Historic Bethabara Park Gift Shop
The gift shop at Historic Bethabara Park offers handcrafted items that honor the Moravian, colonial, and natural history of Bethabara, the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina. Made by regional artisans, the items for sale represent trades found in Bethabara during the latter half of the 18th century. The gift shop is open during Park hours. Contact Lois Steichen, Gift Shop Manager, at (336) 924-8191, ext. 22, or loissteichen@yahoo.com for further information.
Items available in the Historic Bethabara Park Gift Shop:
This Just In: Field Guide to Historic Bethabara Park
The new Field Guide from Waterford Press will guide you through the Parks wildlife and plants. Compare what we see today with Christian Rueters detailed accounting of the land that was settled by Moravians.
Many of the plants and animals Rueter documented are still found in Historic Bethabara Park and other Winston-Salem Forsyth County parks and yards.
Books
We stock hard-to-find fiction and non-fiction books about Moravian history, colonial trades and natural history that are age-appropriate for adults and children.
Candles
Herbert Tesh, of the Busy Bee Candle Shop in Lexington, produces our beeswax candles, either trimmed for Christmas love feasts or untrimmed for any season. The men of Home Moravian Church in Winston-Salem supply our beeswax tapers.
  
Cards
Note cards, produced exclusively for Historic Bethabara Park, feature Pfafftown artist Marthajohn Pencotty’s original watercolors of our historic buildings and Winston-Salem’s Betty Bowles Haywood’s interpretive paintings of birds. Charlotte resident Dennis Nodine’s photographs of the Park are available as postcards.
Cookies
Salem Baking Company’s cookies, cheese straws, and shortbread are always available.
Jewelry
Paper Moravian Star earrings by Cindy Poindexter of Lewisville, and star pendants by Carrene Sink of Winston-Salem make beautiful gifts.
Metalwork
In colonial days, Bethabara had a resident blacksmith and tinsmith. Today, replicas of those early pieces can be found in the lanterns, candleholders, and ornaments of tinsmiths Peter Blum III of Elkin and Bill McKinnis of Tobaccoville. Decorative forged iron pieces by Peter O’Shaughnessy of Vesuvius, VA, are also available.
  
Pottery
The original Bethabara potter, who arrived in 1755, made red earthenware pottery. Today’s regional potters still work in the redware tradition. We feature redware animal ornaments by David and Mary Farrell of Westmoore Pottery in Seagrove. Also available are plates, mugs, pitchers, and spoon rests by Hal Pugh and Eleanor Minnock-Pugh of New Salem Pottery in Randleman. The Pughs’ work is decorated with the flora and fauna found in Bethabara’s wetlands.
Also available in the gift shop are cobalt blue Moravian Star decorative tiles made by Starbuck Goldner Tile of Bethlehem, PA. Artists Joanna Blitch and Barrett Stanley of Greensboro design, specifically for our gift shop, vases and plates of birds found in Historic Bethabara Park.
Toys
Pioneer Folk Toys of Hudson make replicas of wooden colonial toys for us, including the very popular “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Preacher and Bear.” Rifles, pistols, tricorn hats, and other colonial toys, produced by historic toymakers from throughout the eastern half of the United States, are available in the gift shop.
  
Wood
Using wood from native trees, craftsman William Mangum of Statesville makes bowls and plates for 18th century re-enactors as well as for the Historic Bethabara Park Gift Shop. Cindy Poindexter of Lewisville makes baskets of all shapes and sizes.
 
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