About Beaufort NC

Pronounced “Bo-furt”, this quaint little town was originally established in 1709 for its close proximity to the excellent deep-water inlet now called Beaufort Inlet.

Throughout history, Beaufort has always been an important seaport for whalers, fisherman, merchants and even pirates. In fact, the notorious pirate Blackbeard and his crew spent quite a bit of time in Beaufort, and their legacy still remains in the form of the many legends and ghost stories that are still told. The Beaufort Ghost Walk takes visitors to The Hammock House, a mysterious 300 year old house once frequented by Blackbeard and reportedly home to the ghosts of some of his victims.

Another major attraction is the Beaufort Historic District, which is home to over 100 beautifully restored Historic Homes from the 18th and 19th Century. The Old Burying Ground is a 300-year old cemetery located in the heart of the Historic District. It's live oak shaded graves are hauntingly beautiful windows into the past. Among the azaleas and resurrection fern are the final resting places of the town's earliest residents, including soldiers from the American Revolution and the Civil War. Many a relaxing afternoon has been spent walking the elegantly shaded sidewalks of the Historic District, retracing the steps of history, architecture and legend.
And if all that’s not enough, Beaufort is the perfect place to begin exploring the Cape Lookout National Seashore, home to the 169-foot Cape Lookout Lighthouse and the famous Wild Horses of Shackleford Banks. Descendants of Horses that were brought here almost 500 years ago, a herd of over 120 Horses still remains on the islands surrounding Beaufort, and they can often be seen right from the Beaufort Waterfront while they graze on the islands of the nearby Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve.

In Beaufort, you and your family will find exciting and fun things to do, beautiful scenery, amazing wildlife, great shopping, excellent restaurants, and a rare chance to step back into history.

What's so unique about Beaufort, NC?

· 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 substantial 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, Philly 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, The Odd Fellows Lodge and the Jail, and there are no stone buildings.

· Beaufort has not undergone a renovation period where the old was uprooted and the new inserted. Many of the buildings and homes in the Historic District are the same as they have been for centuries. Thanks to the Historic Preservation Committee, Beaufort looks today as much as possible as it did in the past.

· White paint – since it’s inception, through the 19th and 20th 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. Many of the homes in Beaufort were essentially vacation houses for families who lived inland, but adjourned to Beaufort in the heat of summer to take advantage of the cooling breezes. The rest of the town was populated with working men, fisherman, shipbuilders, whalers, and shippers.

· In both the Revolutionary and Civil war, Beaufort was eventually taken over by the British and Union respectively, and used as a HQ. As a result, there was virtually no damage to the town during those two Wars.

Exploration of the Core Sound area

· Giovanni da Verrazano who was from Florence, but was sailing for Francis I of France in 1524, is credited with being the first explorer to take note of the Cape Lookout area. His report back to Francis I spoke of a land of beauty and resources, and talked of the harbor at Cape Lookout as the best he had seen.

· Beaufort Inlet was originally Topsail Inlet

· 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. Indian Massacre in 1711 killed over 130 people. Retaliation was a death sentence for the Coree. They were eventually eliminated in fighting between local militias and the Coree.

· The Indians namesake is still here: Core Creek, Core Sound and Core Banks.

Architecture of Beaufort

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

· 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 vent doors at the attic level above the upper porch and to the rest of the house. This concept was also brought from Bahamian architecture.

· 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.

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 , an English Lord

· 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 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 Corree Indian name of “Cwariok”

· Economy started slowly, with very little growth until the late 18th Century

· 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 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 Green.

· Beaufort could be reached by boat only for hundreds of years, until the very early 20th 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 Town”

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 Amer. 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 Captain 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. The term for this type of marauder is "Privateer"

· 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.

· Just east of Beaufort, the town of Otway is named in his honor. He is buried in The Old Burying Ground at the grave with a cannon on it.

Vacationing in Beaufort

· 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. Railroad 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 sitting somewhere in the town. One two-masted sloop came to rest 200 yards inland. Morehead City was also devastated by the storm.

· Ball gowns 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 19th 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.

Carteret Academy

· In the19th century, it served as the Beaufort Female Academy, a school for girls from the Outer Banks.

