- Title
- Our state
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-
- Date
- May 1999
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-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
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Our state
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The 300-year-old seaside
community of Beaufort is hustling
these days — unloading more
tourists than fish and highlighting
its seafaring past through its
thriving wharf legendary ship- and
home-huilding, fishing
traditions , and prowling pirates.
story hy Kathy Grant Westbrook
photography hy Alan Watson
Used to. you couldn't gel there from here. At least, you
couldn't get there except by boat — “there" lieing Beaufort,
the county seat of coastal Carteret County. Beaufort is locat¬
ed on a chunk ol land separated front the North Carolina
mainland l>\ the Newport River, which selves as the
Intracoastal Waterway. Incorporated in 172:?. Beaufort is
North Carolina's tliird-oldest town. vet. for many years, its
location isolated it from the rest ol the state. That changed
when, in l‘N)N. it was finally "attached" to the mainland l>\
railroad tracks that were extended at ross the river. In I ‘126.
Beaufort I
и
-came even more accessible when a highway
bridge was construe ted.
Beaufort was built on a site whit h had previously been
inhabited by Indians. Originally, the town developed as a
fishing village and a port of safety. During the 1 700s. wealthy
plantation owners began building townhouses here. They
chose Beaufort for a couple of reasons: First, its waterfront
location matle it a natural home base for sea-related business¬
es such as fishing and shipping. Second, planters’ families
often vacationed in their Beaufort townhouses counting on
cool ocean breezes to provide relief from summer's relentless
heat. Because- many homes in Beaufort were "second"
homes, they tend to
Ы-
more modest in si/e than some of the
houses found in North Carolina's other historic towns.
Home sued home
It's easy to get a sense of Beaufort's history by simply tour¬
ing the town and admiring some of these early homes. A
t
80 Our State May 1999