Winston-Salem's Victorian West End

[Myles Away]

I stole this from SSP's forum and reposted it here. I hope SSP and Matthew don't mind. There are all these sweet photos posted over there and no photos of Winston-Salem posted over here.

If Streetcars were king of the Victorian era, then Anne was queen

of Winston-Salem during the era. Winston-Salem has the largest

collection of Queen Anne houses in North Carolina.

Winston-Salem was also one of the first cities in the US to have

electric streetcars. Thomas Edison himself designed the system

as one of the first four in the US. I didn't know much about

Queen Anne until this trip. After seeing and studying these

houses for summer class, I discovered how beautiful they are.

West End Resort Hotel,

North Carolina's largest hotel during the Victorian era.

West End was built by the West End Hotel and Development

Company Inc., and is the oldest Victorian streetcar neighborhood

in North Carolina. It was originally planned as an upscale

neighborhood and tourist resort with natural "healing" springs and

views of the Saurtown Mountains. Original plans called for a row

of first class resort hotels. The dreams of Winston-Salem as a

resort and tourist center came to an end in 1892 when

the West End Resort Hotel burned to the ground.

City engineer Jacob Lott Ludlow, following the advice of

landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, allowed

the streets to gently cascade around 270 degrees of hillside,

creating a pedestrian friendly neighborhood of parks, retail and

beautiful homes. The first true Victorian style neighborhood in

North Carolina. The largest homes were built at high elevations,

taking advantage of Winston-Salem's Appalachian Foothills terrain.

Queen Anne Houses are often called "Painted Ladies" for their

colorful facades. This house was built in 1879.

The Queen Anne style was first introduced to America at the

1876 Exposition in Philadelphia.

The Queen Anne style was made possible by the railroad and

was the popular architectural style between 1880-1900.

:eek: Matt's pick for best house in the West End. :eek:

This house was built in 1884.

Winston-Salem has many west coast and northern style Queen Anne

houses as you will see in the threads posted in this series.

As you can tell, I like this house.

Most of the houses built in the West End were built by the

Fogle Brothers of Winston-Salem. They were excellent

craftsmen and woodworkers.

Look, a sculpter!

There are many artists and liberals in this neighborhood.

At the end of the tour, I'll share some of the bumper stickers.

There are a lot of war protest signs around the city.

Winston-Salem is "The City of the Arts".

Now that is a lot of bumper stickers.

A small Victorian Queen Anne. I like this house too!

Stick Victorian.

Stick is very rare to find today. During renovations, the details

that make the house "Stick" are usually removed. The style was

rare in the South and didn't last long before Queen Anne

took over. It was popular from 1860-1885. It is viewed by some

as the first truely American style. It is commonly found in resort

areas and was named by architectural historian Vincent Scully

Someone going out for a morning jog?

I thought these were nice photos. Proving once again,

I will photograph anything.

In this photo, you can see the metal roof cresting.

Look at how close my favorite house is to the skyscrapers!

Some apartment buildings in the neighborhood.

Community For Peace is a Winston-Salem based liberal

organization that is protesting the war and Bush administration.

You can see the "Another American for Peace" signs from the

organization's members across the city.

Look how close these houses are to downtown!

Efforts to preserve this neighborhood started in the 1960's.

Today it is viewed as the best example of a Victorian Streetcar

Neighborhood in the state.

Surrounded by beautiful parks and the "pocket parks"

Winston-Salem is known for, this is a very nice neighborhood.

It was very cold, the day I took these. It was also about to rain.

There was a light shower around 2pm. That's when I stopped for lunch.

The oldest house in West End is the Zevely House, built in 1815.

It was built by Moravian cabinet maker Van Neman Zevely and is

today a French-American restaurant.

Not all of the houses are Queen Anne.

I like these because they have a large front porch!

West End calls it's self "Winston-Salem's Front Porch". I like that!

A lot of these old houses and mansions have large front porches

you just don't see today. A large front porch is like holding out

your arms and saying WELCOME NEIGHBOR!

The Edgar Vaughn House built in 1892 and designed by

Hill Linthicum. Edgar Vaughn made his fortune as a wholesale

grocer and coffee roaster.

Another view of Grace Court.

This house is Victorian Colonial Revival. It still has Queen Anne

accents but it is a Colonial Revival house. The Colonial Revial

movement started in 1885 in Newport, Rhode Island and looks

similar to the Georgian style.

You can get a free map with details on how to take

a walking tour of historic houses in the West End.

A purple Victorian home with rainbow peace flag.

The brackets and the hip roof give away the style.

Church of Scientology (Christian Scientist). One of only two

in the Carolinas. A "religion" started a few years ago by

L. Ron Hubbard. A lot of movie stars follow this religion. Of course

we all know that Jesus is the truth, the way and the life (John 14:6).

No one comes to the Father except through Jesus.

True Christianity is more than just a religion.

If you look in the center of the photo, you'll see another

Queen Anne! I missed that house. I missed a lot of houses.

If you want to know what this neighborhood is really like,

please visit for yourself. My tour of this neighborhood is not

that great. I didn't realize how many great houses I missed until

I got back home.

Eastlake Queen Anne:

The "gingerbread" houses with delicate turned porch posts and

lacy, ornamental spindles are called Eastlake Queen Anne.

This style of Queen Anne gets it's name from the decoration that

resembles the work of English furniture maker Charles Eastlake.

You can see the spindles if you look closely at the front porch.

Sorry for the dark photo.

Another apartment building in the West End.

I really like this house.

The John Coleman Residence.

