Wild horses cross tidal waters from Town Marsh to Bird Shoal along Beaufort’s barrier islands, which are part of the Rachel Carson Reserve, in Carteret County. The cluster of islands includes Carrot Island, Town Marsh, Bird Shoal, and Horse Island, and the horses are descended from those brought to the islands by a Beaufort area resident in the 1940s, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. The state manages the horse population for its health and for the health of the environment, but the herd is otherwise left to fend and forage for itself. Photo: Dylan Ray
Beaufort
State awards $2.25 million for 10 public water access projects
The Public Beach and Coastal Waterfront Access Grant Program grants go to help local governments in the 20 coastal counties acquire land for public access sites and add or improve amenities.
Night flyer out on a limb
A male luna moth, or Actias luna, finds a perch in the branches of a Japanese maple near Russell Creek in Beaufort. The easily identified species flies mostly at night and is found statewide this time of year in and near hardwood forests, wooded residential areas and, on North Carolina’s barrier islands, in maritime forests. Adult luna moths do not feed and live off food they consumed as caterpillars for the moths’ seven- to 10-day lifespan.
Beaufort seeks $6.5M in funding for water system upgrades
Town commissioners plan to seek an additional USDA loan to complete the work that’s months behind and designed to reduce flooding, improve water quality and repair old infrastructure.
Newly elected board includes Beaufort mayor, Washington city manager
Beaufort Mayor Sharon Harker and Washington City Manager Jonathan Russell were sworn in May 1 with other newly elected members of the N.C. League of Municipalities’ board of directors.
Harbor seal spotted in Beaufort: anomaly or harbinger?
The harbor seal spotted this spring swimming in Beaufort’s Taylors Creek has inspired a team of researchers to reconstruct the timeline of this species in North Carolina.
Maritime Museum to host wooden boat show, heritage talks
The Wooden Boat Show May 3 in downtown Beaufort is expected to feature classic, modern, motorized and self-powered vessels, miniature vintage outboard motors, children’s interactive stations, nautical rope demonstrations, and sea shanties with Bob Zentz.
Beaufort seeks $12M from state to upgrade, restore docks
Sen. Norm Sanderson is behind a measure to appropriate $12 million in state funds to Beaufort to repair and replace its town docks, boardwalk and bulkhead.
Coastal reserve committees to hold spring meetings
Local advisory committees for the Rachel Carson Reserve and Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve are scheduled to meet later this month.
When fishermen harvested seaweed: Beaufort’s agar industry
The curiosity that sparked when historian David Cecelski came across photos taken in 1944 of fishermen harvesting seaweed near Beaufort inspired a “bit of a deep dive” into topics he never imagined studying: the history of agar, ecology of seaweed, the wartime crisis that led to seaweed harvesting and the construction of the Beaufort agar factory.
Blanket of white falls overnight
Snow covers Front Street in Beaufort Wednesday morning as the winter storm continues to blanket Carteret County and much of coastal North Carolina. Photo: Dylan Ray
Fine day for fishing
Visitors during a recent cloudy day carry fishing poles while strolling along the water’s edge at Cedar Street Park in downtown Beaufort, with the construction site of the 103-room Compass Hotel Beaufort by Margaritaville Resorts on Gallants Channel in the background. Photo: Dylan Ray
Tiny trains, bigger models, too, roll into Beaufort
A tiny Z-scale model train operated by Mike Basher of Basher and Sons Hobbies rounds the bend during an appearance earlier this month at the 30th annual John Costlow Train Show at the North Carolina Maritime Museum Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center in Beaufort. The three-day show included model train layouts of various scales, including working antiques. Photo: Mark Hibbs
Structural damage forces closure of Beaufort Lab building
A building that housed employees with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service Lab in Beaufort has closed after engineers determined the structure’s foundation is damaged.
‘Rum Keg Girl’ in Beaufort’s Burying Ground: True story?
Stories persist that she comes out at night and runs around the cemetery, her own haunted playground, where gifts left at her grave sometimes mysteriously move around to different locations.
Special tour to give voices to Beaufort’s oldest residents
“Voices of the Past” guided tours set for Nov. 2 are to “bring to life the stories of those who have long passed and have been laid to rest in the Old Burying Ground.”
