Columns

By David Freeze

I visited Kinston early on Sunday morning, June 25. Kinston is a totally flat town with two high-rise apartment buildings used for affordable housing and lots of empty store fronts. The county seat of Lenoir County, Kinston was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in December 1762 as “Kingston,” in honor of King George III in England. Richard Caswell, who made his home locally and served as the first governor of the state of North Carolina from 1776 to 1780, was later honored when the name changed to Caswell in 1833. It was renamed Kinston the following year.

During the Civil War, Kinston was prominent in several ways. Factories made shoes and a bakery made hardtack for the Confederate armies, while two training camps were established locally. Most notably, the Battle of Wyse Creek was held close by in March 1865. As part of the battle, the Confederates destroyed their own gunboat, the CSS Neuse, in the river. For about 100 years, the ship remained in the river, until the remaining parts were removed and placed in a new museum. A fantastic replica ship is now on display. I found the gate open and got some great pictures.

Horse-drawn carriages, tobacco, cotton and lumber have been major economic drivers. The Neuse River flooded portions of the city in 1996 and 1999 from Hurricanes Fran and Floyd. The Lenoir County Courthouse was built in 1939. Kinston’s combination Fire Station No. 1 and City Hall was built in 1895, now housing a museum. A historical marker commemorates the Birth of Funk with James Brown’s band in the 1960s.

Duplin County’s seat is Kenansville, first settled in 1735 by Northern Ireland immigrants and called “Golden Grove.” Incorporated in 1852, it was renamed Kenansville after James Kenan, an early planter, soldier and N.C. Senate member, whose home is now a museum called Liberty Hall Plantation.

Kenansville is very small but includes a hospital, several beautiful older homes and a Civil War era church, Kenansville Baptist Church, built in 1858. The huge and well-kept Duplin County Courthouse was built in 1911.

The next county seat was Clinton of Sampson County. First settlers came to Clinton, called Clinton Courthouse then but changed to Clinton after another town of the same name folded. Sampson is the largest county by land mass in North Carolina. Clinton was named after Richard Clinton, an early resident who became a Revolutionary War hero and then later had extensive governmental service. Another famous early resident was Micajah Autry, who fought and died with Davy Crockett at the Alamo in Texas. Clinton was incorporated in 1822. The Sampson County Courthouse was built in 1939. Clinton has an old depot still used as a restaurant and the old movie theater is now the Sampson Community Theatre.

My next stop was at Goldsboro, home of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and county seat of Wayne County. Nearly every store in a revitalized and interesting downtown was open and most of the parking spaces were taken.

First named “Goldsborough’s Junction” after Major Matthew T. Goldsborough, an engineer with the railroad line, before the name was shortened simply to Goldsborough. In 1847, the town was incorporated and became the new Wayne County seat following a vote of the citizens. Local legend has it that Goldsborough supporters put moonshine in the town’s well to encourage people to vote for Goldsborough.

Due to its importance as a railroad hub, several major Civil War battles were fought in this area. General Sherman’s Union force of 100,000 soldiers targeted Goldsboro as the main N.C. conquest on its way north in 1865. His force spent about three weeks in the area.

Seymore Johnson Army Air Force base opened in 1942 and was then renamed in 1947 when the Air Force became a separate service. Andy Griffith taught high school classes here in English and drama. A pharmacy exists in what was Goldsboro’s first hospital in 1896, and the Wayne County Courthouse was built in 1914. Two high rise hotels remain, one of them now luxury apartments in “The View, at Wayne National,” a former bank building.

Smithfield, the county seat of Johnston County, was the next stop. Founded near Smith’s Ferry on the Neuse River, Smithfield was Johnston County’s first town and second county seat. The county courthouse was moved from Hinton’s Quarter to Smithfield in 1771. The settlement was first known as Johnston County Court House, then incorporated as Smithfield in 1777. The third North Carolina state legislature met in Smithfield in 1779 and 1780.

Ava Gardner was the most famous resident, although she was actually from Grabtown, an unincorporated community next door. Gardner was a major film actress from 1941 until the mid-1980s. The Ava Gardner Museum is a popular attraction in the downtown area. The Johnston County Courthouse was built in 1920-21. U.S. Marine Dan Bullock is honored as the youngest soldier killed in Vietnam, at age 15.

I stopped briefly at the Neuse Little Theatre and talked with Patsy Castellano and Gregory Hill who were about to begin their last performance of Frozen. Greg asked me if I wanted to see the inside of the rustic theatre. The temperature in the theatre more resembled the play’s title. The Buffalo Creek Greenway is just behind the theatre.

Also on the greenway was the 1854 William Hastings house, which served as the pre-battle command office for Confederate Generals Joseph E. Johnston and Braxton Bragg. Together in these rooms, they planned to engage General Sherman near Bentonville in March 1865. Johnston’s troops were outnumbered 4 to 1. After defeat, his troops retreated on March 21, 1865. This would be the last major Confederate offensive of the Civil War, which ended three weeks later with Lee’s surrender in Appomattox on April 9. The Hastings house was moved twice before reaching its current location.

