Historic Bethabara - The first Moravian settlement in N.C.

Bishop Augustus Spangenberg led a party to survey a 100,000 acre tract of land in North Carolina, which came to be known as Wachau after an Austrian estate of Count Zinzendorf. The name, later anglicized to Wachovia, became the center of growth for the church in that region. Bethabara, Bethania, and Salem (now Winston-Salem) were the first Moravian settlements in North Carolina in the early 1750s.

The first settlers arrived in November of 1753, a group of eleven single men selected to provide the necessary skills for establishing a new community. Four others accompanied them on the journey but returned to 

Pennsylvania soon after. Additional settlers arrived beginning in 1754 and 1755, including the first women. The first community established was Bethabara, initially a stockaded fort protecting the neighboring farms. Never much more than a farming community in the early days, it is now within the city limits of Winston-Salem, on the northwest side of the city center.

There was a strong need, however, for a larger, central town. After several years of planning and construction, beginning in 1765, Salem came fully into being from 1766 to 1772. Most of the Bethabara residents moved there.

This is not a Tall Tale

In Moravian circles it is said that Count Zinzendorf died as a result of a decision that was made in Bethany, North Carolina.  It is not a tall tale.

Bethabara, North Carolina, was the first Moravian settlement in the Wachovia (1753). All of the residents were Moravians - no exceptions.  

Bethania was the second Moravian settlement (1759). Into this village the Moravian bishop, August Gottlieb Spangenberg (b. 1704) permitted non-Moravians to settle.  

Eight Moravian families were selected to move from Bethabara to Bethania - three miles away. The bishop augmented that number with eight non-Moravian families. 

It took more than a year for this news to cross the Atlantic and land on the desk of Count Zinzendorf in Saxony. 

The Count was not happy - not at all! He vented! The scribe that took down the venting noted, “those who heard his words will never forget them in their whole life long.”

In the Diary for May 3, 1760 are recorded some of the Count's words. He said, “It is against our plan to mix ourselves with people who we do not know. It must absolutely and to eternity not happen that Brethren and stranger people build a settlement where they are going to live together.”

Six days later - the Count was dead. Bethania lives on.

There are a number of implications to this narrative. Do any jump out of you?

“What’s in a name anyway?”

In our culture a name is at its core almost meaningless. Reality is that buried in a name there is meaning. Consider …

The primary portion of land, 1000 acres in all, purchased by the Moravians in the mid-18th century was named “Wachovia”. It was thus named because the terrain reminded Bishop Spangenberg and company of the “Wachau” in Austria. 

The word “Wachau”, literally means “meadow along the Wach,” which is the prime spring in that area of Austria. 

This explains why the Moravians later named the principal stream in the center of their land - the “Wach”. Today that stream is called “Salem Creek.”

The naming of the Wachovia was important on many levels. That it was a reminder of home before they immigrated was important to these brave and hearty souls that left all behind.