New Bern, North Carolina


New Bern, New Bern became wealthy and quickly developed a rich cultural life. At one time, New Bern was called "the Athens of the South", renowned for its Masonic Temple and Athens Theater. These are both still very active today.
New Bern has four historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places; their numerous contributing buildings include residences, stores, and churches dating back to the early 18th century. Within walking distance of the waterfront are more than 164 homes and buildings listed on the National Register. Also nearby are several bed and breakfasts, hotels, restaurants, banks, antiques stores, and specialty shops. The historic districts contain many of the city's 2,000 crape myrtles—its official flower—and developed gardens. New Bern has two "Local Historic Districts", a municipal zoning overlay that affords legal protection to the exteriors of New Bern's historic structures.

History

New Bern was settled in October 1710 by the Palatines and Swiss under the leadership of Christoph von Graffenried. The new colonists named their settlement after the Canton of Bern, home of their patron. Von Graffenried had the original plat of the town laid out in the shape of a cross, though later development and additional streets have obscured this pattern within the regular street grid. The British governor's palace served as the capitol of North Carolina from 1770 until the state government relocated to Raleigh in 1792, after a fire had destroyed much of the capitol. This became the first permanent capital city of North Carolina.
No printer was available in North Carolina until 1749, when the North Carolina Assembly commissioned James Davis from Williamsburg, Virginia, to act as their official printer. Before this time, the laws and legal journals of North Carolina were handwritten and were largely kept in a disorganized manner, prompting them to hire Davis. Davis settled in New Bern and was appointed by colonial postmaster general Benjamin Franklin as North Carolina's first postmaster, who also became active in North Carolina's politics, as a member of the assembly and later as the sheriff. Davis also founded and printed the North-Carolina Gazette in New Bern, North Carolina's first newspaper.
During the 19th-century Federal period, New Bern became the largest city in North Carolina, developed on the trade of goods and slaves associated with plantation agriculture. After Raleigh was named the state capital in 1792, New Bern rebuilt its economy by expanding on trade via shipping routes to the Caribbean and New England. It was part of the Triangle Trade in sugar, slaves, and desired goods. It reached a population of 3,600 in 1815.
In 1862 during the early stages of the American Civil War, the area was the site of the Battle of New Bern. Federal forces captured and occupied the town until the end of the war in 1865. Nearly 10,000 enslaved blacks escaped during this period in the region and went to the Union Army camps for protection and freedom. The Union Army set up the Trent River contraband camp at New Bern to house the refugees. It organized the adults for work. Missionaries came to teach literacy to both adults and children.
Due to the continuous occupation by the Union Army, New Bern avoided some of the destruction of the war years. Much social disruption occurred because of the occupation and the thousands of freedmen camped near the city. Whereas the 1860 Census had shown a population of 5,432, the population had swollen by the end of the war to more than 20,000, mostly because of the influx of freedmen. Still, New Bern recovered more quickly than many cities after the war. By the 1870s, the lumber industry was developing as the chief part of New Bern's economy. Timber harvested could be sent down the two nearby rivers. The city continued to be a center for freedmen, who created communities independent of white supervision, thriving churches, fraternal associations, and their own businesses. By 1877, the city had a majority-black population.
The state legislature defined the city and county as part of North Carolina's 2nd congressional district, which as former plantation territory, held a concentration of the state's black residents. They elected four blacks to the US Congress in the late 19th century. The state's passage of a constitutional suffrage amendment in 1900 used various devices to disenfranchise black citizens. As a result, they were totally closed out of the political process, including participation on juries and in local offices; white Democrats maintained this suppression mostly, until after passage of federal civil-rights legislation, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which provided for federal enforcement of constitutional rights.
By 1890, New Bern had become the largest lumber center in North Carolina and one of the largest in all of the South. During this time, as many as 16 lumber mills were running and employing hundreds of men from New Bern and the area. The competitive nature of the lumber barons and the abundance of lumber and craftsmen led to the construction in New Bern of some of the finest homes in the South, many of which have survived. The lumber boom lasted until the 1920s. One-by-one, the lumber mills went out of business. Today, only Weyerhaeuser manufactures lumber in the area.
The city has four National Historic Districts and two local ones, which have helped preserve the character of the architecture. The Downtown Local Historic District is or ; the Riverside Local Historic District covers or. Union Point Park borders the Neuse and Trent rivers.

