Three Winston-Salem properties were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.
Among them is the city-owned Winston Lake Golf Course, which was built for Black residents in 1956. Prior to its opening, Black golfers were only allowed to access the city’s public course one day a week.
It’s a pick that’s representative of what Michelle McCullough, Forsyth County’s historic resources officer, calls two gaps in the county’s collection of historic landmarks: properties significant to the city’s Black history, and those built more recently. She says many properties that are just 60 or even 50 years old qualify for designation – a fact that many overlook.
“Because we have really old stuff, people who have those really cool funky houses, the modernist houses, they're like, 'No, we couldn't be listed.' Well, you can," she says. "We need to start encouraging more of our later architecture, our later neighborhoods to think about it.”
Two architecturally significant homes built in the 1920s were also added to the register last year: The Coan-Gray House and the Alexander S. and Mary R. Hanes House.
A total of 118 Forsyth County properties are currently listed on the register. The designation allows property owners to seek federal and state tax credits.