Today's Edition of the Front St. News

Historic Beaufort, NC

General History of Beaufort

Since the first landing by French Huguenots in 1709, Beaufort, North Carolina has been visited by patriots, privateers and pirates alike! It is North Carolina's third oldest town right after Bath and New Bern and was surveyed in 1713 - nearly 20 years before the birth of George Washington!  

    Originally a fishing village and port of safety, the town is the county seat of Carteret County.  It was built on the site of the Indian Village, "Wariock" which means "fish town" or "fishing village" and until it was incorporated in 1722, it was known as "Fishtowne"

    In 1708 the Lord Proprietors realized this was a logical spot for a seaport town and made a Land Grant for that purpose.  In 1713, Robert Turner, a promoter, had 200 acres surveyed and lots and streets laid out.  The present street names reflect the early development of the town - Ann Street for Queen Anne, Craven Street for the Earl of Craven; Moore Street for Colonel Maurice Moore of South Carolina who gave help in the Indian Wars; Queen Street is a second tribute to Queen Anne; Pollock Street is for the governor at the time of the 1713 survey; Orange Street for William, Prince of Orange, who became William III of England  and finally Turner Street for the man who had the vision, Robert Turner.

Beaufort does not have the palatial homes of other old North Carolina towns.  Although in its early days it was an important seaport, the plantation owners, who had large mansions in the interior of the state, only had their town homes here so they could transact business of shipping, boat building, whaling and other sea-related endeavors.  Planters built their summer homes in Beaufort for their families to escape the heat and enjoy the cooler, healthier climate.

The Uniqueness of Beaufort

·        Isolation – At  a mainland point northwest of Cape Lookout, facing southwest, Beaufort’s orientation has always been outward to the sea.  Neither of the two short rivers on which she is located, the Newport and North, gives access to the interior of the state.  The town had no rail link to the rest of the world until 1907, and her main highway access inland, Route 70, was not connected to Beaufort by bridge until 1926.  Communication with New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore was more direct and frequent than with New Bern, only 45-50 miles distant.

·        Wooden Construction – Beaufort is built almost exclusively of wood.  There are only two brick buildings in town which predate the Civil War, and there are no stone buildings.  The Odd Fellows Lodge and the Jail.

·        Beaufort has not undergone a renovation period where the old was uprooted and the new inserted.

·        White paint – since it’s inception, through the 19^th and 20^th centuries, almost everything in Beaufort was painted white.

·        Lack of Wealth – Few citizen’s wealth could be measured against the wealth elite of New Bern, Edenton, or Raleigh. 

• In both the Revolutionary and Civil war, Beaufort was eventually taken over and occupied by the British and Union respectively, and used as a headquarters.  As a result, there was virtually no war damage to the town. 

Exploration of the Core Sound area

·       Giovanni da Verrazano, who was from Florence, but was sailing for Francis I of France in 1524, was reputedly the first explorer to take interest in the Cape Lookout area.  Verrazano charted the area and was quite impressed by the abundance of natural resources that existed here.

·        Beaufort Inlet was originally called Topsail Inlet

·        Topsail Inlet (Beaufort Inlet) was, and still is, considered the best deep water navigable inlet along the NC coast.  

·        The harbor at Cape Lookout was descried by Gov. Arthur Dobbs in 1756 as "the best and safest harbor from Boston to the Capes of Florida

·        The Coree Indians, which are part of the Iroquoian Nation were the natives of the area around Cape Lookout.  They had many problems with the white man right away.  The Indian Massacre of 1711 killed over 130 people.  The retaliation by the British army and local militia was a death sentence for the Coree.  The entire tribe was wiped out within a matter of a few years.

·        The Coree Indians namesake still exists:  Core Creek, Core Sound and Core Banks. 

Early Days of Beaufort

·        Farnifold Green was the first to obtain the patent for the land now known as Beaufort

·        Beaufort was named after Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort , a French Huguenot.

·        Street names have been the same since 1713.  Turner St. - Robert Turner, an earlier proprietor of Beaufort

·        Moore St. - Col. James Moore who was responsible for bringing an end to the Tuscarora War.

·        Pollock St. - Thomas Pollock, acting governor of the colony of NC from 1712-1714

·        Queen and Ann St. - Named after Queen Ann the reigning monarch of England at the time.

·        Orange St. - William III of Orange who had reigned in England before Ann.

·        Craven St. - William Lord Craven, another English Lord

·        Early names for Beaufort were “Hungry Town”, “Fish Town” and the Coree Indian name of “Cwariok”

·        The economy started slowly, with very little growth until the mid/late 18^th Century

·        The first jail in town was built by Daniel Reese on lot 7 in “Old Town”, which is where Queen St. is today.  Jail can be seen at the Beaufort Historic Grounds.

·        In 1722, Beaufort became both the port of entry and the courthouse town for Carteret precinct. 

·        Richard Rustull, John Shackleford, John Nelson, Joseph Bell, Christopher Gale were a group of town fathers who were the first Commissioners and among the first vestrymen of St. John’s Parish in 1723. 

