Winston-Salem: Why the Cigarette City Is Worth Visiting

I first visited Winston-Salem, North Carolina, when I was 10 years old, during an Easter-break trip with my family to see relatives there. I remember a lot of things: Historic Old Salem, the pretty rolling green countryside, my first hot Krispy Kreme doughnut—a Winston-Salem original. But, oddly, my fondest and most vivid memory is of a tour of the R. J. Reynolds cigarette factory.

I was mesmerized by the sight of thousands of Winstons, Salems, and Camels rolling down conveyor belts on their way to being packed in cellophane. I can still smell that distinctive sweet tang of cured tobacco that seemed to permeate the very air in Winston (as it’s called for short). I never became a smoker, but when I returned recently—almost 30 years later—I hoped to be able to repeat that factory visit and see if reality and memory matched up. I also looked forward to revisiting some other old favorites, while discovering a new side of the city.

Often overlooked by tourists in favor of Charlotte or Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem is an appealing city with a good mix of history, youthful energy (from all the college students running around) and local color—and plenty to keep visitors occupied for a long weekend. The name comes from the merging of two towns—Salem, a Moravian settlement dating from 1753, and Winston, founded in 1849 by settlers of Quaker, English, and Scots-Irish descent. The U.S. Postal Office added the hyphen in 1899, and the two were officially merged in 1913.

Traditionally a center of tobacco products and textile and furniture manufacturing, Winston-Salem is in the process of redefining itself for the twenty-first century. Think of it as Tobacco Road meets the Information Highway. Though R. J. Reynolds is still one of the most profitable businesses in town, Winston-Salem is also a center for banking (look for the big white Wachovia building), health care, biotech, and computer technology (Dell recently built a 500,000 square-foot factory in town). It’s also—and this may surprise many people—a center for the arts, with galleries and museums that rival those in much bigger cities.

Signs of the changing times: Old tobacco warehouses are being converted into living-and-working loft spaces for local artists, and downtown has become one big Wi-Fi hot spot. Independent films like the locally made Junebug (a 2005 critical hit) play at the local film festival. There is also a nascent winemaking industry in the area, with several wineries a day trip away. But Winston residents, forward thinking though they may be, coexist comfortably with their past. A common sight is of costumed Old Salem docents driving around town or shopping at the grocery store in full Moravian garb, lace caps included.

Winston’s downtown has been revitalizing itself over the last few years, and its compact center is alive with sidewalk cafes, boutiques, and art galleries. The area calls itself DaDa (for Downtown Arts District), and the city claims the oldest arts council in the nation, which has benefited enormously from contributions from local philanthropic families like the Reynoldses and Haneses.

Much of the development is the direct result of efforts by R. Philip Hanes, scion of the Hanes family and former chief executive of the clothing company that bears their name. Entrepreneur, philanthropist, gourmet, conservationist, and lover of the arts, he recently celebrated his eightieth birthday and also recently published a book, How to Get Anyone to Do Anything, a sort of autobiography and recounting of Winston’s rebirth as a cultural center. In fact, it seems difficult to understate his influence on his hometown. As one local told me, Winston restaurants didn’t even serve wine until Mr. Hanes decided they should. North Carolina is a staunchly Baptist state, and many residents who support cigarette smoking frown on drinking and eating rich food.

Of course it’s easy to do all three in Winston these days. Sweet Potatoes, a popular soul-food bistro, dishes up contemporary twists on the classics and is always buzzing with the local arts crowd. Camel City Café has a wine list with more than 400 choices. Noble’s Grille, outside of downtown but easy to get to, brings a bit of Napa Valley to North Carolina, with a French-Mediterranean menu and elegant décor. Back downtown, Speakeasy Jazz, an upscale boîte with a bar-food menu, has brought a dash of big-city nightlife to the once-shuttered downtown. (Disclosure: It happens to be owned by my sister.) Twin City Chop House caters to the steak-and-cigars set with a clubby, masculine dining room. Winston is almost worth visiting just so you can eat a pulled-pork sandwich, the staple of North Carolina’s vinegary take on southern barbecue. Try the classic Mr. Barbecue, where the delicious sandwiches run about $3 each. Bare-bones and full of Formica, Mr. Barbecue also serves excellent coleslaw and onion rings. Pig Pickin’s, on the other side of town, is a bit more spiffed up, but with the same fare.