With 74 counties visited, I have 26 remaining. These five locations totaled 8.07 miles on foot. See you back here soon as I head east again!

By David Freeze

Leftover from a previous segment of county touring was Tarboro. On the way home from several eastern coastal plain counties, I stopped since it was close to the interstate. Tarrburg, then Tarrborough finally became Tarboro in 1760 when chartered by British colonists. On the banks of the Tar River, the town is the ninth oldest in the state and was a thriving trade center until the Civil War, when more than half of the population was enslaved. Tarboro became the county seat of Edgecombe County in 1764. George Washington slept here in 1791.

A long series of 19th century storefronts and about 300 historic residences can be seen in town, on the way to the 15-acre Town Common. The Town Common originally surrounded the town and is the second-oldest legislated town common in the country. Initially the location for common grazing of livestock, community gatherings and military drills, the Town Common is the only remaining original common on the east coast besides the one in Boston, Massachusetts. I missed N.C.’s last remaining cotton press located there too. The Edgecombe County Courthouse was completed in 1965, but in a style called Modern Colonial Revival that makes it look old. More recently, Tarboro experienced severe flooding from Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

Next stop was Hillsborough, the county seat of Orange County. On the Eno River, the town was built on the site of Native American settlements that existed from 1000-1710. I found a booming farmer’s market and the Riverwalk on the Eno near the oldest part of town. Founded in 1754, it was not until 1766 that the town was named Hillsborough, after Wills Hill, then the Earl of Hillsborough, the British secretary of state for the colonies, and a relative of royal Governor William Tryon. The Regulator Movement increased tension as local residents and British colonial officials clashed when some of those locals took up arms protesting taxes and seizure of land, resulting in the loss of six lives by hanging.

The town was also the site of the first North Carolina ratifying convention, which met July 21-Aug. 2, 1788, to deliberate and determine whether or not to ratify the Constitution recommended to the states by the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia the previous summer. The meeting was held at the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church. A later building, constructed in 1816, still stands. Declaration of Independence signer William Hooper was buried at the same church but his remains were moved later. There are more than 100 surviving late 18th century and 19th century homes and the town, once known as the “capital of the back country”, still looks much the same as it did then. The historic Orange County Courthouse was built in 1844 and has a clock presented to the town by English officials. The inns and several of the oldest homes have the modern sidewalk next to the front steps.

I made the short drive to Snow Hill, county seat of Greene County. Snow Hill was chartered in 1828 and was originally a major trading depot on Contentnea Creek. At the time, Contentnea Creek was a main Wilson-to-New Bern trading artery, connecting with the Neuse River at Kinston. The name Snow Hill is thought to refer to the white sand banks of Contentnea Creek.

Snow Hill, considered the smallest town to ever do so, fielded a professional Class D baseball team called the Billies from 1937-1941. The Greene County Courthouse was built in 1935. Beautiful historic homes dominate the quiet streets. Only a handful of retail businesses exist today.

Next up was Greenville, county seat of Pitt County, founded in 1771 as “Martinsborough,” named after the Royal Governor Josiah Martin. In 1774 the town was moved to its present location on the south bank of the Tar River, three miles west of its original site. In 1786, the name was changed to Greenesville in honor of General Nathanael Greene, the American Revolutionary War hero. It was later shortened to Greenville.

Greenville had several steamboat lines plying the Tar River with passengers and goods by the 1860s. Cotton and eventually tobacco fueled the local economy. The Pitt County Courthouse was built in 1910. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd dropped 17 inches of rain, mostly overnight, and caused the Tar River to flood at a 500-year level. Major flooding and damage occurred in town. In early 2020, the city council authorized the purchase of approximately 163 acres of land north of the Tar River for the development of an adventure park focusing on outdoor recreational activities such as running, hiking, biking and camping along with lake-based and river recreation. Greenville features a greenway system of more than nine miles that connects the medical and educational community with the Uptown District and Tar River. East Carolina University is the fourth largest university in the UNC system.

The Greenville historic district had some real gems. I talked with Jeremy Law, chef and owner, at the SOCO restaurant. He said the house, built about 1895, was moved twice and held together well. The Fleming house next door, built in 1901, was also spectacular. George Washington also visited Greenville in 1791. The Proctor Hotel, built about 1912 with an “air of refinement,” had undergone renovation in 2004. The downtown area was not busy on a Friday evening, but just a short walk away several restaurants were very busy in what is called Uptown Greenville.

With this writing, we’re now at 69 county seats visited with 31 more to go. Most of the counties remaining are well east of Rowan. And speaking of Rowan, I’ll do it last. Back soon with more!