· The school room was located on the ground floor with the living quarters on the 2 upper floors.

Carrot Island - Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve

· Got it’s name from the carts that were left on the island by fishermen who emptied their nets on the south side of the island, and used the carts to transport the fish from there, across Taylor’s Creek on a narrow bridge of land that existed then. The name evolved from “Cart Island” to “Carrot Island” over the years. The fishermen used ballast stones to build the ford across Taylor’s creek in order to get their carts over.

· Now designated as the “Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve”, the Reserve was established in 1985.

· The Rachel Carson Reserve totals 2,625 acres. Rachel Carson is located between the Newport and North rivers and receives fresh water from both.

· Estuaries are vigorous, vital ecosystems where plant species survive and thrive. They are home for clams, whelks, shrimp, dolphins, crabs, and much more marine life, they serve as a nursery for juvenile fish, a storage basin for nutrients and a buffer from storms for creatures in the air, on the land and under the water.

· There are 160 species of birds living in the Reserve. The Shackleford Ponies also swim to and spend considerable time feeding in the reserve.

· The Rachel Carson site has a well-marked half-mile trail loop. From the trail, visitors will get to see most of the habitats of the island and many of the plant and animal species that make the site so valuable. The self-interpretive trail brochure is available at the Education office, local ferries, and the North Carolina Maritime Museum.

· Rachel Carson has been called “the mother of the modern environmental movement.” She is best known for writing Silent Spring, a 1962 book exposing the dangers pesticides pose to the environment.

· Rachel Carson was born May 27, 1907 in Springdale, PA. Her mother encouraged young Rachel’s love of nature. In 1932, she received an M.A. in Zoology from John Hopkins University. In, 1936, she became a junior aquatic biologist for the Bureau of Fisheries.

· Rachel Carson was fascinated with the relationship of human beings and their environments. In 1938, she came to Beaufort, NC to visit the U.S. Fisheries Station. Her visit had a strong impact. It inspired the writing on shorebirds in her book, Under the Sea-Wind (1941). In The Edge of the Sea (1955), Carson describes the estuarine region in Beaufort that now bears her name, The Rachel Carson Reserve.

· Rachel Carson passed away in 1964 after a long struggle with cancer. Her writings serve as inspiration for all generations. Her love of ocean life speaks to all of us: “The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place...”

Wild Horses of Shackleford Banks

· Wild Horses are thought to have lived on Shackleford Banks for over 400 years.

· In 1739, a ship load of Arabian horses was documented as having shipwrecked on Shackleford Banks.

· Adaptation to the harsh environment over the years caused the ponies to survive as short, stubby and rugged versions of their forefathers. The ponies are now protected and they are beginning to live longer and grow larger as new generations appear.

· Every summer, there was a “pony pinning” on Shackleford Banks and for some this was the highlight of the season. Guests from the Atlantic Hotel would come by boat to join in the auction of the ponies. Often they would be purchased and taken home for young children by parents and grandparents, because they were often no bigger than large dogs.

Marine Research Lab

· In 1885, the Johns Hopkins Univ. Chesapeake Zoological Lab was operating in Beaufort at what is known today as the Gibbs House, located on the corner of Front St. and Live Oak St.

· The lab, which was the first U.S. Marine Laboratory on the Atlantic Coast, later moved to Piver’s Island, where now Duke Marine Laboratory and the US Fisheries Dept. bring scientists and students from all over the world. Many of these people always have and do live in Beaufort.

Ft. Macon

· Ft. Macon was constructed from 1826-1834. It was a boost to the economy of Beaufort and Carteret County. Many of the skilled workers and artisans that came to the area to construct the Ft. never left. Wages were considered to be good, with a brick layer making an average of $2.50 for a 10-12 hour day.

· Robert E. Lee, as a young captain, visited Beaufort in the 1840’s. He was surveying Bogue Island and designing the stone jetties which still protect the end of the island where Ft. Macon is located.

· At the start of the “War Between the States” in 1861, a group of secessionists, called the “Old Topsail Riflemen”, commanded by Capt. Josiah Pender, took over the Fort from the federal gov’t. The men, mostly from Beaufort, gave the sole member of the Federeal Garrison a ticket north and raised an improvised southern flag. Col. Moses A. White became the commander.

