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Town Of Bath To Celebrate Historic 300 th Anniversary

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Contact:
For more information contact Lynn Lewis at 252-948-9415 or 252-945-1344 /
E-mail: lynn@originalwashington.com or Kim Sawyer at 252-473-5723 /
E-mail: kim.sawyer@ncmail.net

BATH (Feb. 28, 2005)—North Carolina’s oldest town of Bath will kick off a spectacular year-long birthday celebration Tuesday, March 8 with gala opening festivities mixing history, government, culture and even Down East barbeque. Highlights will include a rare meeting outside Raleigh of the General Assembly and an exhibit featuring the original Carolina Charter, a document that established the Carolina colony in 1663. Unless otherwise noted, the day’s events are free and open to the public.

N.C. Department of Cultural Resources Secretary Libba Evans said, “ North Carolina’s rich colonial history will take center stage at Bath this year in a celebration of its tricentennial.  We hope all North Carolinians will join us in recalling where we have come from as a people, a state and a nation.”

The celebration will begin at Historic Bath State Historic Site at 10 a.m. when the Carolina Charter will become available for public viewing throughout the day at the Palmer-Marsh House. At 11 a.m., members of the N.C. General Assembly will celebrate Bath’s tricentennial and their body’s roots in the colonial town by convening at the Bath School. Then beginning at noon, visitors can sample a traditional eastern North Carolina barbeque luncheon between the Bath Elementary School and the Van Der Veer House (tickets are $10 per person).

Afterwards, the Cypress Landing Jazz Band, the Ad Hoc players and Bath schoolchildren in 18 th century costumes will entertain guests with music from the state’s colonial days and the famed musical “Show Boat”. (The novel of the same name was inspired by a vessel that plied the Pamlico River and docked near Bath in the early 20 th century.) Throughout the day, a special pictorial cancellation for outgoing mail, created especially for Bath’s tricentennial, will be available at the town’s U.S. Post Office. Other highlights will include an appearance in town by the pirate Blackbeard, as portrayed by Ben Cherry, and swordfights presented by students from East Carolina University’s School of Theatre and Dance.

The opening ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. with remarks from local and state dignitaries. Speakers will include Secretary Evans, Bath’s Mayor Barbara Modlin, former Cultural Resources Secretary Betty McCain, Bath Foundation Chairman Wayland Sermons and Historic Bath Commission Chairman Josie Hookway. A reenactor will portray the Historic Bath Commission’s first Chairman Edmund Harding.

Other programs presented at various times throughout the day will include an exhibit on early colonial explorer and author of North Carolina’s first history John Lawson, a weaving demonstration by Frank Critchfield and a book signing by Dr. Alan Watson, author of “Bath: The First Town in North Carolina”, all at Historic Bath’s Visitor Center. Also, tours of the Bonner House, a colonial-era home, will take place from 3-4:30 p.m. and a historical marker honoring Lawson will be unveiled near Bath’s Bonner House at 3:30.

Founded by French Protestants from Virginia at the convergence of Bath and Back Creeks, Bath was North Carolina’s first town. Bath’s location seemed ideal since it offered easy access to the river and the Atlantic Ocean. Among early residents were John Lawson and Christopher Gale, first chief justice of the colony. By 1708, Bath had 12 houses and about 50 people.

As the colony’s first port of entry, Bath grew quickly. In the mid-1700s, the town became a seat of colonial government. Trade was primarily in naval stores, furs, and tobacco. The colony’s first library and shipyard were established here, along with its first church, St. Thomas. However, political rivalries, epidemics, Indian wars and piracy disturbed Bath’s early years. Legend says that in the early 1700s, the infamous pirate Edward Teach, also known as "Blackbeard,” lived near here and even married a local girl.

In 1746 Bath was considered for the colony's capital. However, when county government moved away to nearby Washington in the late 1700s, Bath lost most of its strategic importance and trade.

Today its original town limits encompass a historic district, which retains the town’s early American charm. A guided tour of the town begins at the visitors’ center. The 1751 Palmer-Marsh House is furnished in the style of a wealthy colonial official in the late 18 th century and is on the National Historic Landmark. Exhibits covering three centuries of the town's history fill the Van Der Veer House. You can learn about the Federal period at the 1830 Bonner House.

Other activities presented throughout the year will include a visit to the town by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, military reenactments, a visit from the Elizabeth II 17 th century reproduction sailing ship, home and garden tours, the revival of an outdoor drama on the pirate Edward Teach called “Blackbeard: Knight of the Black Flag” and much, much more.

For more information on Bath’s tricentennial celebration and a detailed schedule of events for the opening kick-off, call 800/999-3857 or 252/923-3971, email info@historicbathnc.com or go to http://www.historicbathnc.com. This same information is also available at http://www.ncdcr.gov/, along with a downloadable photo of the Carolina Charter. Attending media should check in at the tricentennial media center upon arriving in Bath where refreshments and more information will be available.

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