HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Built in 1769 as the communal home for unmarried Moravian men in Old Salem — where shoemaker Andreas Kremser died in a cellar collapse in 1786 and his ghost, the 'Little Red Man,' haunted the building until the 1950s.
600 S Main St, Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Research updated August 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Admission to Old Salem Museums & Gardens includes access to the Single Brothers House. Separate ticketing for Night Watchman Tours. See oldsalem.org.
Access
Limited Access
Historic 1769 structure; period staircases and uneven floors; limited accessibility on upper levels
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1769 · Completed 1769 as the communal residence and workshop for unmarried Moravian men at Salem · One of the oldest surviving buildings at Old Salem and among the best-preserved Moravian communal structures in North America · Andreas Kremser's 1786 death documented in Moravian congregation records · Part of Old Salem Museums & Gardens, the most intact Moravian settlement in America · Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Old Salem Historic District
The Moravian congregation that established Salem in 1766 organized its community along strict communal lines, with different buildings assigned to different demographic groups: married couples in family homes, widows in the Widows' House, unmarried women in the Single Sisters' House, and unmarried men in the Single Brothers' House. The Single Brothers House was completed in 1769 as a combined residence, dining hall, and workshop where the unmarried men of the congregation lived and practiced their assigned trades under congregation oversight.
The building is a substantial two-story structure of half-timber construction, reflecting the Germanic architectural traditions the Moravians brought from Europe. Craftsmen worked in dedicated trade rooms on the ground floor — shoemaking, tailoring, pottery, and carpentry among them. The structure stands today as one of the oldest surviving buildings in Old Salem and one of the better-preserved examples of Moravian communal architecture in North America.
In 1786, a shoemaker named Andreas Kremser died at the Single Brothers House when a cellar collapsed on him. He was buried at God's Acre, the Moravian cemetery nearby, as was the congregation's practice. His death is documented in Moravian congregation records, making him one of the better-attested historical figures in Old Salem's ghost tradition.
Old Salem was preserved through a major restoration effort beginning in the mid-twentieth century and now operates as Old Salem Museums & Gardens, one of the largest living history museums in the American South. The Single Brothers House is fully restored with period furnishings and trade demonstrations.
Sources
The ghost known as the Little Red Man has been part of Old Salem's oral tradition for more than two centuries, making him one of the most enduring and well-documented figures in North Carolina ghost lore. The legend begins with a verifiable fact: shoemaker Andreas Kremser died in 1786 when a cellar collapsed on him at the Single Brothers House. He was buried in God's Acre, Salem's Moravian cemetery, as congregation records confirm.
Shortly after Kremser's death, residents of the Single Brothers House reported hearing a shoemaker's hammer at work in the empty shoe room at odd hours. Then sightings began: a small man in a red coat — the red associated with the shoemakers' guild — appearing in corridors, workshops, and stairwells. The description remained consistent across sightings separated by generations: small in stature, red coat, an air of purposeful movement.
Sightings of the Little Red Man continued well into the twentieth century. The most recent confirmed accounts date from the 1950s, during or shortly after the beginning of Old Salem's restoration efforts. After that point, documented sightings become sparse, leading to speculation that the restoration process — which involved significant physical changes to the building — may have disturbed or dispersed whatever presence had occupied it.
The official tourism bureau of Winston-Salem names the Single Brothers House as the city's most haunted site, and the Little Red Man is the centerpiece of Old Salem's Night Watchman ghost tours, run annually in the fall. The story is unusual in the ghost canon for having a confirmed historical identity — Andreas Kremser, his trade, and his year of death are documented in Moravian records.
Notable Entities
The Single Brothers House is part of the Old Salem Museums & Gardens complex — a restored eighteenth-century Moravian village with costumed interpreters and furnished period rooms. Guides cover the history of the communal single brothers' workshops and the documented 1786 death of shoemaker Andreas Kremser.
Old Salem's Night Watchman Tours cover the haunted history of the Moravian settlement, with the Little Red Man of the Single Brothers House as the anchor story. Tours run seasonally, typically in October. Check oldsalem.org for current dates and booking.
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This Winston-Salem tour includes Single Brothers House on its route.
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Winston-Salem, NC
The Salem Tavern was built in 1784 to serve travelers stopping in the Moravian settlement at Salem, North Carolina. The Moravian congregation built and operated the tavern — a common enterprise in Moravian settlements — as a source of revenue and a place of hospitality for outsiders. President George Washington lodged here in May 1791 during his Southern Tour, an event documented in his own diary.
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.
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