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Winston-Salem to unveil historic marker honoring Sidestown community

88.5 WFDD - Public Radio For The Piedmont | By Neal Charnoff
Published November 12, 2026 at 4:16 PM EST
A historic marker honoring the Sidestown community
Courtesy of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission

Winston-Salem officials are unveiling a historic marker this weekend in honor of a once-thriving African American community.

Sidestown was established in the decades after the Civil War as a community of freed African Americans with close ties to the nearby Moravian settlements.

It was located along what used to be known as Alspaugh Street, which is now Madison Avenue in the Ardmore neighborhood. The community included homes, a school, and the Sidestown AME Zion Church, which was demolished in the 1950s.

Much of the area has since been redeveloped, but a cemetery remains containing the graves of at least 115 residents.

Winston-Salem’s Historic Resources Officer Isabel Coletti says it’s important to remember the legacy of Sidestown.

"We want to make sure that this marker program identifies the people that helped build the city, and that this marker makes sure to identify cemeteries that might just be in someone's backyard, that we remember them and we remember their contributions," says Coletti.

The unveiling ceremony will take place Sunday at 3 p.m.  
Neal Charnoff
Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.
See stories by Neal Charnoff