Happy Hill House Development

By: Dylan Sattler

Just five minutes away from Salem College’s campus stands one of the most historic African-American neighborhoods in the United States: Happy Hill.

Happy Hill is the oldest African-American neighborhood in Winston-Salem, and one of the oldest in all of North Carolina. According to the City of Winston-Salem website, the neighborhood, originally known as Liberia, was first established in the 1872 and was a home to hundreds of African American families, a place that provided education to children as well as social and economic hubs like churches, jobs, and stores. In a WFDD Public Radio article on Oct. 21, April Laissle writes that part of the historic neighborhood was demolished in the 1950s to create the first-ever public housing project in Winston-Salem.

According to a Nov 2025 WUNC News article by April Laissle, there has been an ongoing plan to create a new housing development, aimed to be a new affordable housing area. The plan was to sell the city-owned land to a developer, The Vecino Group, who have had success in previous areas like Austin, Texas, and St Louis, Missouri, therefore creating new affordable housing. 

The issue that has come about pertains to The Vecino Group pulling out of the project after backlash from the local community. Happy Hill Neighborhood Association President Tonya Sheffield has criticized the plan to sell the land and pointed out that the sale was not discussed with the historic neighborhood’s board.

According to Laissle at WUNC, the neighborhood’s board has come up with a new plan, a project to build 60 affordable units, thereby potentially signaling a solution to building affordable housing in Winston-Salem without losing historic land.

Caption: Happy Hill Neighborhood Association President Tonya Sheffield holds a press conference to announce the new details of the affordable housing project.

Source: wunc.org

https://www.wunc.org/2025-11-04/developer-withdraws-from-happy-hill-housing-project-amid-backlash