A Hometown Heritage marker telling the story of the Atlantic District Fairgrounds in Ahoskie was dedicated last month as part of a Juneteenth celebration.

The fairgrounds were, at one time, the cultural centerpiece of the region’s African American community.

But those times are gone. The track established in 1920 where trotters pulled sulkies for almost 90 years is overgrown and covered with grass. The brick grandstand, built in the late 1950s, is still there and from a distance looks intact, but the roof of the building next to it that once housed the stables is sagging and the paint is peeling.

The fairgrounds haven’t been used since 2010, but, for most of the nine decades it was in operation, it was a place where people of color in Hertford, Bertie, Gates and Northampton counties had the opportunity “to submit items of work and pride: preserves, needlecraft, woodcraft, cooking, livestock and art for possible prizes. It was rare for people of color to have such opportunities and rewards: to win a ribbon along with a dollar or two,” wrote Marvin Tupper Jones, executive director of the Chowan Discovery Group in a grant application for the nonprofit William G. Pomeroy Foundation.

The marker was unveiled June 14 at the R.L. Vann School Community Resource Center at 415 Holloman Ave. in Ahoskie, located beside the historic fairgrounds, during a Juneteenth program.

The Chowan Discovery Group works to preserve the history of the Winton Triangle, a 280-year-old landowning community of people of color. The Pomeroy Foundation was established in 2005 and offers several grant programs to help communities honor their history.

For a brief time during segregation, there were two fairs in Hertford County. The Hertford County Fair in Winton was first held 1918.

Prominent African American business owners and educators from Ahoskie and surrounding areas formed the Atlantic District Fair Association in 1920 after being denied access to the Hertford County Fair in the county seat.

“The Atlantic District Fair Association, incorporated, Ahoskie in Hertford county, to conduct a district agricultural fair and to promote agriculture, authorized capital $20,000, with $1,000 paid in by Augustus Sessoms of Ahoskie, C.D. Nichens, Winton and many others,” the Greensboro Daily News reported in February 2020.

The fair proved an immediate success, with the Hertford County Herald reporting on Oct. 28, 1921, “Since Tuesday, the opening day of the Atlantic’District Fair (colored), immense crowds have paid daily visits to the grounds…The opening day witnessed the smallest crowd of the 3-day fair. Wednesday’s and today’s crowds have met the expectations of the officials of the fair, who have been making extensive preparations for their initial fair.”

For three years, 1921-1923, the two fairs took place within a few weeks of one another.

But, according to the Ahoskie News Herald, by 1923 the Hertford County Fair was in financial trouble.

“The Hertford County Fair Association has called a meeting of the stockholders of the association … next Thursday, December 6. At that time a report of finances will be given and records of this year’s fair given. On account of the quick change in weather and postponing of the first day of the fair this year, the final report shows the association to have lost money, to the extent of about $350 this year (approximately $6,600 in 2025). This leaves the association worse off financially than before, and the meeting at Winton will probably decide the fate of the organization for another year,” the paper reported.

No further references to a Hertford County Fair was found in area newspapers.

Yet the Atlantic District Fair thrived throughout the 20th century. As the 32nd annual fair got underway in 1954, the Gates County Index reported in its Oct. 7 edition that, “President Clarence Chavis (had) received from Commissioner of Agriculture L. Y. Ballentine a letter in which the Atlantic District Fair was described us the third ranking fair in the state in the amount of agricultural exhibits and premiums, thus only one other fair besides the NC Stale Fair ranked higher than the Roanoke-Chowan’s Atlantic District Fair which in all its history has been promoted and managed entirely by Negroes.”

The paper did not identify the fair that ranked second.

Almost 40 years later, the fair continued to thrive. In a 1993 addendum to “History of the Atlantic District Fairground Association Incorporated … A.D. 1919 – A.D. 1991” wrote author Clarence Newsome, vice president of the association. “The 1993 episode of the Atlantic District Fair … was one of the most auspicious events in the recent history of the association.”

Paid attendance totaled nearly 8,000 people.

If 1993 was an auspicious year, there were storm clouds gathering.

“The population of the area started declining. A lot of the people active in the fair were business people. In the 70s,” Jones explained to Coastal Review. “We weren’t creating new retailers. We weren’t creating any more stores and business people and business people know how to run things.”

The population of Hertford County and Ahoskie have been in decline for more than 50 years, but the past 10 years have seen some of the more significant declines. From a population of almost 25,000 in the county in the 2010 census, the population is now estimated at less than 20,000. Ahoskie’s downtown district, which was at one time a thriving railroad transportation hub, reflects the broader changes seen countywide.

The entire downtown is a historic district, architecturally seemingly frozen in time between 1900 and 1940.

“The range of architectural styles found in Ahoskie is limited due to the relatively short period of the most of the town’s development,” wrote the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources in documents creating an Ahoskie Historic District.

