Bethania, North Carolina

Forsyth County

37-05340

Bethania is the oldest settlement in Forsyth County, in the state of North Carolina in the United States of America and was named after the reactivation of the original municipal regulation of 1838/1839 in 1995 to the municipality. In 2009, Bethany will celebrate its 250th anniversary since its founding in 1759.

As the first planned settlement of the Moravian Church (English Moravian Curch ) Bethania is today the only remaining independent, continuously active Moravian settlement in the southern states and is the only known existing formed after the German model agricultural community in the south. The approximately 2 square kilometer area of Bethania National Historic Landmark is the largest national landmark in Forsyth County. Bethania and his possessions from the 18th and 19th centuries are listed in the National and State Register of Historic Places.

Bethania was founded on 12 June 1759 by the Moravian Church as an agricultural and trading community. The settlement was the first planned this kind in Wachovia ( similar to Wachau) and from its inception, living members of the faith of the Moravians in the village. Today, the conditioning of a typical German agrarian village road is intact and visible, most of the village facilities and paths has been used continuously since 1759. The place was named after Bethany near Jerusalem in Israel, according to the Bible, the home of Mary, Martha, Lazarus and Simon the leper.

In March 2007 Bethania opened a visitor center and a museum Historic Bethania, in order to pass on information about the community and its cultural importance can. The facilities include a restored farmhouse moravisches, Wolff- Moser House, from about the year 1792, one of the oldest Moravian farm buildings in North America, it can be visited during the opening times of the visitor center. The center also serves as an orientation and starting point for those who want to explore the Bethania National Historic Landmark District.

Geography

Bethania is located at the coordinates 36.184418N and 80.334786W36.184418 - 80.334786, according to the United States Census Bureau, the total area of ​​the municipality covers 1.9 square kilometers of land.

Demography

According to the census in 2000 lived in Bethania 354 people in 139 households and 111 families. The population density is 190 inhabitants per square kilometer. The racial sits down the population mainly composed of 82 percent of whites and 16 percent of African Americans; 2 percent are descended from two or more races. 2.5 percent of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 139 households out of which 32 per cent of children under the age of 18 living with them, 70 percent were married couples living together, 9 percent were single mothers and 20 percent were non-families. 16 percent of all households are holding and in 5 percent living alone who is 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.84 persons.

23.4 percent of the population were under 18 years old. 3.4 percent between 18 and 24 years 29.4 percent between 25 and 44, 29.9 percent between 45 and 64, and 13.8 percent were 65 years of age or older. The average age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males.

The median income for a household was $ 51 875; the average annual income for a family amounted to $ 55,357. Males had a median income of $ 45,500, women $ 27,813. The per capita income was $ 25,702. 7.3 percent of the population and 8.3 percent of families are below the poverty line. 13.7 percent of them are children and adolescents under age 18 and 9.3 percent are 65 years or older.