Colonial accounts of what is now Dare County make no mention of wild cranberries, but the holiday tradition is believed to have long existed in the pocosin and reporting on the crop dates back to the 19th century.
Culture & History
The Last Days of the East Dismal Swamp
Historian David Cecelski created what he called an online history exhibit featuring 40 images illustrating the last decades of an ancient swamp forest that was once located on the North Carolina coast.
Scuttled Confederate ship had served both sides in Civil War
The steamboat scuttled at Cobb Point near Elizabeth City by its Confederate captain during winter 1862 had previously served as a Union vessel.
James City first site of new African American Heritage Tour
The tour, still under development to highlight the region’s African American heritage, is a partnership of the nonprofit Eastern Carolina Foundation for Equity and Equality and the National Park Service.
Wharf pilings and sawdust: Visiting Hyde’s lost villages
Drawing from maps created by a teacher and his students, historian David Cecelski aims to get a feel for the lumber mill villages in Hyde County that have long since disappeared.
The trouble at the Woodville convict labor camp
Historian David Cecelski shares an excerpt about a brief strike in April 1935 at a convict labor camp in Perquimans County from Dr. Susan Thomas’ dissertation that examines the history of the largely African American chain gangs that built public roads in the early 20th century.
The migrants in potato fields during the Great Depression
Historian David Cecelski discovers a chapter in eastern NC’s history about the migrant farm workers that harvested crops in the 1930s and ’40s while exploring Farm Security Administration photographs at the Library of Congress.
The sand waves of Hatteras: ‘on a mission of death’
After adventurous New York journalist John Randolph Spears undertook to visit Cape Hatteras in spring 1890, he wrote of miles and miles of deadly sand waves that threatened to swallow islanders and their homes.
Details emerge on plans for Fort Raleigh’s interpretive trail
The seven exhibits along the Freedom Trail will interpret various aspects of the Black experience on Roanoke Island.
At the Boundary between Land and Sea: Coastal life in 1909
Historian David Cecelski examines the story behind a July 1909 image of men loading watermelons onto a freight boat from the Bogue Sound shore.
Planned interpretive trail to tell Freedmen’s Colony story
A glimpse into the Civil War-era Freedmen’s Colony experience may soon be brought to life thanks to a planned Fort Raleigh National Historic Site project.
Event marks Portsmouth Village’s role in Middle Passage
Those who spoke during a ceremony held Saturday to dedicate markers designating Portsmouth as a port of entry for captive Africans said recognizing our troubled past can bring understanding, hope.
Analysis finds wreck on Currituck Beach may be Metropolis
East Carolina University researcher Matthew Pawelski used computer modeling and imaging to make precise comparisons of wreckage and known details of a lost former Civil War naval vessel refitted commercial use.
From pivotal beginnings, Brunswick County history lives on
While the southernmost county on the North Carolina coast shares features similar to other coastal counties, its historic destinations, charming towns and recent rapid growth help make it unique.
Northeast NC trail connects African American history
A quest to drive visitors to the Historic Jarvisburg Colored School Museum has led to the creation of the nine-county African American Experience of Northeast North Carolina trail.
Search for Lawson in natural history museum continues
Historian David Cecelski continues about his visit to the Natural History Museum in London to study specimens of coastal North Carolina flora that John Lawson sent to English naturalist James Petiver in the early 1700s.
