The Mickey Coffee Pot is a large tin coffee pot which is a local

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

Forsyth County, North Carolina Forsyth County ( )Talk Like a Tarheel
, from the North Carolina Co ...

. The coffee pot was created in 1858 by tinsmiths Julius and Samuel Mickey as an advertisement for their tin shop on South Main Street. The pot is considered to be a symbol of hospitality and an unofficial symbol of the city. The pot's original location on the

curb A curb (American English) or kerb (British English) is the edge where a raised sidewalk/pavement or road median/central reservation meets a street/other roadway. History Although curbs have been used throughout modern history, and indeed ...

caused it to be hit by wagons and cars. After the pot was damaged by a car in 1920, city officials attempted to keep the

sign A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or me ...

from being restored, as it was considered a safety hazard and illegal advertising. However, after local protest, the coffee pot was restored on a

post Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...

farther from the street. The pot was relocated in 1959 when then

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

(now US 421/"Salem Parkway") went through the shop's location and again when Old Salem Road was created in the 1960s and the roads were reconfigured. The structure of the Coffee Pot is owned by the City of Winston-Salem. It is located at the north end of

Old Salem Old Salem is a historic district of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, which was originally settled by the Moravian community in 1766. It features a living-history museum which interprets the restored Moravian community. The non- ...

in a

traffic island A traffic island is a solid or painted object in a road that channels traffic. It can also be a narrow strip of island between roads that intersect at an acute angle. If the island uses road markings only, without raised curbs or other physica ...

formed by Old Salem Road and Main Street.Niven, P., and Wright, C. (n.d.) Old Salem: The Official Guidebook. Old Salem, Inc. Winston-Salem, NC

Notes

Buildings and structures in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Landmarks in North Carolina Culture of Winston-Salem, North Carolina 1858 sculptures {{coord, 36.090823, N, 80.242837, W, display=title