Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state (though a 2011 estimate of Census Bureau estimate of 232,385 makes Winston-Salem fifth largest).

Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to the tallest office building in the region, 100 North Main Street, formerly the Wachovia Building and now known locally as the Wells Fargo Center. Winston-Salem is called the "Twin City" for its dual heritage and "City of the Arts and Innovation" for its dedication to fine arts and theater and technological research. "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 popular Camel cigarettes. Many locals refer to the city as "Winston" in informal speech.

In 2013, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget reconfigured the Winston-Salem MSA by adding the Thomasville-Lexington micropolitan statistical area. The official 2010 Census population for the redefined Winston-Salem, North Carolina MSA was 640,595; according to 2012 Census estimates, the population was 647,697. The Greensboro – Winston-Salem – High Point combined statistical area (CSA), popularly referred to as the Piedmont Triad, had a population of 1,611,243 according 2012 Census estimates.

Overview
The Old Salem district (1766) and related Historic Bethabara (1753) and Bethania (1759) sites are the city's oldest historical attractions. Also of historical interest is Reynolda Village (which includes Reynolda Gardens and the Reynolda House Museum of American Art). Other sites of interest include the Horne Creek Historic Farm, Tanglewood Park, the SciWorks educational facility, and SECCA, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. The city's major sports and entertainment venues are organized in a group known as the Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex.

The Winston-Salem metropolitan area (MSA) has an estimated population of 468,124 according to the 2008 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau. As of 2008, the combined statistical area (CSA) of Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, the Piedmont Triad, has a population of 1,603,101, making it the 30th-largest metropolitan area in the USA.

In 2012, the city was listed among the 10 best places to retire in the U.S. by CBS Money Watch.

Salem
The origin of the town of Salem dates to January 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) named after the ancestral estate of Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. The land, just short of 99000 acre, 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 the Hebrew Shalom for "peace") 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 1854. Salem Square and "God's Acre", the Moravian Graveyard, since 1772 are the site each Easter morning of the world-famous Moravian sunrise service. This service, sponsored by all the Moravian church parishes in the City, attracts thousands of worshippers each year and has earned the name of "the Easter City" for Winston-Salem.

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 1852 when it was named Winston for a local hero of the Revolutionary War, Joseph Winston. For its first two decades, Winston was a sleepy county town. In 1872, work began to connect the town to the North Carolina Railroad. That same year, Thomas Jethro Brown of Davie County rented a former livery stable and established the first tobacco warehouse in Winston. That same year, Pleasant Henderson Hanes, also of Davie, built his first tobacco factory a few feet from Brown's warehouse. In 1875, Richard Joshua Reynolds, of Patrick County, Virginia, built his first tobacco factory a few hundred feet from Hanes' factory. By the 1880s, there were almost 40 tobacco factories in the town of Winston. Hanes and Reynolds would compete fiercely for the next 25 years, each absorbing a number of the smaller manufacturers, until Hanes sold out to Reynolds in 1900 to begin a second career in textiles.

Winston-Salem
In the 1880s, the US Post Office began referring to the two towns 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 USPS Address Information System (AIS) does not recognize the hyphen.

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 mi inland. Winston-Salem was the eighth-largest port of entry in the United States by 1916.

In 1917, the company bought 84 acre 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 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 ft (96m) 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 that was built in 1931 in New York City. Every year the staff of the Empire State Building sends a Father's Day card to the staff at the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem to pay homage to its role as predecessor to the Empire State Building.

Notable early businesses

 * In 1875, R J Reynolds founded R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company later famous for innovative branded products such as Prince Albert pipe tobacco (1907) and Camel cigarettes (1913). Other brands which it made famous are Winston, Salem, Doral, and Eclipse cigarettes. The Winston-Salem area is still the primary international manufacturing center for Reynolds brands of cigarettes, although employment is down from its peak of nearly 30,000 to under 3,000.


