History of Winston-Salem

an estimated population of 468,124 according to the 2008 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau. As of 2008, the combined statistical area (CSA) of Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, the Piedmont Triad, has a population of 1,603,101, making it the 30th-largest metropolitan area in the USA.

In 2012, the city was listed among the 10 best places to retire in the U.S. by CBS Money Watch.

 In the 1880s, the US Post Office began referring to the two towns as Winston-Salem. In 1899, after nearly a decade of contention, the United States Post Office Department established the Winston-Salem post office in Winston, with the former Salem office serving as a branch. After a referendum the towns were officially incorporated as "Winston-Salem" in 1913. The USPS Address Information System (AIS) does not recognize the hyphen.

The Reynolds family, namesake of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, played a large role in the history and public life of Winston-Salem. By the 1940s, 60% of Winston-Salem workers worked either for Reynolds or in the Hanes textile factories. The Reynolds company imported so much French cigarette paper and Turkish tobacco for Camel cigarettes that Winston-Salem was designated by the United States federal government as an official port of entry for the United States, despite the city being 200 miles (320 km) inland. Winston-Salem was the eighth-largest port of entry in the United States by 1916.

In 1917, the company bought 84 acres (340,000 m) of property in Winston-Salem and built 180 houses that it sold at cost to workers, to form a development called "Reynoldstown." By the time R.J. Reynolds died in 1918, his company owned 121 buildings in Winston-Salem.

In 1929, the Reynolds Building was completed in Winston-Salem. Designed by William F. Lamb from the architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, the