Brunswick County commissioners have agreed to support a plan to connect the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor with the East Coast Greenway, which would showcase for hikers, cyclists and paddlers the history of enslaved Africans here.
culture and history
History Rediscovered: NC’s First Lighthouse
What did the first lighthouse on the Cape Fear River look like and what really happened to it? Documents that maritime historian Kevin Duffus found in the National Archives shed some light.
The Story of Shad Boats
Historian David Cecelski introduces his 12-part series, “The Story of Shad Boats,” that explores the origins, construction and history of the workboats found on the North Carolina coast in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Piney Grove: Touring Brunswick County’s Past
Historian David Cecelski visits with Brunswick County’s Marion Evans, who leads him on a tour of the Piney Grove community, sharing rich, old stories and showing him the little-known sites where they took place.
Project On to Finally Allow Elizabeth II to Sail
The Elizabeth II, a 16th-century representative sailing ship moored at Roanoke Island Festival Park, has been unable to sail for years because of shoaling at the entrance to Manteo Harbor, but a long-delayed dredging project now appears likely.
Amid Jim Crow, Blacks Here Forged Legacy
The Wright brothers’ visits to the Outer Banks came as white supremacy was wrenching away racial progress in the state, but blacks on the banks persisted in their achievements.
Singing At The March on Washington
Historian David Cecelski writes about a photo of Jacquelyn Bond and Golden Frinks, both central to the Williamston Freedom Movement, at the March on Washington in 1963.
Our Coast’s History: Working in the Logwoods
North Carolina historian David Cecelski searched the Forest History Society’s archives for photographs of coastal North Carolina and came across images of logging and lumber mills taken between 1900 to 1950 along the coast.
Beaufort’s Scandinavian, Dutch Fishermen
David Cecelski writes about the “largely forgotten enclave of Norwegian, Swedish and Dutch fishermen” who, along with their families, left New Jersey to make their home in Beaufort beginning in the 1910s.
Our Coast’s History: Chloe’s Story
The only recorded passage about the life of Chloe, a woman enslaved in Currituck County in the first half of the 1800s, reveals a great deal about her and the lives of other enslaved women on the North Carolina coast.
Loss of the Bounty, A Personal Recollection
Outer Banks resident James Charlet recounts his experience seven years ago monitoring the rescue of the crew of the Bounty replica ship that was lost off Cape Hatteras during Hurricane Sandy.
Event to Celebrate Promise Land’s History
Ravaged by storms in the late 1800s and seeking opportunity, former Cape Banks islanders and founding residents of Morehead City’s Promise Land neighborhood are to be honored Oct. 26.
Remembrance Marks African Slaves’ Arrival
An event this past weekend at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site featuring Freedmen’s Colony descendants observed the 400th year since enslaved Africans were first brought to America.
North Carolina and the Turpentine Trail
Historian David Cecelski writes about North Carolina losing its stranglehold on the naval stores industry after the American Civil War, forcing workers to follow the “turpentine trail” in search of untapped longleaf pine forests in other southern states.
Event Set to Honor Diamond City’s Legacy
The Diamond City Homecoming set for Aug. 17 is a celebration held every five years to remember the community that once called Shackleford Banks home.
Work Begins on Reaves Chapel Restoration
Work began last week on stabilizing the Reaves Chapel, a former African Methodist Episcopal church built after the Civil War by formerly enslaved people.
