Bethabara Park

Bethabara Park preserves the site of the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina. The Moravian Church traces its beginning to Bohemia in the early1400s when Jan Hus began preaching in the Bohemian language rather than Latin. Hus was burned at the stake and, while followers of the sect stayed active, some settled in other counties to escape persecution. They also established missions which is how they ended up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1741 and then in North Carolina in 1753.

 

The settlement in Bethabara, unlike the missions, was intended to be a money making venture for the church. In just a few years after it was established the town boasted an apothecary, tailor, shoemaker, tannery, gristmill, blacksmith, pottery, tavern, and store with imported goods.

 Bethabara was a temporary location to be used while searching for suitable permanent town site so when Salem, North Carolina was founded in 1766, many of the buildings were dismantled and moved. On the site today are a church, potter's house, distiller's house, log house, and calf barn all which were built after the move. Bethabara was still an active town into the 20th century but not the industrial trade center that it had been. 

Bethabara Park has a visitor center with interesting exhibits and a short film. Members of the Moravian Church serve as docents. Guided tour of the church are given and the rest of the buildings have interpretive signs. Walking trails loop through the forest.

The visitor center is accessible but nothing else is. There isn't a sidewalk or trail to the buildings and the street is busy so it's not possible to roll down the street.

A large gravel lot is located to the adjacent to the visitor center. This lot is very rough so, if possible, park in the paved lot behind the visitor center. The paved lot has only one entrance/exit and there may not be room to turn around a large vehicle.  Park  36.15583, -80.29708