Forsyth County, named for Benjamin Forsyth, was founded in 1849 from
Stokes County. Moravians originally moved into the area in 1753 and
established the 100,000-acre Wachovia tract, but it was more formally
settled later by Scot-Irish and English pioneers. In Historic Forsyth
County, lost towns and neighborhoods, significant sites in the area from
the Revolutionary War to World War II, are profiled in archival
photographs and text. Some events and persons involved include Gottlieb
Schober, creator of the first modern paper mill in the United States.
The paper mill's settlement in Salem was a stop for a large percentage
of settlers going west between 1805 and 1820. In 1920, the
creation-versus-evolution debate came to the forefront in a Forsyth
County house of worship. This religious meeting set the stage for North
Carolina endorsing evolution and teaching it in the county's public
school system.