Bethabara Timeline

The settlement of Bethabara began in 1753.

Wacovia - Settlement begun November 17, 1753

I love the aged look of this stone!  Bethabara was built on the German Moravian tract of land known as Wacovia in what was to become the state of North Carolina.  This is actually the second memorial stone, the first having been erected in 1770.  This stone was placed in 1806 at the site of the first cabin occupied by the Brethren, and moved  in 1850 to the second Gemeinhaus site.

In 1756 a brewery and distiller's house was built (brewing German beer, I'd bet :-)

A Congregation Store opened in 1759 with additions in 1764 and again in 1766.  It served not only the Moravians but also anyone wanting to trade goods including trapper's skins.  In 1764, one "George Loesch brought 300 lbs. of lead ... from the mine on the New River."  I sure hope they were makin' bullets and not cooking pots or dishes out of that lead!

 

Before PA (Public Announcement) Systems, there was the bell.  In 1760 the bell in Bethabara was used to "strike the hour," call folks together for church services, or for emergencies.  The first time that the bell was rung in Bethabara - the only one within 200 miles - it scared the Cherokee Indians so badly that they ran away from the fort.  Later that year, during a storm, the bell was broken into pieces.  The replacement bell was first hung here, but in 1788 it was moved to the new Gemeinhaus where it remains, still being rung, to this day.  (Whoever forged this bell should have been contracted to forge the Liberty Bell!)

In 1763 three wells were dug.  They used a mechanical pump (which was recovered when archaeologists reopened the well in the 1960's) rather than rope and bucket to get the water out.  This well was in continuous use into 1965 for a home built in 1860's.

  

The Apothecary's home and shop were also built in 1763.

In 1766 a Congregation Kitchen was built.  Everyone needed to pitch in and attend to the various tasks demanded of frontier life.  A few people cooking for everyone rather than taking an individual from each household away from what needed to be done made perfect sense.  What's strange to me is that an exception was made of the "Single Brethren and Boys."  They had to cook for themselves in the old kitchen.  Was that to encourage the men to get married??

Bethabara was a "transitional" town.  Construction on the permanent settlement, Old Salem, began in 1766.