·        Shackleford Banks named after the Shackleford Family, John and Francis who were actively obtaining land patents in the early 1700's  in the area.

·        Surveyor named Richard Graves laid out the town in 1713.  Robert Turner ordered the survey.  He had bought the land from Farnifold Green.

·        Beaufort could be reached by boat only for hundreds of years, until the very early 20^th century.

·        Mail from Raleigh took 2-3 weeks to arrive, while mail to NYC or Boston would take no more than 3 days, making communication with major trade ports much better than with the capitol of the state.

·        Roads in early Beaufort were made of oyster shells

• In 1770, a cedar post was erected at the corner of Front St. and Pollock St. to discern between “Old Town” and “New Tow

The Pirate attack of 1747

·        Spanish pirates attacked and pillaged the town twice during the summer in 1747, until driven off by local farmers and the militia.  A list of the men who served at this time can be seen on display at Fort Macon.

·        For many years, “The Pirate Invasion” was re-enacted every year on the last Saturday in June on the Beaufort Waterfront.

·        One Spanish pirate, during the invasion of 1747, was cornered and caught in the attic of The Hammock House, where he was killed on the spot.

The Revolutionary War in Beaufort

·       The attacks by the Spanish in 1747 prompted the construction of Fort Dobbs in 1755 (Named after NC Governor Arthur Dobbs) on Bogue Island, followed by Fort Hampton, two miles southwest of Beaufort.

·       Beaufort reacted to the American Revolution by providing men, leadership and supplies, and paid dearly for having done so.  Royal Governor Thomas Burke sent a force of 250 men and four vessels from Charleston to Beaufort to “plunder and destroy the Town of Beaufort” 

·       The British entered the town near the end of the war around the year 1782, after the defeat of Cornwallis.  Their soldiers, under Major Stuart of the L’Dragoons, landed and engaged the townsmen while others from the ships plundered the town.  The town was later fired upon and the schoolhouse burned after a fight between the enemy and the town force.  Prisoners were taken and negotiations were carried on for their exchange.

The War of 1812 in Beaufort

·       During the War of 1812, with the ports of Charleston and Baltimore blockaded by the British, Beaufort assumed importance as a port for privateer operations.  Carteret’s Captain Otway Burns, on his ship Snap Dragon, was one of the major privateers.

·       In July, 1814, British forces landed at Cape Lookout and partially destroyed the lighthouse there.   When the British attempted another landing on July 16, they were repulsed by troops from Fort Hampton and Beaufort.  The first Cape Lookout lighthouse continued to serve until Nov. 1, 1859, when the present lighthouse was first lit.

Otway Burns

·        In 1812, Burns of Beaufort was the Capt.. Of a merchant ship sailing between New Bern and Maine.  With the sense of patriotism  following recent British threats, he arranged to purchase a larger and faster vessel that he eventually renamed to Snap Dragon, with which he intended to prey on the British.  He applied for “letters of marque”, which would allow him to prey on English ships without being considered a pirate.

·       On his first voyage of six months, Burns took eight English vessels, heavily laden with valuable cargo.

·       On his second voyage as a privateer, Burns sailed from Newfoundland to South America, capturing numbers of British ships and their cargo with a total value of over $1 million.

·     The nearby Town of Otway is named in his honor.  He is buried in The Old Burying Ground.  His grave can be prominently seen on the Craven St. side of the Old Burying Ground, with a cannon from the Snapdragon mounted on top.

Vacationing in Beaufort during the 1800's

·        Some of the most popular vacation places in town were The Atlantic Hotel, The Ocean House and The Sea Breeze.   The Davis House and The Manson House, still standing on Front St. were also popular boarding houses for vacationing in the late 1800’s. 

·        Beaufort was a very popular “summering” place for many early wealthy Americans. 

·        Visitors had to take the train to Morehead City, then board boats to be ferried over to the Beaufort waterfront.  Sharpies – square rigged sailboat that was a very popular design during that period in Beaufort and Morehead City.

The Atlantic Hotel

·        Capt. Josiah Pender built The Atlantic Hotel in 1859 for a total construction cost of $4,000.  The Atlantic was 3 stories high with triple porches and numerous boardwalks and docks on which to get out to the boats, or just to take a stroll.

·        Col. Charles Jones was the editor and owner of The Charlotte Observer, and raved about Beaufort and The Atlantic Hotel to his readership as a vacation place that no other place on the East Coast could rival.

·        Governors, Judges, Colonels and Capt.’s were among the elite guests.  Only the guests of the highest quality were admitted, and anyone who’s character was remotely questioned was refused service.

·        Famous for their entertainment.  Balls, galas, theatre, music, acrobats, dances, sailboat races, croquet, fishing, and bowling.  They claimed that “there was never a bored guest”, and that “jollification” was enjoyed by everyone.

·        During the Civil War, was used temporarily as a hospital.  Run by the Sisters of Mercy, a group of nuns from St. Catherine’s convent in New York.  Called The Hammond Hospital.  Turned from ruin into a workable hospital by the sisters and their helpers.

