevard, Country Club Road, Jonestown Road, Patterson Avenue, Fourth Street, Trade Street, Third Street, Liberty Street, and Main Street.

Transport: Air Winston-Salem is served by Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro. The airport also serves much of the surrounding Piedmont Triad area, including High Point; the Authority that manages the airport is governed by board members appointed by all three cities as well as both of their counties, Guilford and Forsyth.

A smaller airport, known as Smith Reynolds Airport, is located within the city limits, just north-east of downtown. It is mainly used for general aviation and charter flights. Every year, Smith Reynolds Airport hosts an air show for the general public. The Smith Reynolds Airport is home to the Winston-Salem Civil Air Patrol Composite Squadron, also known as NC-082. The Civil Air Patrol is a non-profit volunteer organization.

Transport: Rail Winston-Salem is one of the larger cities in the South that are not directly served by Amtrak. However, an Amtrak Thruway operates three times daily in each direction between Winston-Salem and the Amtrak station in nearby High Point, 16 miles east. Buses depart from the Winston-Salem Transportation Center, then stop on the Winston-Salem State University campus before traveling to High Point. From the High Point station, riders can board the Crescent, Carolinian or Piedmont line. These lines run directly to local North Carolina destinations as well as cities across the Southeast, as far west as New Orleans and as far north as New York City.