· Ft. Macon was taken siege on April 25th of 1862, one month after the fall of New Bern. Ft. Macon was defended by Col. White and 400 men. The battle was loud, fierce and short. The white flag was run up by 4pm of the day of the attack.

· Gen. Burnside was said to have cried a few tears when witnessing two coffins of Beaufort townspeople being claimed by their loved ones.

· During the Civil War, the town and harbor were visited by not only Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, but also Gen. W.T. Sherman and Gen. U.S. Grant.

· Ft. Macon, which continued as an active garrison until 1877, also saw use in the Spanish-American War, though not during WW I; in 1924, it was ceded to the state of NC for use as a state park. In 1942, it was leased to the federal government again and was used as a garrison and radar station during WW II.

· Ft. Macon was named for Nathaniel Macon, who served in Congress as the Speaker of the House in the 1820’s

The Cape Lookout Light Station

· Though it's not certain when construction began, the original Cape Lookout Lighthouse was completed and lighted in 1812. The 96-foot high brick tower was eventually painted with red and white horizontal stripes.

· The first Cape Lookout Lighthouse is completed on the four-acre Fulford-Pigott tract at a cost of $20,678.54. It is a brick tower inside a wood frame building. The boarded exterior is shingled and painted with red and white horizontal stripes. Its mechanism consists of thirteen 21-inch parabolic reflectors. The focal plane of the light is 96 feet above ground and 104 feet above sea level. President James Madison appoints James Fulford as the first keeper at a salary of $300 a year.

· 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.

· In time, it proved to be inadequate to protect passing ships from the Horrible Headland of Lookout Shoals. The tower was too short and its beacon too unreliable to sufficiently light this treacherous section of the coast. By the 1850s, it was apparent that the lighthouse was in serious disrepair as well as in danger from the encroaching sea.

· The second light house was built in 1859. Congress appropriates $45,000 to build a new lighthouse.

· In 1864, Confederate troops from Kinston, guided by local agents of the Confederate Secret Service, were carried over to the Cape, planted explosives in both lighthouses and lit the fuses. The older lighthouse was destroyed, but only the interior shaft of the new one was damaged. This was repaired following the War, and has served as a beacon to ships ever since.

· In 1873, the present Keeper's Quarters was constructed and the lighthouse received its distinctive diamond-shaped, black-and-white pattern which helped to distinguish it from the other North Carolina lighthouses.

· Emeline Pigott delivered important instructions to the Confederate agents detailing the plan’s transportation, timing and supply logistics.

· The Cape Lookout Lighthouse originally burned whale oil, but changed to mineral oil in the late 19th century when whale oil became prohibitively expensive. Now of course the lighthouse uses electricity and Two airport beacons, each powered with two, 1000-watt bulbs produce the light. Each beacon completely rotates in 30 seconds, giving a flash every 15 seconds.

The Hammock House

· Built in the early 1700’s as an “ordinary” or an inn. Some say it was built by ship captains or pirates to provide a sanctuary and a guide when entering Topsail Inlet.

· Some say that Blackbeard had The Hammock House built and stayed there very frequently, rowing in from his ship in The Creek and tying his dingy to the front porch. Some say there was treasure buried in the yard.

· The Town Court and the Town meeting of commissioners met in the Hammock House in 1727, after a hurricane destroyed both the schoolhouse and the courthouse.

· The Hammock House was also used as a schoolhouse following the burning of the existing schoolhouse in 1782 by the British.

· It is possible and logical that the Hammock House was used as a fortified shelter for the settlers. Longtime residents say there was a tunnel from the house to the creek that formerly existed to the east. The tunnel was used as an escape route from the house. Under the Hammock House parlor, one can still see where a trap door was cut after the house was built. This trap door led to the tunnel.

· Legend has it that Blackbeard captured a ship off of Cape Lookout, made the entire crew walk the plank, except for a young girl, whom he brought, screaming, to the Hammock House. On the next full moon, he hung her, still screaming, from a Live Oak tree in the yard. He buried her body in the yard and left. Some say that you can still hear her screaming on a full moon when walking past the house.

