History

Located in a once-industrial corridor beside the historic Moravian town of Salem (now Old Salem Museum & Gardens), Salem College—the first women’s college in the country—the UNC School of the Arts—the first public arts conservatory—and the vibrant West Salem neighborhood, the Bahnson Company building spans nearly two acres at the heart of Winston-Salem’s creative and academic community. Winston-Salem State University and the Center for Design Innovation also sit just steps away.

Built in 1924, the building originally housed the Bahnson Company, a pioneering supplier of air-handling, HVAC, and exhaust systems. Fred Bahnson’s patented humidifier, developed in 1922, earned the company clients from local giants like R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and P.H. Hanes Knitting to industries across 29 U.S. states and around the globe, including Australia, Belgium, England, France, Japan, Norway, Spain, and South Africa.

Under the leadership of Agnew Bahnson Jr.—a novelist, inventor, composer, and adventurer—the company expanded its work with the textile industry and even hosted an experimental “anti-gravity lab” on site. Bahnson later founded the Institute of Field Physics at UNC Chapel Hill, continuing his lifelong exploration of science and innovation.

In 1985, the Winston-Salem Business and Technology Corporation transformed the building into North Carolina’s first business incubator. Despite multiple ownership changes and decades of wear, the Bahnson Company building has remained a hub of entrepreneurial energy, providing space and support for small businesses and startups in Winston-Salem.