 * Wachovia Bank and Trust was formed in 1911 by the merger of Wachovia National Bank (founded 1879) 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 1901, J. Wesley Hanes's Shamrock Hosiery Mills in Winston-Salem began making men's socks. Shortly afterward, his brother Pleasant Henderson Hanes founded the Hanes Knitting Company, which manufactured men's underwear. The two firms eventually merged to become the Hanes Corporation, now known as Hanesbrands, innovators in the textile industry.


 * 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.


 * Texas Pete, a popular hot sauce condiment, is manufactured by local firm T.W. Garner Foods.


 * 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 1929 Quality Oil Company was organized in December 1929, initially to launch a distributorship for the then little known Shell Oil Company.


 * 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 (now US Airways) in 1987. US Airways maintains a reservation center in the old Piedmont Reservations office.


 * In 1928 Miller's Clothing Store was opened by Mrs. Henry Miller. Miller's Variety Store still operates at the same location at 622 North Trade Street. Miller's was the first store in Winston-Salem to offer bell bottoms in the area in the 1960s. Also was listed by Playboy magazine in 1968 as a popular place to shop.

Geography and climate
Winston-Salem is in northwest piedmont area of North Carolina at 36.10278°N, -80.26056°W (36.102764, −80.260491).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 132.4 sqmi, of which, 129.6 sqmi of it is land and 2.8 sqmi of it (0.81%) is water.

The city of Winston-Salem has a humid subtropical climate characterized by cool, sometimes moderately cold winters, and hot, humid summers. The average high temperatures range from 51 °F in the winter to around 89 °F in the summer. The average low temperatures range from 28 °F in the winter to around 67 °F in the summer.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 185,776 people, with a total urban population of 299,290, 76,247 households, and 46,205 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,706.7 people per square mile (659.0/km²). There are 82,593 housing units at an average density of 758.8 per square mile (293.0/km²). The racial composition of the city was: 55.6% White, 37.10% Black or African American, 8.64% Hispanic or Latino American, 1.13% Asian American, 0.31% Native American, 0.04% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 4.29% some other race, and 1.56% two or more races. Non-Hispanic Whites were 47.1% of the population in 2010, down from 59% in 1990.

There are 76,247 households out of which 28.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% are married couples living together, 16.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% are non-families. 33.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.32 and the average family size is 2.95.

In the city the population is spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 11.7% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 84.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $39,589, and the median income for a family is $46,595. Males have a median income of $32,398 versus $25,335 for females. The per capita income for the city is $39,468. 11.2% of the population and 4.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 8.3% of those under the age of 18 and 7.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Economy
It is the location of the corporate headquarters of BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust Company), HanesBrands, Inc., Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., Lowes Foods Stores, ISP Sports, Reynolds American (parent of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company), Reynolda Manufacturing Solutions, Southern Community Bank, K&W Cafeterias, and TW Garner Food Company (makers of Texas Pete). Wachovia Corporation was based in Winston-Salem until it merged with First Union Corporation in September 2001; the corporate headquarters of the combined company was located in Charlotte, until it was purchased by Wells Fargo in December 2008. 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 nanotech, high-tech and bio-tech fields. Medical research is a fast-growing local industry, and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is the largest employer in Winston-Salem. Blue Rhino, the nation's largest propane exchange company and a division of Ferrellgas, is also headquartered in Winston-Salem. In December 2004, the city landed a deal with Dell, Inc. providing millions of dollars in incentives to build a computer assembly plant nearby in southeastern Forsyth County. However Dell closed its Winston-Salem facility in January 2010 due to the poor economy. A portion of downtown Winston-Salem has been designated as the Piedmont Triad Research Park for biomedical and information technology research and development. Currently, the research park is undergoing an expansion, with hopes of jumpstarting the city's economy.