· Over the years, the entire yard of the house has been dug up by treasure seekers. If any has been found, it has not been reported.

· According to family history, the Rustuls were living at the Hammock House in 1747. The story is that Richard, returning that year from a sea voyage, took a slave up to the 3rd floor to beat him. The slave broke away, pushing Richard down the steep steps to his death. The family covered up the cause of his death. Various legends about returning blood stains on the stairs and of a roaming ghost have evolved from this tale. Another version of this story has Rustul returning to find his wife with another man and was killed during the ensuing duel.

· 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 Old Burying Ground

· Deeded to the Town in 1731, Nathaniel Taylor donated a lot in the center of town to be used as a burial ground. Taylor had purchased Beaufort Township in 1725 from Richard Rustull. He paid 500 pounds for it.

· There are some 200 dated stones from the pre-Civil War era, some 45 during the war, about 150 from 1865-1900, and a smattering of 20th century dates.

· Wooden tombstones made of cypress still exist today, as well as many early unmarked graves and illegible tombstones.

· Common plants in the Burying Ground are Live Oaks, covered with resurrection ferns.

· The cemetery originally consisted of only Lot 91, but over time was expanded to include Lot 81, and portions of 5 other Lots.

· Those buried in the Old Burying Ground include: Otway Burns, soldiers from the Revolutionary War and Civil War, a British soldier buried standing up, and a little girl buried inside a keg of rum.

Industry of Beaufort, NC

· Fishing, Whaling, Shipbuilding and Timber were major industries. Whale oil and bone were large exports from Beaufort in the early 1700’s. The fee was 10% to the local proprietor.

· 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. Stopped doing this at 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

The Civil War in Beaufort

· Beaufort was taken by Union forces in April of 1862, and was used as a headquarters for the Northern armies for several years. Many houses and businesses within the town were taken over for use as offices, hospitals and residences for the Union forces.

· Emeline Pigott, Beaufort's famous Civil War spy, aided scattered Confederate troops by carrying mail from the families to them, as well as food, clothing, quinine, and other supplies. One of her methods was to conceal supplies, maps, medicine, and even pairs of boots under her large hooped skirt.

· Broad St. and northward became a major center for black refugees along the NC coast. In 1864, there were nearly 2500 freed men living in Union Town out of the total state number of 17,419. By 1865, the number had grown to 3,245 making Beaufort the second largest black refugee center behind James City, which is near New Bern.

· On Broad St., between Turner and Craven, is the location of the Confederate Memorial Monument to over 40 thousand NC’s who died as a result of the war. Erected in 1926, the figure on the pedestal has his back to the North.

· During the Civil War, the town and harbor were visited by not only Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, but also Gen. W.T. Sherman and Gen. U.S. Grant.

Diamond City - East end of Shackleford Banks

· Diamond City, so named due its proximity to the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, was located on the eastern end of Shackleford Banks. During the later part of the nineteenth-century, it was the most populated village on the entire Outer Banks.

· Almost in the center of the village was a sand dune estimated to be twelve hundred feet long, four hundred feet wide, and at least forty feet high. For many years the dune offered Diamond City protection from the wild Atlantic storms.

· Homes and furniture to furnish them were built of wood from the timbers of shipwrecks and the forests along Shackleford Banks. Natives made their living in the very waters that were destined to eventually drive them away from this area. The biggest industry at the time was whaling.

Two great storms in the later part of the 1800s would eventually toll the end of Diamond City and four other communities on Shackleford Banks. The storm surge of the hurricane of 1899 devastated the area. Homes were washed away, fertile land was replaced by salty sand, cattle and other livestock killed, and graves lay uncovered in its wake. The sand dune was gone, and with it the hopes of the hardy residents who had withstood the harsh elements for so many years. By 1902, only a few old cemeteries and fishing shacks remained in Diamond City. Her people had moved to Harker's Island, or inland to Morehead City to an area that is still referred to today as the "Promised Land."

