Washington, North Carolina

The Chesapeake Bay schooner Margaret F. Moore from Annapolis, Maryland, is loading barrels of potatoes at a Washington pier, probably at the Fowle dock at the foot of Respess Street, in 1906. The 6- to 8-foot draft of these vessels made them ideal for the Pamlico River because the river shoaled on every storm, making it difficult to maintain a constant channel depth. Havens Oil Co. (cotton seed oil) is the building with the smoke stack in the background. (PC OS.)

INTRODUCTION

Washington 1790. Washington is located at the junction of the Tar River, where it broadens and becomes the Pamlico River. By 1790, this advantageous location was recognized by Northern industrialists who wanted to export their products to the inland cities of Greenville, Tarboro, Wilson, Rocky Mount, and Raleigh. In return, Beaufort County merchants and farmers would export their vast virgin lumber supply and agricultural products to the North. During the Revolutionary War, Washington became a naval supply depot for Washington’s Army. The port of Washington became an official Custom Clearing House for shipping by 1796. That year, the Custom House reported 130 vessels had entered the Port of Washington (then a city of about 536 people). Lumber eventually became the primary export industry of Eastern North Carolina because of the millions of acres of uncut forests. Washington’s first sawmill was built by Tannahill and Lavendar in 1831, on the northern bank of the Tar River, west of where U.S. 17 crosses the Pamlico River. In the 1800s, the Tar River was several feet deep, and large shallow draft flats and scows could be towed west by slaves to the markets of Tarboro. Each scow carried 70 or 80 hogsheads of tobacco or bales of cotton. Since roads were virtually nonexistent, waterways were the only way to transport lumber and heavy cargo. The carriage trade on the Old Post Road (the only useable road), from Edenton to New Bern and Wilmington, also increased business, for Washington had become the seat of Beaufort County. This brought many businessmen and visitors to town who sought food and lodging during their stay. As the county seat and an official shipping clearing house, Washington became the central port for exporting the region’s production of tar, resin, pitch, turpentine, rosin, corn, boards, scantling, staves, shingles, furs, tobacco, rum, pork, lard, tallow, beeswax, myrtlewax, soya beans, peas, and cabbage.

Washington 1890. By 1890, there were several major lumber mills located on the Washington waterfront: Kugler and Son Lumber, Pamlico Cooperage Co., Havens Mill, Moss Planing Mill Co., Fowle Mill (located on the south side of the Pamlico, east of the old ferry slip), E.M. Short Lumber Co., and Eureka Lumber Co. (west of U.S. 17). There were also several shipbuilders: William Farrow, John Myers, Abner P. Neal, Hull Anderson (a free African American), Jonathan Havens, William L. Lavender. Backing up this industry, on First Street (now Main Street), were dozens of wholesale and retail stores. The mills had located on the water’s edge because the river offered the only mode of long-distance transport available until the railroads came through between 1904 and 1909. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad put in a warehouse and a depot on Gladden Street in 1904. The Washington and Vandemere Railroad arrived in 1905 (west of U.S. 17), and it serviced Eureka Lumber Co. This line ran from Washington to Aurora and Vandemere to the southeast. The Norfolk & Southern Railroad Line (NSR) laid tracks and a swing-bridge (with a cupola watch tower) between the north and south shores of the Pamlico River in 1909. This NSR line crossed the river just east of Castle Island and ended in Chocowinity. Freight trains still run this route daily from Chocowinity through Havens Garden (the site of the old Pamlico Cooperage Co.) in Washington. The sailing ships began to disappear soon after, for it was quicker and cheaper to ship by rail. A period of inflation occurred after World War I, followed by a recession in the mid-1920s and the devastating 1929 Wall Street crash. By the early 1930s, the nation was in the grasp of a great depression, and so was Washington. In Washington, several WPA and CCA projects helped some, but World War II took away much young manpower. By the early 1940s, most of the lumber mills had closed.

Washington 2000. While Washington’s economy has had its ebbs and flows, the city is on the rise again. The entire downtown business district has been renovated, along with the waterfront and beautiful Stewart Parkway. Many new technical jobs have been created in the last ten years, thanks in large measure to the training being offered by Beaufort County Community College.

Washington has only a handful of antebellum homes that precede 1800. Most of the early- to middle-nineteenth-century homes were burned in 1864 by retreating Union troops and again by the disastrous fire of 1900. Most of the brick commercial buildings in downtown’s Historic Business District were built after the 1900 fire, which burned down all of Water Street and all of Market Street north one block to Main Street. This fire spurred the City of Washington to change its fire code to require all commercial buildings to be built of brick.

Visitors will, however, find a fine array of mid-to-late 1800s and early 1900s homes and commercial buildings of revival, colonial, Greek, traditional cottages, and various other architectural styles worth viewing. Because it is the county seat, Washington is once again growing and retains an important position in the economy of Eastern North Carolina. Washington, like most of Northeastern North Carolina, enjoys a mild climate, a modest tax rate, and a friendly atmosphere, all of which make this area very desirable for retirement. The Pamlico River, though no longer a commercial shipping lane, offers unlimited recreational opportunities for boating and fishing. The city renewed its interest in historic preservation under the leadership of Mayor Thomas Stewart during the 1960s. Work is constantly in progress to preserve and renew historic homes and Main Street and Market Street buildings. Outstanding leadership is coming forth from the Washington