Largest employers
According to the Winston-Salem Business Inc.'s 2010–2011 data report on major employers, the ten largest employers in the city are:

Major industries
According to the Winston-Salem Business Inc.'s 2010–2011 data report on major industries, the major industries in the city are by percentage:

Attractions

 * SciWorks – SciWorks’ has 25000 sqft of exhibit space, 119-seat Planetarium and 15 acre outdoor Environmental Park. Permanent exhibits include: Foucault Pendulum, PhysicsWorks, SoundWorks, HealthWorks,  BioWorks and KidsWorks. The Environmental Park includes habitats for river otter, deer and waterfowl


 * Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts – Reconstructions of a colonial interiors from the 18th and early 19th centuries


 * Bethabara Historic District – A site where Moravians from Pennsylvania first settled in North Carolina, the 195 acre area includes a museum and a Moravian church and offers hiking, birdwatching and many varieties of trees and plants.


 * Old Salem – A restored Moravian Church community from 1750–1850. Seventy percent of the buildings are original and the village hosts skilled tinsmiths, blacksmiths, cobblers, gunsmiths, bakers and carpenters practicing their trades while interacting with visitors.


 * Reynolda House Museum of American Art – the restored 1917 mansion of R.J. and Katharine Smith Reynolds


 * Children's Museum of Winston-Salem – Not a museum, but an indoor playground for children with activities (admission fee or membership required).

Public
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.

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. Other private Christian schools include Calvary Baptist Day School, Gospel Light Christian School, Redeemer Presbyterian, First Assembly Christian School and St. John's Lutheran. 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.
 * Salem Academy, located in Old Salem, has been providing education to young women since 1772. Forsyth Country Day School (in nearby Lewisville, North Carolina)  and Summit School are secular private schools that serve the area.

Post-secondary institutions
Winston-Salem also has a number of colleges and universities, including:
 * Wake Forest University
 * Winston-Salem State University, an 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 first women's college in America, founded in 1772
 * Piedmont International University
 * Winston-Salem Bible College
 * Forsyth Technical Community College
 * Living Arts Institute

Museums
Museums are an important portion of Winston-Salem's heritage. Most famous of Winston-Salem's museums is Old Salem, a living history museum centered on the main Moravian settlement founded in 1766. 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 19th century furniture, ceramics, and textiles.

The Reynolda House Museum of American Art (built by the founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and now affiliated with Wake Forest University) is another of Winston-Salem's premier museums.

The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) is a nationally known art center.

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.

The city also offers places oriented for children.

SciWorks is an interactive museum for children, teaching basics in all areas of science, and offering experiments and educational tours.

The Children's Museum of Winston-Salem offers engaging exhibits and programs designed to develop creative thinking, strengthen language skills, and encourage curiosity for children ages birth to eight.

Art
Winston-Salem is often referred to as the "City of the Arts", partly because of it created the first arts council in the United States, founded in 1949, and because of the local art schools and attractions. These include the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Twin City Stage, Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance, the Piedmont Opera Theater, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Stevens Center for the Performing Arts, and the Sawtooth Center for Visual Arts.

There are many galleries and workshops in the city's art district centered at Sixth and Trade streets.

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.

The city is also home to Carolina Music Ways, a grassroots arts organization focussing 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.

Gardens
Reynolda Gardens is a 4 acre formal garden set within a larger woodland site, originally part of the R. J. Reynolds country estate.

Sports
Winston-Salem provides a number of athletic attractions.

The Dash is a Class A Minor-League baseball team currently affiliated with the Chicago White Sox. After 52 years at historic Ernie Shore Field, the Dash now plays its home games at the new BB&T Ballpark, 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. Its 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.

Wake Forest University is an original member of the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Wake Forest's football team plays its games at BB&T Field (formerly Groves Stadium), which seats 32,500. Also Wake Forest's soccer program made four consecutive final four appearances (2006–2009) and were NCAA champions in 2007. Their women's field hockey team won three consecutive national championships between 2002 and 2004.

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

NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series racing takes place from March until August at city-owned Bowman Gray Stadium. It is NASCARs longest running racing series, dating to the 1940s. In the fall, the stadium is used for Winston-Salem State Rams football games.

Winston-Salem offers a variety of community and children's sports programs and has an active YMCA presence. Several community pools are available for membership.

Winston-Salem hosts an ATP tennis tour round every year.