Blackbeard the Pirate

· Little is known concerning the origin of Blackbeard the pirate. Documents suggest both Bristol and London in England, the island of Jamaica, and even Philadelphia as his home. He is said to have operated out of Jamaica as a privateer during the Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) previous to becoming a pirate. Historical sources vary as to Blackbeard's real name. Although popularly known as Edward Teach, documents of the time indicate that his surname was most often written "Thatch". He wore Long Black Braided Hair. Could be very charming or very brutal. Used candles in his beard to scare opponents in war.

· Blackbeard was unusual because he was educated, from a middle class family, and fell into piracy as a matter of convenience. Originally was a privateer working for the British government.

· Known as “the fiercest pirate of them all” and as the “Devil incarnate”

· Blackbeard once played to this reputation by shutting himself and some of his crew up below decks and lighting a pot of brimstone. He declared that he could withstand the “Hell on Earth” better than them all. He won.

· In another drinking bout, Blackbeard shot his sailing master, Israel Hands, by secretly drawing pistols under the table, blowing out the candle, and randomly shooting his guns, wounding Hands in the knee. His explanation was “if he did not now and then kill one of them, they would forget who he was.”

· Blackbeard first appeared in Jamaica as a seaman under the famous privateer Capt. Benjamin Hornigold. He “often distinguished himself for his uncommon Boldness and personal Courage”. Though Hornigold's activities as a pirate can be traced back to as early as 1714, it is not known for sure when Thatch joined his crew. The earliest mention of Blackbeard by name found to date is in a ship captain's report indicating his presence in Providence, Bahamas in March 1717. Blackbeard participated in the capture of over fifty vessels, some in association with other pirate leaders, Hornigold and Stede Bonnet.

· Blackbeard used Beaufort harbor for rest, relaxation, careening and supplying his ships.

· Blackbeard’s flag ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge was driven aground in the Beaufort Inlet. The Adventure, piloted by Israel Hands attempted to help warp the QAR off of the sand bar, but she was grounded and lost as well. Blackbeard was accused of intentionally grounding the QAR to reduce the number of pirates with whom he’d have to share the spoils. Blackbeard took the accusers and their followers, all two dozen of them, and marooned them on a desolate sandy island, probably Bogue Banks.

· Some say that Blackbeard had The Hammock House built and stayed there very frequently, rowing in from his ship in The Creek and tying his dingy to the front porch. Some say there was treasure buried in the yard.

· Legend of Blackbeard’s cup. At Blackbeard’s palace on Ocracoke. Password was required to join in the passing of Blackbeard’s Cup, which was actually Blackbeard’s skull guilded in silver.

The Wreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge

· Blackbeard’s flag ship The Queen Anne’s Revenge was found just a mile or so from Beaufort Inlet in 1996.

· Blackbeard captured a French slave ship called the Concorde off the island of St. Vincent on November 28, 1717. The ship became Blackbeard's price for being a fierce and able pirate. French historical documents indicate that the Concorde was a 200 ton vessel with an original armament of 14 cannon. Thatch strengthened the armament of the ship to around 40 cannon, renamed her the Queen Anne's Revenge, and for the next six months used the ship in consort with smaller sloops to harass shipping throughout the Caribbean and up the eastern seaboard of North America.

· According to various letters and depositions, Blackbeard ran both the Queen Anne's Revenge and a smaller consort sloop, Adventure, aground off Topsail Inlet (present day Beaufort Inlet) in early June 1718. According to reports left by some of the pirates who were present, Blackbeard did this in order to break up his company of 300 to 400 men. This effectively allowed the pirates to divide the plunder accumulated to that point among far fewer men; forty or less by some accounts.

· Found in 1996, exactly 278 years to the day since Blackbeard was killed at Ocracoke Inlet, the QAR, Blackbeard’s former flagship, was found in Beaufort Inlet. The project to locate the QAR began in 1982 with a research project of David Moore, a NC native and graduate student at ECU. His work to locate the QAR resulted in the interest of a Floridian treasure hunter named Phil Masters. Masters obtained a permit to search for the QAR in 1996, and on the last scheduled day of scheduled surveying, divers found anomalies on the ocean floor that could be the QAR. Further dives and the discovery of several cannons, a large bronze bell, a gun barrel, a 21 pound deep sea sounding weight, cannon balls and more.

Beaufort, NC

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