The Benjamin Joseph Sheppard House, built in 1895.

:eek: Matt's pick for most likely to be haunted! :eek:

Jacob Lott Ludlow House built in 1887. Today it is one of many

bed and breakfasts in the West End neighborhood. If you're

reading along, yes this is the same Ludlow you read

about above. He moved to Winston-Salem from New Jersey in

1886 and built this house. Fifth Street in West End was once a

Millionaire's Row of large Victorian Houses like this one. Most of

them were demolished for new skyscrapers and the expanding

Central Business District. So, is this house haunted or not?

This house has nice "Sunbursts" but they are hidden behind the trees.

You can see how the office buildings have entered

the neighborhood. The largest Queen Anne in West End

was demolished in 1949 for the Main Branch of the Public Library.

:eek: Matt's Pick: Most Colorful! :eek:

This Italianate House was built in 1858, according to tax records.

This Italinate is undergoing restoration.

A "Northeastern" style Eastlake Queen Anne.

And where do you think you're going?

:eek: That's right, we are going antiquing.

Winston-Salem's West End is often featured as one of the top

places to go Antiquing. It's also home to neighborhood bars,

art galleries, coffee shops, music clubs, vintage clothing stores,

restaurants and more!

Don't forget your shopping cart. :haha:

I find that shopping cart funny.

The crew from UNC Public Television was antiquing.

I got to meet them and look at their camera.

Kid and Kermit:

I said last December, I would take the forum on a trip through

these retail stores and I finally did it. You should see the old

books in some of these stores!

I do apologize for the image quality. It's unlike me to have

bad images. This thread is just so huge, I needed to compress.

Let me know if you would like to see a larger and better quality image.

I like this part of the neighborhood!

The West End Opera House is a neighborhood bar. They added

Eastlake Victorian accents to match the old houses.

I've wanted to visit this art gallery for a long time.

I still haven't been inside it. :no:

This is Hanes Park. Yes, Hanes was founded in Winston-Salem.

They were, at one time, the largest textile company in the world.

The West End Tap Room.

One of the local bars in the historic West End. This is one of the

few that has parking. Most of the bar patrons walk from the

houses around the bars.

The Gifted Hand Pottery.

Nationally recognized potter Kerry Gonzalez creates and exhibits

his copper Raku vessels in this studio and craft gallery in the

West End.

I just like the name.

The Daniel Boone Monument.

This West End monument was dedicated in 1927. Locals say

Boone's family lived in a cave in Winston-Salem, but I can't

confirm that yet. The Daniel Boone Trail does go through

Winston-salem's West End though. :tup:

Hanes Park with the 2,325 seat Reynolds Auditorium and

Reynolds City High School, all built in 1923. The building to the left

is the gym for the high school. It's one big high school! I think the

auditorium looks like the courthouse from the movie "back to the

future". A famous Philadephia architect designed all of those buildings.

A friend I was traveling with wanted to visit this old bookstore.

The bumperstickers!

I told you I would share the bumperstickers.

"I'm an artist and I vote"

"I'm from North Carolina and I don't support Jesse Helms!"

We all know Gore won the election.

This photo also shows a pocket park on the side of a hill on West End Blvd.

"If you don't vote, people like Bush & Cheney get selected"

"Dissent is Patriotic"

"WWND what would nixon do"

I can't read the others. You should vote and don't be afraid

to tell others you don't agree with the war.

"Americans United for seperation of church and state"

As a Christian, I feel we should be allowed to express our

Christianity in our workplace if we are in government and be

openly Christian. Our beliefs should guide our decisions. I don't

think a church or religious group should have control over

government though.

Stay tuned for Washington Park!

The next thread in the "When Streetcars Ruled the Earth" series.

[Danny 4 Peace]

Very nice! West End is my third favorite neighborhood in Winston-Salem after Washington Park and of course Holly Avenue.

[Fruit Cove]

nice. west end is near the downtown ymca right? i know exactly where that fish market is and other stores. i cant wait to come back up there!

[Myles Away]

Its on the western edge of downtown. I think there is a YMCA or YWCA over there. There are some excellent bars on that end of downtown. Anyone been to the bar on First Street at West End near West Highlands?

[emerging.me]

True Christianity is more than just a religion.

Not to get too off topic, but ... While I share your belief on this, I gotta point out that Christian Scientists are a completely different religion than the Church of Scientology. Not even close.

----

The pics of neighborhood are awesome. I will definitely try to check it out next time we're up there. Very cool!

[Myles Away]

I'm not the original author of these photos or the thread.

That building is the official Church of Scientology of the Carolinas. They also have a missionary church in Belmont. The Winston-Salem and Belmont locations are the only churches of scientology in the Carolinas. That should give everyone an idea of the people who live there. Usually Scientology churches are in major cities. We have such a huge alternative population here that we were able to get one here. I'm Catholic even though I haven't been to mass in over a year. I need to get back to church.

[emerging.me]

Myles,

Are you sure about that? If that is the building at the corner of Fifth and Brookstown, which I think it is, it is definitely a Christian Science church and not a Church of Scientology. Christian Science is a legimate religion based on the Bible and the insights of a woman named Mary Baker Eddy. This is their website for the North Carolina area -- you'll find the W-S church listed there.

The Church of Scientology is a bunch of nonsense made up by L. Ron Hubbard. I know that Winston-Salem is the home of a Dianetics group (the only official Church of Scientology in North Carolina), but they meet out on Shiloh Church Road.

Not trying to sound like a know-it-all, but I didn't wanna see our Christian Science friends misrepresented.