Historic Bath: NORTH CAROLINAS OLDEST TOWN CELEBRATES 300th BIRTHDAY
It
is 300 years ago, and you are standing on a point of land deep within
the watery world of Carolina's sound country overlooking a bay, the
confluence of two wide, dark-water creeks that flow into the nearby
Pamlico River and widen into Pamlico Sound. Beyond, Ocracoke Inlet
provides a conduit to the Atlantic Ocean and the distant worlds of the
Caribbean Islands, Mother England, and the fledgling towns of the
Eastern Seaboard. A fine sloop comes into view, and its crew readies to
drop anchor in the sheltered waters. There is water traffic on the
creeks-periaugers carrying timber and deerskins-glide easily to the
shore's edge, perhaps a shallow draft skiff heaves into sight laden
with oysters. You are on land that will be known as Bonner's Point in
historic Bath Town, a place that will encompass many firsts for the
burgeoning colony that will become North Carolina.
Bath is North
Carolina's oldest incorporated town and its first port, chartered by an
act of the Colonial General Assembly in 1705 in the picturesque country
between the eastern Piedmont and the barrier islands of the Outer
Banks. Now enjoying a yearlong tricentennial celebration, Bath is an
easy drive from the Triangle via N.C. 64/264 to Washington, and from
Washington east on Highway 92. The landscape is water, marsh and
cropland punctuated by a scattering of handsome old houses. This is the
essential Inner Banks, the setting for much of North Carolina's early
social, economic and political history, and for some of its most
enduring romantic legends.
Bath's location on a bluff
overlooking the juncture of Bath and Back Creeks, a little more than a
mile from the Pamlico River, is the key to its significant place in the
early development of North Carolina-and to its serene beauty, one of
the town's chief assets. This setting no doubt caught the eye of
Englishman John Lawson, deputy of Edward Moseley, the surveyor general
of North Carolina. In 1704 or 1705, Lawson, along with Joel Martin and
Simon Alderson, purchased 60 acres from David Perkins to build a town.
The establishment of Bath was part of the effort by the Lords
Proprietors to encourage settlement along the Pamlico River by
strengthening government in the Carolina colony. Lawson, whose early
travels in the Carolinas had resulted in the remarkable journal, A New
Voyage to Carolina, was a renaissance man-explorer, naturalist, public
official, planter and trader-and, until his untimely death at the hands
of the Tuscarora Indians in 1711, a sympathetic advocate for the Native
Americans being displaced by the European settlers.
Bath
suffered through the difficult years of the Tuscarora Indian War
(1711-1715) and the uncertain political times of Cary's Rebellion,
which pitted settler against settler in Thomas Cary's dispute with
Edward Hyde for the governorship of the colony. When Charles Eden
succeeded Hyde as Colonial Governor in 1714, he made Bath his home and
shortly thereafter the General Assembly designated the town Port Bath,
the colony's first official port of entry for shipping. The growth in
trade and its designation as a port town had a profound effect on Bath,
ushering in a period of growth, prosperity and notoriety that continued
through much of the 18th century. This early history as a flourishing
commercial center is still evident in Bath's remarkable architectural
heritage and its pristine waterfront setting.
"It is the Port of
Bath and the romance of ships and pirates that we are celebrating with
our Maritime Heritage Days," says Pat Mansfield, who, with co-chair
Nelda Ormond is spearheading the planning and implementation of the
three action-packed days in September. "We are fortunate to have the
Elizabeth II visiting from Manteo's Roanoke Island Festival Park," says
Mansfield, referring to a representative 16th-century vessel similar to
the one Columbus sailed to the New World. "In addition, we will have an
18th-century periauger, constructed by the North Carolina Maritime
Museum, our shallow-draft boat used in inner-coastal waters for moving
passengers, livestock and supplies in shallow creeks and bays. The
roster of vessels that will be moored in the bay and at the State Dock,
visible from the Bath Creek Bridge, numbers more than 75. It includes
traditional shad boats, skiffs and the Ada Mae, a local skipjack used
for, among other chores, oyster-dredging. The Elizabeth II will be
available for tours during Maritime Heritage Days and there will be
craft demonstrations throughout the Historic Bath State Historic Site,
a protected district including four historic properties on the original
streets laid out by John Lawson. Since 1963, the site has been
administered by the Office of Archives and History in North Carolina's
Department of Cultural Resources, in concert with the Historic Bath
Commission.
Mansfield and Ormond and their committee have more
in store during the three-day event, all focusing on the maritime
heritage of Bath and North Carolina. Mock battles with bombardments
will be staged in Bath Creek, and a pirate's encampment will be
re-created at Pirate's Cove. Music will include traditional bluegrass
by a local group, Simon Spalding and the Back Creek Band, and a concert
of authentic sea chanties at Bonner's Point, the town's scenic
waterfront park. "There will be a lecture at the Visitor's Center on
'Ships & Boats in Bath, First Port in North Carolina,'" says
Mansfield, "including a discussion of Blackbeard's sloop, Adventure,
which was registered in Bath."
