Key Dates
| 1881 |
| Goler Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church is founded by freed slaves. Services are held in the Forsyth County courthouse. |
| 1886 |
| Dr. W.H. Goler donates the land where the present church now stands. |
| 1887 |
| Depot Street School is built—the first public school for blacks in Winston. |
| 1910 |
| The Goler building at 600 Patterson Ave. is built in what has become a bustling commercial district. |
| 1926 |
| Safe Bus Co. is founded and would become the largest motor transportation system in the world operated by blacks. |
| 1960s and 1970s |
| Urban renewal decimates the neighborhood, razing houses and forcing thousands of residents to move. |
| 1996 |
| Rather than finalize plans and relocate to a suburban neighborhood, Goler church members began to ask, what if we stay downtown? |
| 1998 |
| Goler-Depot Street Renaissance Community Development Corp. forms to oversee a re-birth of the neighborhood. |
| 2003 |
| Plans for “A New Town In Town” are unveiled, and the neighborhood has a long-range plan for the future. |
| 2004 |
| Added Senior Project Manager and Resource Development Manager
HUD awards $8.8 million to develop senior housing in conjunction with N.C. Housing Foundation. |
| 2005 |
| Co-developer is announced for The Gallery, urban lofts in the former Brown & Williamson building. |
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A Proud Past
A Rich Legacy
In its heyday, the Goler-Depot Street neighborhood was the center of cultural life, spiritual growth and economic development in the black community of Winston-Salem.
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In the images above, each dark shape represents a building. The smallest shapes are individual homes; the largest, factories and other industrial buildings.
The image on the right, based on data from 1907, illustrates how the Goler area was closely tied to its surrounding neighborhoods by interconnected streets lined with many different types of buildings.
The image on the left shows that the area today is dominated by large factories and other single-use buildings, vast parking lots and precious little housing. |
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