In 1753, the Moravian Church purchased close to 100,000 acres of land in the backcountry of North Carolina, in what is now Forsyth County, and named the settlement Wachau (latinized to Wachovia). The rolling hills, creeks, and valleys were reminiscent of an Austrian estate by that name formerly owned by the Zinzendorf family. Members of the Moravian Church began settling there soon after purchase and continue to have a strong presence in the area.
The Moravian Church, also known as the Unity of the Brethren or Unitas Fratrum, traces its spiritual origin to Jan Hus, a religious reformer in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic) who in 1415 was burned at the stake by the Catholic Church for his teachings critical of the Church, including accusations of corruption. Now a martyr, Hus’ ideas lived on among people known as Hussites and in 1457 a group of these Hussites gathered in Kunvald, Bohemia and formed the Unity of the Brethren. The Unity thrived in Bohemia and Moravia until the Counter-Reformation in the 17th century forced them into hiding.
In 1722 the remaining members, the “Hidden Seed” of the Unity were offered refuge on the Berthelsdorf, Saxony estate of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf, a Lutheran nobleman and religious reformer. The town of Herrnhut was quickly established, and in 1727 under the leadership of Count Zinzendorf the Unity of the Brethren experienced a spiritual renewal from which came the modern Moravian Church. From the central town of Herrnhut, Moravians began establishing congregation towns across Europe, towns in which the church oversaw all aspects of life including the economy & trade, worship, land, even marriage.
Zinzendorf was mission minded and by 1732 began sending missionaries all over the world, including North America. The first attempt was in 1735 when a group of Moravians lead by Bishop August Spangenberg (1704–1792) settled in Savannah, Georgia, but that mission was short-lived and in 1740 the Moravians settled in Pennsylvania establishing the congregation town of Bethlehem in 1741. The church quickly established missions and congregations throughout the North.
John Carteret, Earl of Granville owned a significant portion of land in the royal colony of North Carolina. In 1729, Carteret turned down the king’s offer to sell out his tract and soon began to sell it to colonists. In 1749 the British passed the “Moravian Act” recognizing the church as an “ancient Protestant episcopal church” which allowed Moravians to establish settlements without having to bear arms or swear oaths. Soon after this Act, seeking good settlers for his land, Carteret offered to sell a large tract of land in North Carolina to the Moravians.
Zinzendorf agreed and in 1752, Bishop Spangenberg led an expedition through the wilderness of North Carolina to place the future Moravian colony. The trip lasted for several months and after several setbacks the surveying group found the land they were looking for in present-day Forsyth County. At the sight of the many rivers, valleys, and rolling hills, Spangenberg proclaimed, “The land on which we are now encamped seems to me to have been reserved by the Lord for the Brethren” (Wachovia Tract source).
In 1753 the church purchased the nearly 100,000 acres of land which Spangenberg called Wachau, because the rolling hills and creeks were reminiscent of an Austrian estate by the name formerly owned by the Zinzendorf family. (Wachovia, from which the bank got its name, is the Latin version of Wachau.)
On the 17th of November 1753 the first group of Moravians arrived in North Carolina, having walked from Bethlehem. Soon the congregation town of Bethabara was established, becoming a center of trade and of refuge during the French & Indian War to non-Moravian settlers. In 1759 the first planned community of Bethania was established to the northwest of Bethabara. Some refugee families still in Bethabara appealed to church leaders asking to be residents of the new town and Bethania became a town of both Moravians and non-Moravians.
For many years the plan was to build a central administrative town for Wachovia, and in 1766 the congregation town of Salem was begun, eventually becoming the administrative and economic center of Wachovia. During these years other groups of Moravians and Non-Moravians arrived from the North and Europe. Some of these groups settled in southern Wachovia, apart from the towns in the north, and would later be organized as country congregations, meaning there was a central meeting house with outlying farms. The first country congregation, Friedberg, was organized in 1773, followed in 1780 by Hope and Friedland. These would be the last congregations to be organized in Wachovia until the mid-19th century.
Having endured the perils of the Revolutionary War, the new generation of Moravians in North Carolina began to identify more with being American, eventually desiring the church to have less or no control over their personal lives and professions. Within Salem all land was leased from the church, trade was strictly controlled, and, though the church itself used enslaved labor, individuals in town were not permitted to until the 1830s. The church did allow enslaved and free blacks to be church members, even worshipping with them until the early 19th century when the African congregation, later known as St. Philips, was consecrated in 1823.
In 1849 Forsyth County and its central town, Winston, north of Salem, were established. Manufacturing and tobacco industries began to flourish, bringing many new people into the area. Throughout these years church control waned little by little until only the land, by way of the lease system, was church controlled. Finally in 1856 Salem was incorporated and the lease system was abolished.
Although no longer a congregation town, Salem remained the administrative center of what was now the Moravian Church in America, Southern Province. By the beginning of the Civil War there were only ten congregations in the Southern Province. The late 19th century saw a large Sunday School and revival movement and the Southern Province added 17 new churches by the turn of the century and by the 500th Anniversary of the Moravian Church in 1957, the Southern Province had 43 churches, the majority of which were in North Carolina. Moravian churches in North Carolina. Today there are 44 Moravian churches in North Carolina.
For many years, a large, nationally-recognized bank, the Wachovia Corporation was located in Winston-Salem. It was bought in 2008 by the San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Company.