·        At the corner of Pine and Marsh streets was a small cemetery used to bury soldiers who had died at the Hammond Hospital.  Any signs of this cemetery are nearly disappeared.

·        A room was $2.50 a day in 1877.   Round trip railroad tickets from Charlotte, good for the whole season were $19.05, a ten day ticket was $9.95

·        In the spring of 1877, the Atlantic Hotel was damaged by a freak storm

·        A Hurricane wiped out The Atlantic Hotel in 1879.   The governor of NC was actually there when the hurricane hit.  The owners of the Atlantic assured people that all was ok, while the rest of the town, wise to the weather patterns, prepared for the storm.  The governor of NC, Thomas Jarvis, along with many others, lost all of his belongings and clothes when they had to immediately evacuate the Atlantic.

·        All of the Beaufort water front was demolished and there was 8 feet of water on Front St.  Winds were estimated to be 125 mph.  The good citizens of Beaufort took good care of those who were left without clothes, belongings or a place to sleep.  The railroad in Morehead City was damaged and the survivors from the Atlantic couldn’t leave until the track was fixed.  Every boat in the harbor was either capsized or had been left high and dry in the town's streets and yards.  One two-masted sloop came to rest 200 yards inland.  Morehead City was also devastated by the storm.

·        Ball gowns from the Atlantic Hotel were found with price tags still attached for $75 or more.  This was at the same time that a normal shirt could be bought for $1 and $150 would by an entire year of education at the local College.

Railroad Issues

·        In 1852, a bill was passed to run a railroad from Goldsboro to Beaufort.  When the bill was passed, they’d not decided where the terminus would be.  A surveyor came to Beaufort and identified four possible locations for the end of the line, but none suited the citizens of the town.  Through misunderstandings and delays, Beaufort lost it’s chance for a railroad and did not get one for over 50 years.  As a result, Wilmington outpaced Beaufort in commercial traffic and growth during the late 19^th century.

·        No railroad ran into the town of Beaufort until 1907.

·        Round trip railroad tickets from Charlotte to Morehead City, good for the whole season were $19.05, a ten day ticket was $9.95

• The Beaufort Hotel went into bankruptcy because of the lack of transportation.  Wilmington’s railroad was completed in 1840 and business there was booming in the hotel/hospitality industry.

Industry of Beaufort

·        Fishing, Whaling, Shipbuilding and Timber were major industries.  Whale oil and bone were large exports from Beaufort in the early 1700’s.

·        Local sawmills produced shingles, lumber from the huge stands of pine.  Also made turpentine, tar from burning the wood of the trees, pitch made from boiling the tar, and rosin.

·        Shipbuilding in the mid-1700’s was a major industry.  Built ships from pines, live oaks and cedars.  Pines in this area were excellent for masts.  The industry was booming during the mid 1700’s, but by the 1820’s the lumber supply began to run out and business declined.

·        Agriculture during the early 1700’s, grew rice, peas, Indian corn and potatoes.  Also kept livestock, grazing them in the swampy marshes, and even on Shackleford Banks and Core Banks.  Cattle and sheep were considered prevalent in the mid-late 1700’s.   The locals stopped grazing their livestock on Core and Shackleford Banks about the time of the Revolutionary war because they didn’t want the livestock to become provisions for invading British forces or pirates.

• Menhaden fishing – Menhaden, locally known as shad, is a small, bony and inedible fish.  It does make good fertilizer and fish meal food for pigs and chickens.  The oil of the fish is used in the manufacture of paint and linoleum

Architecture of Beaufort

·       Beaufort architecture was mainly influenced by that of the Bahamas.

·       The Hammock House, it is said, was built by Blackbeard along the architecture of the Bahamas, from where he had just been driven by the British.

·       Beaufort seems to be the line at which architectural influence from the North and South meet.  In Northern NC and Va, architectural influence came from the northern, British influenced colonies.  In Beaufort, Wilmington and SC, GA, etc…, the architecture seems to follow much more Caribbean lines.

·       Two storied houses often used “ventilation systems” that funneled wind through vents at the attic level above the upper porch and to the rest of the house.  This concept was also brought from Bahamian architecture.  Historians now refer to this feature as "18th century air conditioning"

·       The Beaufort gable “hip” roof is the architecture’s distinguishing characteristic.  This style of roof seems to have arrived only with the Greek Revival Period.  The roof maintains a steep pitch at the ridge but then breaks to cover porches in front and bays in the rear at lesser pitches.  Typical roofs of this style have at least three planes, but many houses have four, while the Easton House (219 Front) has five.

·       Beaufort picket fence – an early Beaufort ordinance required that the fences be “paled in”.  This accounts for the quirky “up and down” picket fences often seen along Front St. and Anne St.

·       Houses were often built by shipwrights, who were skilled carpenters and joiners.  The result was extremely high craftsmanship and carpentry and a house that would stand up to time and weather with solid resistance.

• Foundations of early houses were often made with ballast stones from the holds of ships.  Some examples of these foundations can still be seen in the Historic District.