HISTORIC WEST END “ Winston-Salem’s Front Porch”

What’s So Special About Winston-Salem’s Historic West End? West End is one of our three local historic districts; the other two are known tourist attractions.

West End is not just where people live, it’s where folks shop, guests stay, people take their friends to dinner, and anyone can enjoy another way of living with a ten minute stroll .

Winston-Salem’s Historic West End

The Spa on the Ridge

West End was meant to be a street car suburb of Winston in 1890.

The center of the neighborhood was the fabulous Hotel Zinzendorf.

The Zinzendorf burned in a tragic fire six months after it opened in 1892.

After failing as a resort, the neighborhood slowly became the residence of the leading families of Winston, none more notable than R. J. Reynolds, seen here with son Z. Smith.

Here you see the house on Fifth Street at the site of the Public Library today, where R.J. first lived with his brother Will, then with his wife Katharine.

The front porch of the home was where R.J. conducted business with other company managers who lived in the neighborhood. There are so many different front porches in West End that the neighborhood calls itself today "Winston-Salem's Front Porch."

Building a Community

West End was not just home to Millionaire's Row - homes bought with the Reynolds, Gray, and Hanes family fortunes - but also home to neighbors like the Womble family, whose children are pictured here with nurse Addie Sievers.

Here is the John Still family, whose family lived in West End for three generations, spanning eighty years.

In 1920 Winston-Salem's manufacturing in tobacco and textiles led it to be the largest city in the state and the largest manufacturing center between Baltimore and Atlanta.

West End’s Front Porch Style: Queen Anne (c. 1890)

West End’s Front Porch Style: Neoclassical (1906)

West End’s Front Porch Style: Colonial Revival (c. 1915)

West End’s “Front Porch” Style: Craftsman Home (c. 1920)

When the depression hit, Winston's West End was affected strongly. The Thomas family had to abandon their West End home and swimming pool when customers of the family business could no longer pay their bills.

Summit Street Pharmacy, c. 1940

Preserving and Enjoying West End Today

Neighbors saving history: the oldest house in Winston, the 1815 Zevely House, is carted through town to its present site in West End as a restaurant.

Historic Preservation on Spring Street – in tough times in the early 1970s to a complete renovation in the bottom right.

Today, places like West End's Grace Court park - and the shops, bed and breakfasts, and restaurants all around it - are enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.

Shop Stroll Stay Dine

The story of West End in words and pictures can be found in this book "Winston-Salem's Historic West End", by J. Eric Elliott, now at bookstores and online. And more information about the neighborhood can be found in the Visitor’s Center brochure, and at the author's website, www.w-sfrontporch.com

Visit us “out on the Porch” soon!

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Discover “Old Winston” in the heart of downtown Winston-Salem! Winston-Salem’s Historic West End

40 Seconds until the Next Show!

20 Seconds until the Next Show!