Triad Cultural Arts celebrates restoration of historic Winston-Salem shotgun house

The nonprofit Triad Cultural Arts is celebrating the restoration of a 120-year-old shotgun house.

The restored structure on Humphrey Street will serve as a museum to show how families navigated challenges in the early 20th century. In Winston-Salem, the first of these homes date back to 1872 and the city's first planned Black community: Liberia, which would later be known as Happy Hill.

Abrea Armstrong, the executive director of Triad Cultural Arts, says it's important for the youth to learn what past generations overcame right in their own backyard. The museum will exhibit displays focused on pivotal moments in local history including the Civil Rights Movement.

"A lot of our young people don't recognize that this activism has happened here in Winston-Salem, and I would love to see what it would inspire them to do if they knew that they not only had it in them but that they could be successful," Armstrong says.

Mayor Allen Joines and Council Member Annette Scippio were among the officials who attended the ribbon cutting. Triad Cultural Arts will host a free, Community Day Celebration where attendees will have an opportunity to tour the house on March 8.