As we continue introducing you to cities where Wells Fargo and Wachovia have significant histories and modern day presences, we return to Wachovia's home state of North Carolina and the city of Winston-Salem. As the headquarters for Wachovia from 1911 up until the 2001 merger with First Union, Winston-Salem represents a critical piece in the storied history of our company.
But before I steal any more of his thunder, I'll turn it over to Wayne Thompson, a member of the Wells Fargo Communications team and resident of Winston-Salem.
Thanks, Matt! Just one look at our hyphenated name, Winston-Salem, should tell you two things about our city: First, we're used to putting things together to work for the common good; and second, we leave out the ego and are humble in going about our business.
Formed in 1913 by merging the Moravian village of Salem with the nearby town of Winston, Winston-Salem is the birthplace of Wachovia — now joining with Wells Fargo to help millions more customers achieve their financial goals.
The bank's name "Wachovia" comes from "Wachau," the name Moravian settlers gave the 100,000 acres purchased here in the North Carolina Piedmont for Salem in 1753. As a bank, we trace our roots to the Wachovia Bank and Trust Company formed in 1911 from the merger of Wachovia National Bank (founded by William A. Lemly in 1879) and Wachovia Loan and Trust Company (founded by Francis H. Fries in 1893 — a man with a heart as big as his mustache). Fries' charitable gifts to the nation include the creation of one of the nation's first community trusts, the Winston-Salem Foundation 
, and one of the nation's first trust companies.
Over the years, Wachovia and Winston-Salem have been blessed with countless leaders and citizens like Fries who practiced servant leadership and quietly enriched the city with their philanthropy. Meet one who has probably shaped this city and its bank like no other: John Medlin.
Under Medlin's leadership as CEO (1977-1993), Wachovia conducted its first interstate mergers with First Atlanta and South Carolina National and grew from an N.C.-based bank into an interstate financial services organization. More importantly, Medlin grew assets from $3 billion to $36.5 billion by putting customers first and always focusing on "soundness, profitability and growth." Notice what's first. Sounds a lot like today's Wells Fargo, doesn't it? Not surprisingly, Wachovia consistently ranked among the strongest and best-performing financial institutions in the world.
This focus on service and relationships goes right back to the Moravians, who, whether making your shoes or handling your deposits, believed giving you any less than the best reflected poorly not only on their character but their faith and community. No wonder Wachovia has led the banking industry in customer satisfaction for the last eight years.
There's a lot more to love about the community of Fries and such modern-day residents as Medlin, poet laureate Maya Angelou and Tony Award winner and Academy Award nominee Rosemary Harris....
Let's start with cookies. While Old Salem's Winkler Bakery is too close for diet comfort, my favorite Moravian cookie experience is just outside the limits at Mrs. Hanes Hand-Made Moravian Cookies. There, you can watch the thin delicacies made and packaged and sample the many flavors. Pace yourself, folks. I once took my Cub Scout den there and since they weren't fans of the butterscotch variety, "Mr. Wayne" got — and promptly ate all the extras.
Along with Moravian baked goods, Winston-Salem's gifts to cuisine include Krispy Kreme Donuts and the Texas Pete family of sauces.
But we're so much more than eats. We're the City of the Arts that produced the nation's first formally-established arts council along with the N.C. School of the Arts , the Reynolda House Museum of America Art, the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts , the National Black Theatre Festival , the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art and the countless cultural events of Wake Forest University , to name a few.
Winston-Salem also is a City of Medicine, with the top-ranked Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center leading the local economy and spawning start-ups in a burgeoning biomedical research park downtown. And we're wired one of Yahoo!'s "50 Most Wired" cities — and the home of Hanesbrands.
Finally, there's sports. We're a major byway on both the ACC basketball's Tobacco Road and the thunder road of NASCAR history — because Wake Forest University relocated here from Wake Forest, N.C., outside Raleigh in 1956 and because drivers still burn rubber under the lights on Saturday nights at Bowman Gray stadium. It's the same track Richard Petty and other racing legends cut their teeth on before NASCAR went prime time. Among Wake Forest's sports greats who let their games do the talking: the NFL's Ricky Proehl , the NBA's Chris Paul (a Winston-Salem native) and Tim Duncan , the Chicago Bears' Brian Piccolo and two-time U.S. Open Golf champ Curtis Strange. Just across town, Winston-Salem State adds NBA's Earl "The Pearl" Monroe and legendary coach Clarence "Bighouse" Gaines.
These days, baseball fans are buzzing about our Minor League baseball team. Recently renamed the Winston-Salem Dash in homage to the city's hyphenated history, they'll begin play in a new downtown ballpark that joins a bevy of restaurants, residences, arts establishments and other businesses designed to further enliven the city.
Not bad for what you may have thought of only as a tobacco town and home to Salem smokes, eh? And did I mention a stagecoach? We've got one of those, too, the "Hattie Butner" stagecoach that regularly made runs from Salem to High Point, Raleigh, Asheville and other Carolina hamlets. You can see her on display in Clemmons — a small village outside of Winston-Salem that not only displays the stagecoach in the lobby of its village hall but features the symbol on its signs and stationery.
So I say "Giddy up!" and check us out sometime. But remember: Go light on the cookies!
Thanks for honoring the legacy Wachovia (pre-First Union). I think Wells Fargo will find it shares a lot in common with the pre-2001 Wachovia. There was a reason why pre-2001 Wachovia was called the "Tiffany Bank"--it was a bank of unmatched customer service and conservative banking.
It's hard for me to imagine that among Wake
Forest sports greats who
let their games do the talking that you did not mention Arnold Palmer, who
in my opinion, is the greatest of all.
I worked for Wachovia 33 years and have been retired for 20 years. I was at Wake Forest with Arnold.
Ralph,
Thanks for reading the post! You're right: without a doubt, Arnie definitely ranks among the greatest golfers of all time and greatest Wake Forest sports figures. However, since the blog was a profile of Winston-Salem and the university after its move from Wake Forest, N.C., to Winston, I focused on Wake Forest sports in Winston-Salem. As you know, Arnold attended the university when it was still in Wake Forest, N.C., on a golf scholarship -- leaving to enlist for the Coast Guard after the tragic death of his friend, Bud Worsham -- returning to competitive golf, turning pro in 1954 and capturing the golfing world by storm. The rest, as they say, is history! Thanks again for the shout out to Arnie and his Army and his place in WFU sports history.
Wayne
Thanks so much for mentioning our bakery, Mrs.Hanes Hand-Made Moravian Cookies. We enjoyed your visit and you were a great "Cookie Taster!" We wish everyone at Wells Fargo-Wachovia the best!
Thanks for being such a great host, Ramona! Your family's business and love and appreciation for your customers are part of what make this community so special.
As for the cookie tasting, it's probably best for everyone if I don't go on the payroll. However, I have shared some of your company's treats with my new Wells Fargo teammates and am sure they will become fans, too, once they take a bite.
Wayne
you remind me of how much i love the twin city.in 1977 i went two the ceo of wachovia when it was on main an forthy street with a ideal i had.ill never forget watching them build that building,that was the only bank that you had a personal banker.i new they could grow. own to the next frase. forever foward.the new one is not tall but nice