t
THE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
Ев1,г*4
•* Mconil <!■■■ mailer, June 1, 1938. el Ike PMloffit, el Releljh, North
Cerolioe. under ibe Art of Unrrh 8, 1879.
Vol. IX. No. 24 November 15, 1941
Pasquotank
Where the first session off a
North Carolina legislature was
held, where the first seliool-
liouse in the state was built and
where the first revolt against
Kritish rule took place.
«I/
CARL GOERCII
ASQUOTANK!
And immediately 'vo know
what you’re thinking of. . . .
Bullfrogs!
According to George 1. Xowif/.kv
in his hook: “Norfolk, the Marine
Metropolis of Virginia, ami the
Sounds, Rivers and Cities of North
Carolina,” the poem about Pasquo¬
tank and tin? bullfrogs was written
by Charles Luther Greaves in 1012.
It is claimed that the lines were
written about “a Briton who selected
this little city (Elizabeth City) for
his haven about the time Tom Moore
threw his slurs at Norfolk in 1804,”
This Briton apparently failed to make
a very favorable impression, for the
following oft-quoted lines were writ¬
ten about him when he left:
He came to the banks
Of the Pasquotank,
Where the bullfrogs jump
From bank to bank.
Full of conceit
And ferocious ire.
A scoundrel at heart.
An unmitigated liar.
When he left, the frogs
On both the banks.
Croaked themselves hoarse
In chanting their thanks.
But of course, the association of
Pasquotank with bullfrogs is purely
an imaginary one, lieeaiisc there are
no more bullfrogs in that section of
the state than there are anywhere else
in the coastal area.
of the most accommodating city
officials wc have in North Carolina is
•leromo B. Flora, who has been mayor
of Elizabeth City ever since 1027 and
who has the respect and esteem of
everyone who knows him. When we
dropped in at his office last Wednes¬
day morning. .Icrome grabbed his lint
and said: “Come on: I've got some¬
thing I want to show you."
Accompanied by a neighbor's dog.
named Pluto, wo drove through Eliza¬
beth City with its modern business
buildings and lovely old homes and
down into the lower part of the
COUlity. Wc saw the marker creeled on
the spot where the lir-t legislature in
North Carolina’s history convened.
A short distance away, another
marker, commemorating the first
school ever to function in this state.
We visited Nixon ton, on Little River,
where stands a building which at one
time was used as a customs house and
is one of the oldest houses in the
county. At that point, too, we saw
fences and houses built of stones
which had lieen used by ocean-going
vessels as ballast. We paused briefly
while
Легоше
pointed out the place
where the famous Culpepper Rebel¬
lion took place during Colonial days.
We visited Wreksville and went on
further east where the new Idimp base
This marker commemorates the site
of the first public school in North
Carolina. Mayor Jerome Flora of
Elizabeth City is the gentleman
standing beside it.
is being established. Men there are
busily engaged in erecting new build¬
ings. The hangar will In- a steel struc¬
ture 800 feet in length. 300 feet in
width and with a elenram . . 260
f«4‘t- the largest building to bo found
anywhere in the slate.
A short distance away is the Coast
Guard Air Base, of which curly-
haired ami affable Lieutenant Com¬
mander R. L. Burke i- in charge. This
base, as you probably know, is a
stopping point for many lumber*
which are l-dng ferried over to Eng¬
land. via Bermuda.
Back toward Elizabeth City, we
stopped at Messrs. Sanders’ Eastern
Carolina Shipyards, where 110-feet
eraft are l*eing built for short patrol
work. Three of these vessels already
1
