I’ve been inspire by Esbee to further educate myself about Winston-Salem. I don’t get out as much as she does so I don’t have any pictures to share, but here’s some info I found on Answers.com:
- A 2006 cost of living survey (Mercer) ranked
Winston-Salem as the least expensive city in the U.S. or Europe, 124th worldwide – slightly over half as expensive as living in
Moscow. - Until 2001 Winston-Salem was home to Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School (now in Kernersville, North Carolina), one of only 3 Catholic High Schools in North Carolina.
- Winston-Salem is home to Hanes Mall, the largest shopping
mall in North Carolina (Ed.note: I find this one hard to believe and will have to research it. What about Concord Mills? According to Wikipedia Hanes is the second largest mall.) -
Winston-Salem has four sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
- Pam Grier was born here. She was the star of 70’s blaxploitation flick Foxy Brown and one of my favorite lesser known movies, Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown.
- Mark Grace was born here. He was a first baseman for my Chicago Cubs back in the 80s and 90s and my kind of scrappy player. The dude could hit too.
- Answers.com also lists John Tesh as a famous resident of Winston-Salem, which is another one I’m gonna have to check.
- They have a bunch of other famous residents listed, like Chris Paul, Josh Howard and Richard Childress but none that surprised me as much as those above.
Feel free to share any other interesting Winston factoids.
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Befuddled 
Howard Cosell was born in Winston-Salem. However, he once said he was ashamed of being born in the South.
Jon,
Great post. I don’t know if my list below includes things that would surprise you, but they are still interesting.
1. Ben Folds went to Reynolds and is from Winston. Chuck Folds (brother of Ben and bass player for the popular Triad band Bus Stop) went to Mt. Tabor. Their mom still lives in Winston.
2. Liner notes of R.E.M.’s Eponymous clearly states the band’s first album was recorded at Mitch Easter’s drive-in in Winston-Salem, N.C.
3. Stuart Scott is from Winston and went to R.J.R.
4. Grecian Corner Restaurant on Eden Terrace (below Baptist Hospital) served as the pizza parlor for the movie Mr. Destiny, which was filmed in Winston.
5. Wikipedia says Jackée Harry from 227 was born in Winston.
6. The shell-shaped gas station on Sprague Street was one of only eight built in the United States in the 1930s. I have read that it is the last one.
7. The North Carolina School of the Arts was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation.
8. Some famous people have gone to NCSA, including:
Tom Hulce (Amadeus, Animal House)
Terrence Mann (very famous Broadway performer)
Mary-Louise Parker (The West Wing, Fried Green Tomatoes)
Chris Parnell (SNL)
Jada Pinkett-Smith (A Different World, Menace II Society)
Missi Pyle (Galaxy Quest, Dodgeball)