Shopping
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 the city's largest shopping district. Other shopping areas exist in the city, including Thruway Shopping Center, Hanes Point Shopping Center, Hanes Commons, Pavilions, Stone's Throw Plaza, Silas Creek Crossing, and the Marketplace Mall.

Public transportation
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 has 26 daily routes, which run between 5:30am and 12:00 midnight Monday through Friday and from 6:30am through 6:30pm on Saturday. 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 and Greensboro, where other systems provide in-state routes to points east.

Greyhound lines also provides interstate transportation from the Campbell Center.

Thoroughfares


US 52 (which runs concurrent with NC 8) is the predominant north-south freeway through Winston-Salem; it passes near the heart of downtown. Business 40 is the main east-west freeway through downtown Winston-Salem. In 1993 a bypass loop of I-40 was built. US 311, also a freeway, links Winston-Salem to High Point (southeast) and follows I-40 and US 52 through the Winston-Salem business district. US 421, which shares Business 40 through downtown, splits in the western part of the city onto its own freeway west (signed north) toward Wilkesboro, North Carolina and Boone, North Carolina.

The Winston-Salem Northern Beltway is a proposed freeway that will loop around the city to the north, providing a route for the Future I-74 on the eastern section and the Future Auxiliary Route I-274 on the western section. The NCDOT plans for this project to begin after 2010.

By 2011, US 52 south of I-40 will be signed as Spur Route I-285. The Winston-Salem Department of Transportation also plans for the US 311 freeway to be extended north along the east side of the city to Business I-40 by 2030, according to the Long Range Plan.

Major thoroughfares in Winston-Salem include NC 67 (Silas Creek Parkway & Reynolda Road), NC 150 (Peters Creek Parkway), US 158 (Stratford Road), University Parkway, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, North Point Boulevard, and Hanes Mall Boulevard.

Aviation
Winston-Salem is served by Greensboro's Piedmont Triad International Airport. The airport also serves much of the surrounding Piedmont Triad area, including High Point, North Carolina.

A smaller airport, known as Smith Reynolds Airport, is located within the city limits, just northeast 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.

Rail
Amtrak runs a thruway motorcoach, twice daily in each direction, between Winston-Salem and the Amtrak station in nearby High Point. Buses depart from the Winston-Salem Transportation Center, then stop on the university campus before traveling to High Point. From the High Point station, riders can board the Crescent line or the Carolinian or Piedmont lines. 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.

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

Radio stations
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 Winston-Salem.
 * 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
 * WTQR, 104.1 FM, Country
 * WKZL, 107.5 FM, Contemporary pop/hip-hop
 * WSJS, 600 AM, News-Talk Radio
 * WTRU, 830 AM, The Truth (Religious)
 * WPIP, 880 AM, Berean Christian School
 * WEGO, 980 AM, Spanish Contemporary Christian
 * WPOL, 1340 AM, The Light Gospel Music
 * WTOB, 1380 AM, Spanish Radio
 * WSMX, 1500 AM, Religious Radio
 * WBFJ, 1550 AM, Christian Teaching & Talk Radio
 * Wake Radio, Wake Forest University's online, student-run radio station

Television stations
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. 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
 * WXLV-TV, 45, ABC, Winston-Salem
 * WMYV, 48, My, Greensboro
 * WLXI-TV, 61, TCT, Greensboro
 * News 14 Triad

Surrounding areas
Some minor outlying areas and surrounding municipalities are:


 * Arcadia, North Carolina (in Davidson County)
 * Bethania, North Carolina
 * Clemmons, North Carolina
 * Kernersville, North Carolina
 * King, North Carolina (mostly in Stokes County)
 * Lewisville, North Carolina
 * Midway, North Carolina (in Davidson County)
 * Old Town, North Carolina
 * Pfafftown, North Carolina (Annexed by Winston-Salem, September 2006)
 * Rural Hall, North Carolina
 * Seward, North Carolina
 * Stanleyville, North Carolina
 * Tobaccoville, North Carolina
 * Union Cross, North Carolina
 * Vienna, North Carolina
 * Walkertown, North Carolina
 * Wallburg, North Carolina (in Davidson County)
 * Welcome, North Carolina (in Davidson County)

