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Thank you, Sandee Kornegay, for trusting me with your orginial hardcopy of “Historic Celebration and Pageant – New Bern, North Carolina” dated Jun 11th, 1929 – by Gertrude S. Carraway. Terrific History Lesson!
With the Fourth of July Celebrations approaching I thought readers might enjoy some of the documented history from this interesting booklet.
After reading it, I realized the residents of New Bern had the same pride in preserving New Bern’s history as we do today – 81 years later.
The publication highlighted the First Baptist Church, Christ Episcopal Church, St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church and numerous historic places and landmarks throughout the City of New Bern. Some, I’ve never heard of, but I’m not a historian and some houses may have been turned into office buildings or their names were changed as the many street names were changed.
In 1929, residents opened there homes to an “Old House” Tour. The historic homes were identified with a soldier posted at the door alongside a displayed flag. Old Homes mentioned:
Broad Street Homes: Hollister House and Oliver House
Lord Pollock Street (aka Pollock Street) Homes: Stevenson House and Hyman House
East Front Street (“Rivershore”) Homes: Duffy-Oaksmith House, Bishop-“Emory House”, Justice House, Hartsfield Garden, Moulton-Vail House, Jones-Smallwood House, Slover-Slave House, Sudan (Shrine) Home
Governor Johnson Street (aka Johnson Street): Bradham-Slover House
Corner of Lord Craven and Governor Johnson Streets (aka Craven/Johnson Streets): Duffy-Jerkins House
Middle Street: Lee House – Headquarters of “Light Horse Harry” Lee, Father of General Robert E. Lee
King George’s Road (aka George Street): Remaining Wing of Tryon Palace, first Capitol of North Carolina (not open to visitors). Near Trent River bridge
Hancock Street: Masonic Lodge Rooms
Church Relics Shown: First Baptist Church (Middle Street), Presbyterian Church (New Street), Episcopal Church (Pollock Street), Catholic Church (Middle Street)
New Bern was referred to as the “Cradle of North Carolina”. They believed “from a historical standpoint” New Bern was “one of the most interesting and important Cities in America.” New Bern was also known as the “Athens of North Carolina”. “From its schools and homes came some of the leading men and women of the South”.
Did you know that New Bern was the first City in North Carolina to celebrate Independence Day in 1778? What about St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church (Old St. Paul’s) being the first Catholic Church in North Carolina? New Bern was also known as the “smallest city in the World to have all Masonic degrees conferred”?
Please feel free to share information about New Bern’s History with our viewers. You can send an email or give us a call.
Thank you.
Wendy Card