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Carolina Curious: Searching For Robin Hood (Road, That Is)

Driving through Winston-Salem, you can find references to Robin Hood, his Merry Men, even their legendary weapons of choice. Here, Friar Tuck Rd. guides residents through the city's lush greenery. (Sean Bueter / WFDD News)

Spend even a little time driving around the Camel City, and you'll see 13th-century mythic heroes. Everywhere. Robin Hood. Little John. Maid Marian. Even Friar Tuck.

Winston-Salem resident Aaron Graff noticed this theme while cycling around town. And he's not imagining things. It's on street signs, neighborhoods, shopping centers: The Dash has a thing for Robin Hood, the outlaw of Sherwood Forest. But Aaron wants to know more:

“Why are there so many streets and neighborhoods and such that have a Robin Hood theme to their naming schemes?”

It's a good question, and a surprisingly tough one. But we dug in, and we have a few theories to run by you.

Theory One: The Moravians

This whole theme starts with Robinhood Road, one of the main drags in Winston-Salem that connects lots of places around town. It's a corridor that goes back centurie

Sean Bueter joined WFDD in August 2015 as a reporter covering issues across the Piedmont Triad and beyond.Previously, Sean was a reporter, host and news director at WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., just a few hours from where he grew up. He also sorted Steve Inskeep's mail as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.Sean has experience on a variety of beats, including race, wealth and poverty, economic development, and more. His work has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and APM's Marketplace.In his spare time, Sean plays tennis (reasonably well), golf (reasonably poorly), and scours local haunts for pinball machines to conquer.

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