Some nearby major cities are:
 * Greensboro, North Carolina (in Guilford County)
 * High Point, North Carolina (mostly in Guilford County)

Sister cities

 * 🇲🇩 Ungheni, Moldova
 * 🇬🇭 Kumasi, Ghana
 * 🇧🇸 Nassau, Bahamas
 * 🇨🇳 Shanghai, People's Republic of China
 * 🇱🇷 Buchanan, Liberia

Notable residents (former and current)

 * Dustin Ackley, Second basemen for the Seattle Mariners
 * Maya Angelou, poet
 * Ramin Bahrani, director and screenwriter
 * Angela Bassett, actress
 * Ed Berrier, NASCAR driver
 * B.o.B., hip-hop artist
 * Jim Broyhill, Republican politician. Served NC in both US House of Representatives & Senate.
 * Richard Burr, United States Senator
 * Don Cardwell, former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball
 * Gary Chapman, author of the best-selling book The Five Love Languages and currently the head associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church.
 * Randolph Childress, former professional basketball player
 * Richard Childress, NASCAR team owner
 * Howard Cosell, sportscaster
 * Eleanor Layfield Davis, artist
 * Hubert Davis, basketball analyst for ESPN, former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and NBA player
 * Mitch Easter, musician (Let's Active) and record producer
 * Jennifer Ehle, British-American actress
 * John Ehle, author
 * Stuart Epperson, chairman of Salem Communications Corporation
 * Ben Folds, singer-songwriter
 * C.E. "Big House" Gaines, head basketball coach of Winston-Salem State University for 47 years. Member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
 * Mark Grace, former first baseman for the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks
 * Gordon Gray, newspaper publisher, Secretary of the Army under President Truman, and President Eisenhower's National Security Advisor
 * Kathryn Grayson, actress and operatic soprano singer.
 * Pam Grier, actress
 * Julianna Guill, actress
 * Happy Hairston, former NBA player
 * George Hamilton IV, country singer
 * Jackée Harry, actress/comedian
 * William Heaton, former chief of staff to Bob Ney, pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy in the Jack Abramoff lobbying and corruption scandal.
 * Ricky Hickman, professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv.
 * Byron Hill, Nashville songwriter, wrote hits for George Strait, Alabama, Ray Charles, Anne Murray, and others.
 * Matt Kendrick, jazz bassist
 * Tom Kent, Nationally syndicated radio personality
 * Rusty LaRue, former NBA player, NCAA record holder in football,
 * Angus MacLachlan, writer; wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film Junebug, and the 2010 film Stone, starring Robert De Niro and Ed Norton.
 * Rusty Mills, Emmy-winning animator and director
 * Wilmer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell, former pitcher for the Pirates and Cardinals, and a US congressman from 1968–1974.
 * Chris Murrell, singer and former lead vocalist of the Count Basie Orchestra
 * Chris Paul, NBA player for the Los Angeles Clippers.
 * R.J. Reynolds, founder of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (maker of Camel Cigarettes)
 * Ernie Shore former pitcher in Major League Baseball and Sheriff of Forsyth County, North Carolina
 * Ryan Taylor, tight end, Green Bay Packers
 * Rolonda Watts, television talk show host and actress
 * 9th Wonder, Grammy award winning hip hop producer and founding member of the rap group Little Brother.

Movies filmed in Winston-Salem

 * The Bedroom Window (1987)
 * Mr. Destiny (1990)
 * Eddie (1996)
 * The Lottery (1996, made-for-television adaptation of Shirley Jackson's short story)
 * George Washington (2000)
 * A Union in Wait (2001, documentary)
 * Junebug (2005)
 * Lost Stallions: The Journey Home (2008)
 * Goodbye Solo (2008)
 * Leatherheads (2008)
 * Eyeborgs (2009)
 * You Are Here (2013)