Today, however the downtown is almost entirely deserted, many of the buildings empty and in disrepair. Not all of them though. Toward the west side of town, The Sweets on Main opened in May after renovating a 1948 building that had once housed a doctor’s office. The watermelon sorbet was perfect on a hot summer day, according to this reporter.

Yet even if there are a few businesses trying to bring the downtown back, Jones isn’t sure if there is enough of the same spirit that had once created a bustling, viable downtown Ahoskie.

“I don’t know if I see a new generation of leaders,” Jones said. “In the late 60s, 70s and up, we were trying to hang on to what our parents and grandparents…had passed down to us, but we don’t see a generation behind us that’s going to bolster what we’re doing.”

This story has been updated. A previous version misidentified the date of the harness racing photo.

Professional opera singer Tshombe Selby will perform a selection of modern and traditional songs from the steps of the Pea Island Cookhouse Museum in his hometown of Manteo to commemorate Juneteenth National Independence Day.

“The Sounds of Freedom” outdoor concert is to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 19, and is expected to last about an hour.

Limited seating will be offered starting at 5:30 p.m. Organizers expect a large crowd as the concert is being offered at no charge, so attendees are encouraged to bring their own lawn chair or a blanket.

Edward Gantt, a U.S. Colored Troops reenactor and retired U.S. Navy officer, is scheduled to speak during the evening program. Visitors with an interest in the history of the U.S. Colored Troops during the war can chat with Gantt earlier that day, 1:30-2:30 p.m. at the museum.

June 19 became a U.S. federal holiday in 2021 and is observed annually to commemorate the end of slavery after the Civil War in the United States.

The Pea Island Preservation Society is the nonprofit organization hosting the concert at the Cookhouse Museum that honors the life of Pea Island Lifesaving Station Keeper Richard Etheridge. Enslaved in his youth on Roanoke Island, Richard Etheridge joined the Union’s fight for freedom and served in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War before becoming the first Black American in the nation to command a U.S. Life-Saving Service station.

“Remembering Juneteenth on Roanoke Island is especially important considering its ties to the story of the enslaved and the fight for freedom,” the society’s Outreach and Education Director Joan Collins said in a press release.

“Roanoke Island was the setting for an historic experiment during the Civil War.  Following the island’s occupation by Union forces in 1862, it became a safe haven for those once enslaved throughout the region and prompted the establishment of a Freedmen’s Colony at the north end of the island,” she said, adding that many of the surfmen who served at Pea island are descendants of those who lived on the Freedmen’s Colony on Roanoke Island. 

Professional opera singer Tshombe Selby is returning to his hometown of Manteo to perform at the fourth annual Juneteenth observance at the Pea Island Cookhouse Museum.

The Pea Island Preservation Society Inc. is hosting the performance at no charge at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, on the grounds of the museum, 622 Sir Walter Raleigh St. 

The nonprofit organization based in Manteo works to preserve and interpret the history of the Pea Island Life Saving Station, Keeper Richard Etheridge, the first Black person in the nation to command a U.S. Life-Saving Service station, and African Americans of Roanoke Island.

Pea Island Lifesavers are known for their heroic rescue of the shipwrecked schooner E.S. Newman on Oct. 11, 1896. Etheridge and his crew saved all nine on board that night during the fierce storm.

The original Pea Island Station Cookhouse, where the keeper and surfmen cooked and ate their meals, was moved from Rodanthe to Collins Park in Manteo and is now a museum honoring those who served there between 1880-1947.

Selby’s fourth consecutive Juneteenth performance at the Cookhouse, he grew up singing and playing the piano at Haven Creek Baptist Church, just a couple of blocks from where the Cookhouse is now located.

“This church, the place where he first publicly performed, is connected to the story of thousands of enslaved people who fled to Roanoke Island during the Civil War seeking a safe haven, a place they hoped to freely live and where the Freedmen’s Colony on Roanoke Island was formed,” Pea Island Outreach and Education Director Joan Collins explained in a release.

Since his the 2023 Juneteenth concert, Selby has performed in more than a dozen productions at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Most recently he was a feature soloist with the Binghamton downtown singers in Binghamton, New York.

Selby’s performance is “particularly noteworthy” because he is a descendant of the Pea Island lifesavers, Collins said.

Keeper Etheridge was born Jan. 16, 1842, and grew up being enslaved on Roanoke Island. During the Civil War, he left home and his owner, John B. Etheridge, to help Union troops fight to free enslaved people. On Jan. 24, 1880, at 38 years old, Etheridge was selected to replace the white keeper who was in charge of the Pea Island station.

Etheridge would serve as keeper, the official title for the commander of a lifesaving station and crew, at the Pea Island station until his death of natural causes in May 1900. 

