Winston-Salem in Forsyth County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Salem and Liberia, Africa

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 13, 2023

1. Salem and Liberia, Africa Marker

Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission website entry
Click for more information.

Inscription.
In October 1836, 18 formerly enslaved and 5 free African Americans left Salem for Millsberg, Liberia. Seventeen of these emigrants had been owned by Friedrich Schumann, laboring on his plantation here on the high ground south of Salem. In 1872, after the Civil War and Emancipation, the Salem Congregation established a neighborhood for freedmen on Schumann's former plantation. The neighborhood initially was known as Liberia, recalling those who had emigrated. By 1876, it was popularly known as Happy Hill. Today's Liberia Street in Happy Hill follows the path of an 18th-century farm road on that plantation.

Erected 2019 by City of Winston Salem • Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission. (Marker Number 53.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Notable Places • Roads & Vehicles. A significant historical month for this entry is October 1836.

Location. 36° 4.946′ N, 80° 13.948′ W. Marker is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in Forsyth County. It is at the intersection of Liberia Street and Free Street, on the right when traveling west on Liberia Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1191 Free St, Winston Salem NC 27127, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Piedmont

and specifically in Piedmont Triad.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance

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of this marker: The Brothers' Spring and The African School (approx. 0.4 miles away); Happy Hill Overlook (approx. 0.4 miles away); Happy Hill (approx. 0.4 miles away); Historic Happy Hill Path (approx. 0.4 miles away); Emancipation in Salem (approx. 0.4 miles away); The Landscape South of St. Philips (approx. 0.4 miles away); The African American Graveyard (approx. half a mile away); Last Burials in the Parish Graveyard (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Winston-Salem.

Also see . . . Schumann Farm • Liberia • Happy Hill • Liberian Organization of the Piedmont. Old Salem PDF:
Salem’s Moravian leadership sought the services of Dr. Henry Schumann who lived in the nearby Moravian town of Bethania. His wife was ill, and he insisted on bringing Coelia, the woman he enslaved, and her children with them to Salem. Because of the slave regulations which prohibited residents from owning enslaved people in town, Dr. Schumann was placed across Salem Creek on the former Salem Farm where a new house was built in 1815. It was this farmland – across the creek – that became Happy Hill after Emancipation. (Old Salem Museum and Gardens) (Submitted on January 10, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Salem and Liberia, Africa Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 13, 2023

2. Salem and Liberia, Africa Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on January 11, 2024. It was originally submitted on January 10, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 534 times since then and 65 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 10, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.