On the first Friday of each month, and every Friday in the summer, downtown closes to traffic for a gallery walk and street fair. In warm weather, visitors spill onto the streets, tasting wine and listening to live music. Standing above it all (and dominating the downtown skyline) is the 1995 Wachovia building, tallest in town and second tallest in the state. Locals use it as a compass of sorts, and as locals will do, have made up derisive names based on its somewhat phallic shape. A few blocks away is the Reynolds Building, which was erected in 1929 and was a model for the Empire State Building.

A favorite from my childhood visit, and almost as much fun for adults, is the village of Old Salem. Founded by Moravians, the German-speaking religious sect that first arrived in North Carolina in 1753, Old Salem is a beautifully preserved living museum. Half-timbered houses, shops, and interpretive displays line its bumpy cobblestone streets.

A definite highlight is the Moravian Winkler Bakery, an austere place with an enormous walk-in oven that still turns out loaves of Moravian sugar bread, just as it did two centuries ago. The bread—a yeasty, sugary, buttery delight—is served with tea during the holidays, a Winston tradition. In fact, the silver Moravian teapot is Winston-Salem’s official symbol. Look for it everywhere, or let it seek you out—there are whimsical giant teapot sculptures around town.

You can purchase an all-day ticket to the place for $15. The tours are self-guided, and costumed docents are available to answer questions and explain the history of the settlement. Included in the entry fee are two excellent museums, a charming one for children and the highly regarded Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. Nonpaying visitors are welcome to stroll around and enter certain establishments without a ticket, among them the bakery, the Salem Tavern restaurant, and various gift shops.

It’s even possible to sleep in Old Salem. The twelve-room Augustus T. Zevely Inn is an eighteenth-century red-brick bed and breakfast with authentic period furnishings and working fireplaces in some of the rooms. Across the street is the Salem Tavern, a rather formal restaurant where waiters in period costume serves traditional Moravian food. The Salem Soda Shop is a good bet for a more casual bite; it’s right next to the bakery and sells sandwiches and ice cream sodas. Another historic hotel is the Brookstown Inn, outside of Old Salem but just by a few blocks. Located in a converted 1837 textile mill, the hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places. Look for its graffiti wall full of musings by young women who lived in the dormitories in the nineteenth century.

Another place I had to see again was Reynolda House, a 64-room mansion and National Historic Landmark built as a country estate by R. J. Reynolds and his wife, Katherine. Completed in 1917, the complex included more than 30 buildings, and at its peak it covered over a thousand acres with formal gardens, wetlands, forest, and a village to house employees. Now overseen by Wake Forest University, it serves as a cultural center for the city. Visitors can view temporary exhibits alongside authentic period furnishings and antique toys. I remember visiting Reynolda House on my family trip and being completely fascinated by the toys, the period costumes, and especially the basement bowling alley and indoor pool. In 2005 a new exhibit and education wing opened.

And what of the famous cigarette factory tour that I remembered so fondly? It no longer exists. The Whitaker Park at R. J. Reynolds stopped the public tour about ten years ago, and even closed the small museum of tobacco history, full of interesting memorabilia. I wasn’t given a reason when I called to inquire, though I imagine the move was a public-relations one. Though I understand the reasons for not exactly celebrating Winston-Salem’s most profitable local product, tobacco is an indelible part of the culture, for good or bad.

Ask any local for his or her feelings about the industry and you’re likely to get a positive, or at worst ambivalent, response. The Reynolds family helped bring Winston-Salem into the modern age and, like the Hanes family, poured a lot of money into the city. Smoking is allowed pretty much everywhere, which makes a strong statement, especially in these times. In the end, I was disappointed I couldn’t go back in time and repeat my childhood experience, but obviously, I had plenty of other options. Now, I just need to find a Krispy Kreme factory tour.

For more information, start at www.visitwinstonsalem.com. Find out about Old Salem at www.oldsalem.org, and about Reynolda House at www.reynoldahouse.org.

—Amy Weaver Dorning is a freelance writer in San Francisco.