This Month

On December 1, 1922, the Rowland Lumber Company in New Bern caught fire. While firefighters were still battling the Rowland blaze, a second fire started in a residence on Kilmarnock Street. It was reported that the flames “spread out like a giant fan” until they reached the Neuse River. Altogether about 1,000 homes, businesses and […]

Photographer Ignatius Brock of Asheville On November 8, 1950, internationally-renowned photographer and painter Ignatius Brock died at age 83. Born in Jones County in 1866, Brock got his start in photography as an apprentice at the Gerock Studio in New Bern. He moved to New York to study art at the Cooper Union Institute before returning

Baron von Graffenreid and the Swiss Colony of New Bern An image of von Graffenreid from Tryon Palace On October 23, 1711, Baron Christoph von Graffenreid, founder of the Swiss colony of New Bern, penned a lengthy description of his capture by the Tuscarora Indians. In mid-September of that year, von Graffenreid and John Lawson led a

Signers in Philadelphia Endorse Federal Constitution On September 17, 1787, a majority of delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia approved the U.S. Constitution, with North Carolina representatives William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight and Hugh Williamson signing on behalf of the state. Despite advocacy for its adoption by Federalists Spaight and Williamson, the North Carolina Convention

“Brad’s Drink” Becomes Pepsi-Cola, 1898 On August 28, 1898, “Pepsi-Cola” got its name. Beginning in 1893, New Bern pharmacist Caleb Bradham developed and began serving a carbonated drink he called “Brad’s Drink.” He served the beverage from the soda fountain in his pharmacy at the corner of Pollock and Middle Streets. As a pharmacist who had

A Little-Known Episode of the War of 1812 On July 16, 1813, a British Royal Navy fleet departed Ocracoke Island, bringing to an end a little known episode of the War of 1812. The fleet appeared off the coast on July 11. Under the command of Admiral George Cockburn, the expedition landed at Ocracoke and Portsmouth

On June 30, 1863, the 35th United States Colored Troops regiment officially mustered in New Bern. The organizing and recruitment of North Carolina’s African-American troops had already been underway for nine months. In July 1862, Congress issued a Second Confiscation and Militia Act. The act allowed President Abraham Lincoln to use as many African-Americans as

On May 24, 1775, Josiah Martin, the last royal governor of North Carolina, fled Tryon Palace under cover of darkness. In 1774, delegates to North Carolina’s First Provincial Congress recommended that counties form committees of safety, a move to supplant royal authority. Fearing that the cannons on the palace grounds might be used in an

On April 6, 1959, pioneering photographer Bayard Wootten died in New Bern. Born in New Bern in 1875, Wootten left the area to attend college in Greensboro and then teach. She returned to New Bern to help family members. Once back, she did design work to support her family, eventually creating Pepsi-Cola’s first trademarked logo.