August 27, 1998 was one of those red-letter days in Winston-Salem’s history. It was the day R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Factory #256, located on N. Chestnut Street, caught fire and burned.
The fire and the aftermath of the fire are captured in photographs that can be seen on the Digital Forsyth website, http://www.digitalforsyth.org/photos/?q=fire+1998&fcpl=on&st=1840&nd=2019&b=r&o=a&s=advanced&dv=true
The 1963 photograph above shows Chestnut Street, taken from E. First Street, looking north. The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco factories are at the right. The photograph also shows factories that became Albert Hall on the corner and Victoria Hall next to Albert Hall.
Victoria Hall was damaged and completely rebuilt. Albert Hall was damaged and repaired. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Factory #12, across Second Street from #256, was not damaged. Factory #12 was completely refurbished and today serves as the Forsyth County Government Center.
Today, the parking lot across from Albert Hall and the former location of #256 are enclosed by fences. The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners voted on August 15th to build a new 5-story courthouse at Second and Chestnut Streets, on the site of the former #256 factory. Another 5-story structure, to be used for courthouse offices, will be built across the street from the courthouse on an existing parking lot. A multi-story parking deck will be built on the parking lot site on the corner of Chestnut and First Streets.
A tunnel will be built under the front edge of the Forsyth County Government Center property to connect the Detention Center to the new courthouse. The tunnel will serve to transfer inmates to and from the courthouse.
Plans are to sell the current Forsyth County Courthouse located at 200 N. Main Street.
Stay tuned for updates as the project progresses.
Photographs courtesy of Molly Grogan Rawls.
