Paving Paradise NBHS Historian/Claudia Houston At the end of the 19th century, East Front Street was a bucolic and lovely road with stately homes overlooking the Neuse River. Cows could be seen roaming the streets at one time, while businesses and factories were located down the street at Union Point. One of the loveliest homes […]
This Month in New Bern History – September 2024 Read More »
A Founding Father Comes to Town NBHS Historian/Claudia Houston It is not often that a town can boast a Founding Father has visited their city. New Bern actually hosted two Founding Fathers who became Presidents, George Washington during his Southern Tour in April 1791, and James Monroe during his April 1819 tour. While many know
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Sacrifice of the Healers During the Civil War, many soldiers on both sides lost their lives, not just from bullet wounds or muskets, but also from illness and disease. This included medical staff who were sometimes unable to heal others or themselves. This is the story of one such man. Rollin Thaddeus Baker resided in
This Month in New Bern History – July 2024 Read More »
Lasting Impacts of a Forgotten New Bern Family In 1905 if you visited the small town of Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, you might have seen the “William H. Dewey Lunchroom, Hair Dressing and Boot Blacking Parlor.” What you might not have known was the fact that the owners of this establishment were from
This Month in New Bern History – June 2024 Read More »
Concrete Ships Ahoy! by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society Photo of the concrete boats from the John B. Green Collection #380.2.b in the Manuscripts and Rare Books Department at ECU, J.Y. Joyner Library, Greenville, NC 27858. These four ships are the four 150’ concrete riverboats built at Wilmington. Did you know that the
This Month in New Bern History – May 2024 Read More »
From New Bern to Lincoln’s Assassination – A Curious Connection by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society “You can’t make this up” describes our article this month. This story was inspired by an email we received from a computer history researcher in Bulgaria. His email concerned Dr. Joseph Bell Alexander, an inventor of note
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Black Soldiers in the Cause of Freedom by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society Soldiers at the siege of Yorktown, including 1st Rhode Island Regiment soldier (left), 1781 Illustration by Jean-Baptiste-Antoine DeVerger On March 5, 1770, British troops fired into a crowd of American colonists in Boston, Massachusetts. Five men were killed, including Crispus
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Giving Diligence its Due by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society Did you know that Founding Father Alexander Hamilton features in one of Gertrude Carraway’s list of impressive New Bern Firsts?* This connection dates back to Treasury Secretary Hamilton’s 1790 establishment of a revenue cutter service, the precursor to the United States Coast Guard.
This Month in New Bern History – February 2024 Read More »
What’s in a Name? by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society 1862 Plan of the Battle of Newberne “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” ― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Among the questions we are asked the most are “Why is New
This Month in New Bern History – January 2024 Read More »
To Love and to Cherish, ’til Death do us Part by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society Photo courtesy of Afroculture.net Our 3d annual History Quest historical scavenger hunt featured the touching story of Zelmyra and Herbert Fisher, a local couple buried side by side in a small James City cemetery. The Fishers have the
This Month in New Bern History – December 2023 Read More »