Two new historic markers will commemorate sites that played critical roles in Winston-Salem's Black communities in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Forsyth County Historic Marker Committee has chosen to designate markers at Brown Elementary School and Happy Hill Cemetery in 2024.
Brown Elementary was a two-story brick classical-revival style school built in 1914 to serve Winston-Salem’s Black students. It was one of the city’s last standing Black-only schools when it ceased operation in 1977. Most of the school building was destroyed by fire in 2016.
The cemetery was a burial ground for Happy Hill, Winston-Salem’s first African-American neighborhood. Over 1500 burials were recorded in the graveyard, spanning from the 1890s to the 1960s.
Michelle McCullough, the county’s historic resources officer, says the marker committee is focused on recognizing sites that tell the stories of the people of color who helped shape the city.
“We want to celebrate Happy Hill, we want to celebrate those neighborhoods and their history, they've lost some integrity, meaning some of the built environments are gone," she says. "But that doesn't mean that that history is gone, and that people don't remember and don't have stories and don't have a tie to that place. And so we want to also be able to tell those stories and, and make sure those are known as important places.”
The committee’s recommendations will be forwarded to the full Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission for formal approval in January.