Hurricanes

New Bern's location near the Atlantic Coast renders it subject to the effects of Atlantic hurricane seasons. For example, in the 18th century, the town suffered severe damage in the Great Chesapeake Bay Hurricane of 1769. Other hurricanes, such as Hurricane Ione in 1955 and Hurricane Floyd in 1999, have also caused significant flooding and damage.
In September 2018, Hurricane Florence made landfall in the United States just south of Wrightsville Beach, 88.4 miles southwest of New Bern. A storm surge of up to 13.5 feet, in addition to days of heavy rains, severely flooded various parts of the town.

Geography

New Bern is located at the confluence of the Trent and Neuse Rivers, two tidal waterways, in North Carolina's Inner Banks region.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which, or 4.87%, is covered by water.
U.S. routes 17 and 70 pass through the city, merging briefly as a four-lane expressway passing south of the city center. US 70 leads west to Kinston and southeast to Morehead City near the Atlantic Ocean. Raleigh, the state capital, is west via US 70. US 17 leads southwest to Jacksonville, and crosses the Neuse River on a new bridge to lead north to Washington.

Climate

New Bern experiences a humid subtropical climate typical of the Atlantic coastal plain. Summers are hot and humid, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms that account for much of the higher summer precipitation. Spring and fall are generally mild, with fall foliage occurring from late October to early November. Winters are relatively mild and drier than the remainder of the year, with infrequent snowfall.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 31,291 people, 13,757 households, and 8,070 families residing in the city. Around 2,000 refugees from Myanmar have been resettled in New Bern.

2012

The population of the area was 30,291 people in 2014, a 31% increase in growth since 2000. Gender distribution is 47.5% male and 52.5% female with a median resident age of 38.8. The percentage of residents under the age of 18 was 24.2%. The 2012 racial breakdown includes White alone – 16,304, Black alone – 9,634, Asian alone – 1,844, Hispanic – 1,626, Two or more races – 747, American Indian alone – 50 and Other race alone – 13. The median income for a household in the city in 2015 was $41,285.
The City of New Bern 2010 Census information shows the population of the area was approximately 29,524 people. From 2000 to 2010, the New Bern city population growth percentage was 27.7%. 22.8% of the New Bern city residents were under 18 years of age. Census 2010 race data for New Bern city include the racial breakdown percentages of 57.0 white, 32.8% black, 3.6% Asian, 5.8% Hispanic and less than 1% Native American, Also, there were 14,471 housing units in the City of New Bern, 88.2% of which were occupied housing units.

Arts and culture

New Bern has several sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Education

Colleges

Radio stations

  • 1450 AM / 104.3 FM WNOS – News/Talk/Sports
  • 1490 AM / 103.9 FM WWNB - ESPN Radio – sports talk
  • 88.5 FM WZNB - Public Radio East – Classical Music
  • 89.3 FM WTEB - Public Radio East – NPR/News/Talk
  • 89.9 FM W210BS - Classical WCPE
  • 92.7 FM WBNK - K-Love - Christian Contemporary
  • 91.9 FM WAAE - American Family Radio – Religious
  • 93.3 FM WERO - Bob 93.3 - Top 40
  • 94.1 FM WNBU - Talk
  • 95.1 FM WRNS - Country
  • 95.7 FM W239BC - R&B Oldies
  • 97.5 FM WLGT - The Bridge – Contemporary Christian
  • 97.9 FM WNBB – Classic Country
  • 99.5 FM WMJV – 99.5/97.5 The Wave – Hot Adult Contemporary
  • 101.9 FM WIKS - Kiss FM – Hip Hop & R&B
  • 103.3 FM WMGV - V103.3 - Soft AC
  • 104.5 FM WSTK - Variety
  • 105.1 FM WBKZ - Air 1 - Christian Contemporary
  • 105.5 FM WXQR – Pure Rock
  • 107.9 FM WNCT – Classic Hits
  • 106.5 FM WSFL – Classic Rock
  • 107.1 FM WTKF-FM – The Talk Station