A 1784 Moravian tavern where President Washington lodged in 1791 — and where the 'Talking Corpse' legend begins with an 1831 dead traveler whose ghost named himself and asked that word be sent to his family in Texas.
736 S Main St, Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Admission to Old Salem Museums & Gardens includes access to the Salem Tavern. The adjacent Tavern Dining Room is a separate restaurant with its own pricing. Night Watchman Tours have separate ticketing.
Access
Limited Access
Historic 1784 structure; period staircases and uneven floors; limited accessibility on upper levels
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1784 · Built 1784 as the congregation-owned public tavern for the Moravian settlement at Salem · President George Washington lodged here in May 1791 during his Southern Tour — documented in Washington's diary · Part of the Old Salem Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places · The 1831 'Talking Corpse' legend documented in local tradition makes it one of Old Salem's most storied sites
The Moravian congregation at Salem built the Salem Tavern in 1784 to provide lodging and meals for travelers passing through the settlement. Under the Moravian system, commercial enterprises including the tavern were congregation-owned and operated for the benefit of the community rather than individual proprietors. The tavern served both as a place of hospitality for outsiders and as a source of revenue supporting the congregation's communal enterprises.
The building's most historically significant moment came in May 1791, when President George Washington lodged at the Salem Tavern during his Southern Tour. Washington's diary entry for the stop records his impressions of the Moravian settlement favorably, making the tavern one of a small number of surviving American buildings with a documented presidential visit confirmed in primary sources. The tavern's dining room — then as now a community gathering point — served the President's party during their stay.
The building is part of the Old Salem Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Old Salem Museums & Gardens, which manages the site, operates the museum portion of the tavern with period furnishings and interpretation, while an adjacent building operates as the Salem Tavern Dining Room, a restaurant serving period-influenced cuisine.
The tavern sits a short distance down S Main Street from the Single Brothers House, with both buildings forming part of the dense historical core of Old Salem — the most intact surviving Moravian settlement in America.
Sources
The Salem Tavern's most famous legend is known as the Talking Corpse, and it has a specific, documented origin date. In November 1831, a traveler died at the tavern while lodging there — without having identified himself to the innkeeper or leaving any documents that could establish his identity. The death of an anonymous traveler, while not uncommon in the era, created a practical problem: no family could be notified, no estate administered.
According to the tradition documented in Winston-Salem tourism and regional media, strange noises began at the tavern following the traveler's death — unexplained sounds that disturbed the guests and staff. Then, the legend states, the dead traveler's ghost addressed the innkeeper directly: giving his name and requesting that his family, located in Texas, be contacted to inform them of his death.
Following this exchange, the local tradition holds, all paranormal activity at the tavern ceased. The haunting ended because the request was fulfilled — or at least, because the dead man had made his desire known. No subsequent ghost is said to walk the Salem Tavern; the Talking Corpse is a one-time event in the historical record of the building.
The story is unusual in the regional ghost canon for its narrative completeness: a beginning (death), a problem (unknown identity), a resolution (the ghost communicates), and an ending (the haunting stops). Whether the 1831 traveler's name was actually established and his Texas family contacted is not confirmed in any source consulted. The legend is presented here as regional oral tradition with a specific date and mechanism, which has sustained it in the recorded literature of Old Salem for nearly two centuries.
Notable Entities
The Salem Tavern is interpreted as part of the Old Salem Museums & Gardens complex. Costumed interpreters present the tavern's history as a lodging house, public dining room, and community gathering place in the Moravian settlement. The Washington 1791 lodging is a highlighted point in docent tours.
Old Salem's Night Watchman Tours include the Talking Corpse legend of the Salem Tavern as a featured story. Tours run seasonally in fall. See oldsalem.org for current dates and tickets.
The building adjacent to the museum — Salem Tavern Dining Room — offers period-influenced dining in the historic tavern setting. Operated separately from the museum; reservations recommended.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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Winston-Salem, NC
The Single Brothers House was built in 1769 as the communal residence and workshop for unmarried men of the Moravian congregation at Salem, North Carolina. The Moravians operated the house as a combined living quarters and craft training facility, with individual brothers assigned to trades including shoemaking, tailoring, and carpentry. The building is part of Old Salem Museums & Gardens, the most intact surviving Moravian settlement in America.
Winston-Salem, NC
Salem College was founded in 1772 by the Moravian Church in Salem, North Carolina, making it the oldest women's college in the United States. The campus occupies buildings spanning three centuries adjacent to the Old Salem historic district. Babcock Dormitory is named for Mary Reynolds Babcock (1908–1953), daughter of R.J. Reynolds Sr. and a philanthropist, whose portrait hangs in the dormitory hallway.
Charleston, SC
Magnolia Plantation was established in 1676 by Thomas and Ann Drayton, English settlers from Barbados, and remains under the control of the Drayton family after fifteen generations. The plantation's wealth derived from Carolina Gold rice cultivated by enslaved Africans. Magnolia opened its gardens to the public in 1871, making it one of the oldest public gardens in the United States.