Mansfield, along with her retired
engineer husband Michael, is an ardent sailor. She has visions of
commissioning the creation of a model of the Adventure to add to Bath's
appeal as a historic tourist destination. Mansfield points out that
there is a strong preservation movement in Bath, and volunteers are
working with the statewide preservation organization, Preservation
North Carolina, to save the old Bath School. "It would also be a great
place for a museum with some of the artifacts from Blackbeard's
flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge, which are currently being retrieved,
studied and preserved by an underwater archaeological expedition
working near Topsail Inlet at Beaufort," says Mansfield. "After all,
Blackbeard had a house on Plum Point, on the other side of Bath Creek,
and according to legend, married a local girl during the time he
resided in Bath in 1718."
The ghost of Blackbeard
The
presence of Edward Teach, better known as the pirate and privateer
Blackbeard, is almost palpable along Bath's broad streets and beneath
the shady trees on Bonner's Point. One of history's most colorful
villains, Teach terrorized islands throughout the Caribbean and
acquired his ships by overwhelming their captains and commandeering the
vessel and crew. When the lure of amnesty for his piracy brought him to
Bath, Blackbeard surrendered to Governor Eden, received his certificate
of pardon, and made Bath his base of operations and Eden his friend and
compatriot. Though Eden and his Chief Justice Tobias Knight were
suspected of trafficking in stolen goods with Blackbeard, neither man
was ever prosecuted. The notorious pirate met his end in 1718 at the
hands of Lt. Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy in a fierce battle off
Ocracoke Island. Maynard had been dispatched to pursue and destroy
Blackbeard by Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood at the request of
influential North Carolinians.
Patricia Samford, site manager
for Historic Bath, agrees with Mansfield that Bath's early maritime
history and its association with the infamous Blackbeard are a great
draw for visitors interested in history and adventure. "Our Visitor's
Center has an excellent exhibit on artifacts retrieved from the Queen
Anne's Revenge underwater archaeological and salvage operation on loan
until Aug. 31, 2005, from the North Carolina Maritime Museum in
Beaufort," says Samford. "The publicity surrounding this important
project, plus the media attention the yearlong celebration of Bath's
tricentennial is receiving, has increased our visitation by 125 percent
over last year. We want to capitalize on this activity and on our
preeminent place as the colony's first port and a major source of
maritime commerce in the first three-quarters of the 18th century."
Samford
is also pleased that the outdoor drama Blackbeard: Knight of the Black
Flag, written by Greenville author Stuart Aronson, is being revived as
part of the tricentennial Celebration. "Tom and Gloria Ormond have
built an amphitheater for the drama just two miles outside town on
Highway 92," says Samford. "Their intention is to continue attracting
other productions and concerts to the venue after the Blackbeard drama
concludes in mid-August. The production draws on the talents of East
Carolina University faculty and performing arts students, as well as
some local residents," Samford adds as she proudly displays the poster
for the Blackbeard play displayed in the Visitor's Center.
Bath's historic buildings
Tours
of the Historic Bath properties are conducted by a well-trained cadre
of docents, some of whom can trace their Bath lineage back five
generations. The oldest house in town, the 1751 Palmer-Marsh House, a
National Historic Landmark, is notable for its unusual size and its
spectacular east gable end pent-joined chimneys that serve four
fireplaces, two on each floor. Built originally for French merchant,
legislator and town commissioner Captain Michael Coutanche, the house
soon passed to Colonel Robert Palmer, who served as Surveyor General
and a member of the Governor's Council, as well as Collector for Port
Bath. The Palmer-Marsh House was owned by Robert and his son William
for almost 40 years and was known as a place of hospitality to Bath's
visitors. It was purchased in 1802 by Jonathan and Daniel Gould Marsh,
ship owners and merchants from Providence, Rhode Island, and remained
in their family for 100 years. The home is a classic Georgian-style
hall-and-parlor plan with a large central room that serves as a
reception area flanked by two smaller rooms and one large room
featuring an entrance from Main Street. The larger room may have served
as a business office and a display area for wares brought from abroad.
On Front Street, on the site where John Lawson's house once stood, is
the 1830 Joseph Bonner House, an example of the simple but charming
vernacular architecture of Eastern North Carolina. The house is
distinguished by lovely mantels and the remains of original decorative
painting in the upstairs master bedroom.
