New
Bern, the second oldest city in
North Carolina, was settled in 1710
by German Palatine and Swiss colonists
led by Baron Christophe von Graffenreid.
He purchased the land from the Tuscarora
Indians who had a small settlement
here known as Chattawka, which meant
"where the fish are taken out."
As a point of interest, the oldest
water elm tree in the US still stands
in the historic section of downtown,
and under that tree the treaty with
the Indians was signed!
Named
for the city of Bern Switzerland,
the town was located on the triangle
of land where the Trent and Neuse
Rivers meet.
The
original settlers suffered with
the climate, a lack of provisions,
diseases and Indian problems.
A
"Carolina Charter" was
issued by King Charles II after
he was restored to the throne in
1660 granting his
loyal supporters and drinking buddies,
(The Lords Proprietor) wide areas
of land in the New World. The Carolina
Charter spread from Virginia to
the Spanish border of Florida. The
name Carolina came from "Carolus",
the Latin word for Charles. William,
Earl of Craven was one of the original
Lords Proprietor and Craven County
bears his name.
The
royal governor William Tryon, saw
the need for a permanent capital
in the growing colony and selected
New Bern as the site. Tryon Palace,
first colonial and state capital
building of North Carolina was designed
by the English architect, John Hawks.
the palace was completed in 1770.
It was a political center during
the Revolution, the then governor
fled the capitol for safety in 1775,
and the port sheltered many privateers
during that War. Even before the
Revolutionary War,
New Bern was known and visited by
the pirates who terrorized the Carolina
shoreline. Nearby Beaufort has one
of Blackbeard's houses, "Hammock
House" where purportedly his
men and/or a wife stayed on shore
leave. Blackbeard's famous ship
"Queen Anne's Revenge"
was discovered in the shallow
waters off the Beaufort coast.
After
the Revolution, New Bern became
wealthy and developed a rich cultural
life. In fact, at one time New Bern
was called "the Athens of the
South." The Tryon Palace was
the capital of the independent State
of North Carolina. It is a town
of many firsts: The first school
to be chartered in North Carolina,
first Roman Catholic church and
the first Jewish synagogue in North
Carolina. Renowned in the South
were the Masonic Temple and the
Athens Theater, both still very
active in the town.
Union
forces (called "federals"
at the time) captured New Bern early
in the Civil War (March 14, 1862).
The officers occupied the larger
homes in the town, and the town
was filled with Union troops for
the rest of the War. For this reason,
there was less damage to New Bern
than to many small Southern towns.
After
the difficulty of Reconstruction,
New Bern came to life again and
by 1916, there were 16 lumber mills
here. A thriving pitch and turpentine
trade was established. It was also
a source of seafood that was shipped
far and wide.
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