He is considered a key figure for both the Black history and the history of the Life-Saving Service on the Outer Banks, Collins said.

In March 1996, 100 years later and long after each surfman had died, they were posthumously awarded for the E.S. Newman 1896 rescue the prestigious Gold Lifesaving Medal by the U.S. Coast Guard. The delay is attributed to the crew being an all-Black crew and the challenges and injustices they faced during their lifetime, Collins explained.

During the Juneteenth concert, attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy the shaded, large open lawn with picnic tables and several outdoor exhibits displaying the legacy of Keeper Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers. 

“This annual celebration is quickly becoming a local favorite on the Outer Banks, a place for people, young and old, to gather to celebrate freedom, reflect on the past, and look to the future,” Collins said.

The location includes a life-sized bronze statue of Keeper Etheridge and a boathouse to honor Lt. Herbert M. Collins, who was the last keeper of Pea Island.

Herbert Collins, born on Roanoke Island in 1921, enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939 following the footsteps of his great-great uncle and his uncle who served under Etheridge. He worked as a surfman at the Pea Island station from 1940 to 1947, throughout World War II, and was the last left in charge at the station. 

In March 1947 when Herbert Collins shut and locked the doors to the station for the very last time, he ended a 67-year period, 1880-1947, of the Pea Island lifesaving station being staffed primarily with Black commanders and crews.

The key sponsor for this event is the Don and Catherine Bryan Cultural Series, an Outer Banks organization striving to inspire, educate and challenge through presentations of the visual, literary, and performing arts.

The Friends of the New Hanover County Arboretum are commemorating for the second year the emancipation of African Americans.

The Juneteenth celebration is 5-8 p.m. Saturday, June 18, at the Arboretum, 6206 Oleander Drive, Wilmington. There is no cost to attend and the event is open to the public and will feature food, poetry readings and music.

The celebration of emancipation is to bring together the community to celebrate freedom and equal rights.

“Juneteenth is such an important moment in history that should be acknowledged and celebrated,” said New Hanover County Cooperative Extension Director Lloyd Singleton in a statement.  “The Arboretum is honored to host this Juneteenth event and to provide a space for the community to come together to reflect on African American history and engage in fellowship.”

A short program that highlights Black history and culture, including the history of Juneteenth, the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by a student from Murray Middle School, as well as an opening prayer from Pastors Cedric and LaToya Barrett of Purpose Church are planned. 

New Bern will begin Friday, June 10, a weeklong celebration of Juneteenth.

Throughout the week, there will be festivities, educational programs and cultural activities offered for the community and visitors. 

Juneteenth is a federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, observed every year on June 19.

Juneteenth of New Bern, a volunteer group with the mission to actively preserve and promote African American heritage, has organized the events that conclude on Saturday, June 18, with a parade at 11 a.m. beginning at Henderson Park, proceed to Broad Street and ends in CT Big Field.

The festival will follow from noon to 4 p.m. along Broad and Roundtree streets, and CT Big Field. Fireworks are at dusk at Henderson Park.

Tryon Palace is one of the organizations participating in New Bern’s Juneteenth celebration. The historic site will host “The Journey to Juneteenth” at 7 p.m. June 16 in the North Carolina History Center’s Cullman Performance Hall, 529 S. Front St., in New Bern.

The program features Sauuda Eshe, who will offer song, recitations and historical data. Eshe will present a case for why we should celebrate Juneteenth, but also realize that the enslaved were not liberated, but participated in their own liberation, according to Tryon Palace. There’s no cost to attend.

In addition to “The Journey to Juneteenth,” Tryon Palace’s 35^th Regiment, United States Colored Troops interpretive group and Jonkonnu group will be participating in the Juneteenth Parade at 11 a.m. June 18.

The North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh will host an exhibit and offer tours on Saturday, June 18, to commemorate Juneteenth.

A combination of June and 19th, Juneteenth is the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed.

The Juneteenth-themed tours are scheduled for at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. June 18. The tours will focus on the stories of the enslaved African Americans whose skill and labor constructed and maintained the capitol that opened in 1840.

The tours are free, but tour participants are asked to register in advance at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/freedom-stories-juneteenth-tours-at-the-north-carolina-state-capitol-tickets-349660222137.

Representatives from the State Archives of North Carolina will be available to speak from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 18 with visitors about African American genealogical resources available through the archives.

Also at the capitol, visit “Freedom Stories,” a Juneteenth exhibit that features the names and stories of individuals who constructed and maintained the capitol during slavery and whose stories also include emancipation. The exhibit is sponsored by the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission.

That morning will include a Juneteenth celebration at Dix Park. For more information on how the holiday is being marked across the state, visit https://www.ncdcr.gov/juneteenth.

The state capitol’s mission is to preserve and interpret the history and function of the 1840 building and Union Square. It is within the Division of State Historic Sites within the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.