No tour of Bath would
be complete without a stop at St. Thomas Church, the earliest extant in
North Carolina. Begun in 1734 under the leadership of Reverend John
Garzia, the spare rectilinear building has two-foot-thick brick walls
laid in Flemish bond. It is surrounded by a rustic wall constructed of
ballast rock recovered from Bath Creek. Josephine Hookway, Chair of the
Historic Bath Commission, describes the recent visit to St. Thomas by
the retired Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton. "The
Archbishop's visit was part of the year long celebration of Bath's
tricentennial," says Hookway. "When he gave his sermon on Sunday
morning, the congregation and choir came dressed in Colonial costume.
It was a fun thing to do."
Come to Bath for three days, Sept.
23, 24 & 25, and join in this remarkable community's celebration of
300 years of swashbuckling history. You can join town folk in Colonial
dress or pirate gear in a street dance, the Buccaneer Bash, sample
eastern-style barbecue, homemade ice cream, chicken dinners and local
fried fish, and dodge sword-fighting pirates. Then on Sunday, September
25, stand on the Bath Creek Bridge and survey the flotilla of boats and
the Blessing of the Fleet while remembering the mariners from near and
far who sailed to North Carolina's Port Bath. (Schedule of events is
online at www.historicbathnc.com or call 252-923-3971 for information.)
The Ormond Amphitheatre Hosts Blackbeard Revival
By Diane Lea
A
300th birthday is a major landmark in any community's life. When the
town of Bath's tricentennial Steering Committee began planning for its
yearlong birthday bash in 2005, they sought a signature event that
would be local, historical and entertaining. A revival of the outdoor
drama, Blackbeard: Knight of the Black Flag, fit the bill perfectly.
The drama, written about Bath and its notorious pirate resident, by
Greenville author Stuart Aronson, had been performed on the banks of
Bath Creek between 1976 and 1986, attracting enthusiastic audiences.
However, the creek site became unavailable, and finding a venue for the
performance was a problem. So local residents and Bath natives Tom and
Gloria Ormond decided to build an amphitheater that would accommodate
the drama's revival and would also attract other events, theatrical
productions and concerts. The conversion of a 60-acre cotton field to a functional
and attractive public amphitheater became a family project when the
Ormonds' son-in-law, Timothy Griekspoor, took on the design of the
155-foot-wide stage with its flanking rooms for costume and set
storage, dressing areas and mechanical systems. Griekspoor also
designed and built the 30-feet-long stage prop of Blackbeard's ship
Adventure for the drama's grand finale. Tom Ormond, himself a pretty
good designer, hauled in 250 truckloads of dirt to create the slope
from the amphitheater's entrance to the stage that allows good views
from all the seats. The bench seats that Ormond's colleague Jim Shepeck
designed to Ormond's specifications use rustproof perforated seats from
grain bins as backs and bottoms. As Tom and Gloria greet the night's
audience, they can count several members of their extended family at
work directing parking, policing the grounds and solving last-minute
problems in the wings. Their children and grandchildren take tickets
and man the concession stands. "I grew up searching for Blackbeard's
treasure on the banks of that creek over there," says Ormond with a
smile, pointing to the edge of his amphitheater site. "The only fortune
here is the one I put into this cotton field!" As a focal point of
Bath's 300th birthday, the amphitheater appears to be worth every penny.
Robert Mihaly:
Renaissance Sculptor in Person County
By Diane Lea
Follow
the gravel driveway off a Person County road and wend your way up to a
wooded peak overlooking the verdant forests of the Piedmont. But what
most people want to see when they visit sculptor Robert Mihaly is not
the fine view but his almost completed residence. It is a castle. There
is no other way to describe the fanciful construction, home to Mihaly
and at least one sleeping cat. With multiple rooflines graced by no
less than 18 pinnacles, several pedimented dormers and one turret, the
masonry structure is a wonderful Oz-like creation. However, what Mihaly
is notable for is his impeccable craftsmanship as a self-taught stone
carver and sculptor. His commissions range from gargoyles for Duke
University's Gothic Revival buildings to a 12-ton marble commemorative
angel for a family who lost a child.
At present, Mihaly is at
work on his most challenging commission, a mausoleum for a Raleigh
business executive and art lover. The inspiration for the patron's
final resting place was found in Jedburgh, Scotland, and Mihaly
journeyed to the site to absorb and photograph the Gothic structure.
"Most of my sculpture is based on stonework from the Renaissance to the
late 19th century," says Mihaly. "It requires painstaking attention to
the craft. The mausoleum has taken me about 15 months to carve and
assemble." Mihaly has executed the monument in pristine limestone. The
smooth beauty of the decorative elements and the perfect proportions of
the whole piece are awesome. Robert Mihaly is an inspired artisan whose
rustic workshop, set against the backdrop of castle and forest, seems
unquestionably fitting.