It's hard to believe that you can live near a place most of your life, go there every day for 4 years, live within 5 blocks of it but still , you've never taken the tour. This was true for me and my much beloved Old Salem. I grew up in Winston-Salem and as a child my daddy would drive through Old Salem on our way to visit family when there weren't interstates and freeways. What I remember most about Old Salem at that time was that instead of stop signs, there were these rubber signs fastened to the road that so that they would stand up about 12 to 18 inches. They had the word "STOP" painted on them with white letters. The rubber would flex as the car drove over them. There was also this really beautiful building there that said "Salem College" across the top and I just felt this real connection with it...but I digress.
Well, last Saturday was finally the day... I had no excuses. Being a double Scots Irish, I'm known as Kathy "Frugal" Blanchard, and even though as a Salem student, I could have taken the tour at half price, I was still too parsimonious (that sounds much better than "cheap" doesn't it) to go. But last Saturday the Smithsonian was behind a program encouraging various museums across the United States to allow free admission for one person and their guest. How on earth could I turn that down?
We ate an early lunch and picked up our tickets at the Welcome Center and made an appointment for a guided tour of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Art (MESDA). We started our self guided tour with the Timothy Vogler Gunsmith Shop (1831) and were learned there that the average income for a Salem resident was equal to about $25 a month. The next stop was the 1784 Salem Tavern (George Washington slept here), then went to the tavern barn. Next was the Blum house and print shop. This particular print shop printed the Blum's Almanac, the same one that Daddy always insisted that we use. The front of the almanac is almost an exact replica of the one printed there from 1815 - 1854. Within the print shop was a collection of embroidery from young ladies who attended Salem Academy during the early years. The work was just lovely and so delicate!
Next on the list was the Single Brother's House (1769). We learned that wthin the Moravian Church, everyone was divided up into "choirs" - not to be confused with singing choirs (although they did sing, in fact music was and is very important to them), but small living and study groups called choirs. The choirs were set up according to age, gender and marital status. During the week they lived, worked and studied with their choir and on Sunday they all worshiped together. If you visit a Moravian cemetery you'll find it arranged in blocks/choirs. Husbands and wives are not buried side by side but with their gender and marital status.
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The Single Sister's house sat across the square from the Single Brothers house. It has been refurbished and is partially used by the college.
Next stop was the Miksch Gardens and House (1771). It was a 2 room house - one room was the kitchen and the other room was the everything else room. The guide in there was sewing. She said that they have various chores that they do each day and at different times of the day (cooking, washing, sewing, etc,) just like the folks living in the 1700s.
Since we have shopped in Old Salem, there was no need to go to the stores and bakery so we went along to the Doctor's residence. It contained the family living space as well as the apothecary. We were lucky that the Home Moravian Church was still open with a man giving a talk about the church and how it had changed over the years. The church is really beautiful with its curved pews and balcony.
Our time was nearing for our MESDA tour. It was hard to believe that we had already spent hours looking around. On our way back to the museum we stopped in at the log church and St. Phillips Moravian Church, built by the Moravians for the African American congregation who until the mid 19th century had worshipped alongside the Moravians.
We finished up with our tour of MESDA. This was only a partial tour, about 10 rooms but it was fabulous. Frank L. Horton, who the museum is named in honor of, and his mother enjoyed collecting early Southern furniture and actually collected entire rooms from homes that were about to be demolished. These rooms have been reassembled or recreated within the museum using the paints and original furnishings (when available). It is a gorgeous treat and I do plan to bite the bullet one day soon and take the rest of the tour.
There is always something going on in Old Salem. During the summer they have the Cobblestone Market, which is a farmer's market of certified organic goods, Ghost Tours, Christmas Events including the Candle Tea and Love Feast and they are known far and wide for their Easter Sunrise Service. If you'd like to find out more about these wonderful sites and maybe arrange to take the tours yourself, you'll find the link below.
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