Elizabeth City Recognized for Role in Underground Railroad
culture, elizabeth city, history, museum of the albemarle, pasquotank river, the great dismal swamp,
Towns built on the waterfront often have histories built on the unexpected. There’s no telling what will sail round the bend next.
Elizabeth City‚ nestled on the banks of the Pasquotank River‚ has seen just about everything over the course of 400-odd years‚ including marauding pirates‚ runaway slaves‚ and battling ships.
For almost 40 of those 400 years‚ the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City has documented the region’s history for the inquiring minds of the present and future. Water is the prevailing theme throughout the Albemarle Sound region’s colorful past.
“Water is the thing that the entire history and development of the region is dependent on‚” says Museum of the Albemarle Curator Tom Butchko. “You could not even get anyplace without going over water … Water just pervades everything.”
The museum‚ an affiliate of the North Carolina Museum of History‚ is arranged around this central theme of water‚ recreating historical events chronologically from the era of prehistoric native peoples to 2003’s monstrous Hurricane Isabel‚ which brought havoc to North Carolina’s Inner and Outer Banks.
The spring of 2006 will mark the grand opening of the Museum of the Albemarle’s new 50‚000-square-foot facility. The new building dramatically improves the museum’s ability to deliver quality programming by adding‚ among other things‚ four classrooms and a 200-seat auditorium. Suspended from the lobby ceiling is a striking‚ fully restored 28-foot shad boat‚ the official state boat of North Carolina because of its historic importance to local economies.
The museum staff moved to the new building in October 2005 in preparation for a spring gala opening featuring a preview of an upcoming exhibit devoted to the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was the secret effort to assist black slaves fleeing captivity before and during the American Civil War‚ and for many the Pasquotank River was a vital part of the journey.
In September of 2004‚ the Pasquotank became the first river in the country to receive historical designation from the National Park Service for its role in the Underground Railroad. The Great Dismal Swamp also received similar recognition in 2003.
The Albemarle region was a critical link in the railroad because of its proximity to shipping routes and its dense‚ impenetrable swampland. Many slaves escaped by negotiating passage aboard watercraft and others hid in the swamp‚ says Wanda Hunt-McLean‚ an independent historian and genealogist whose research was instrumental in securing the historical designations.
Hunt-McLean believes that being recognized as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom will promote tourism in the area‚ although that is not her primary goal. Many people‚ she says‚ misunderstand the nature of the Underground Railroad.
“It’s not actually a path that you can see‚” Hunt-McLean says. “That’s what a lot of people keep asking me – ‘Where’s the trail?’ ” Instead‚ it was a complex movement that required the help of many individuals in the Albemarle area and throughout the country‚ and that’s what Hunt-McLean hopes the designation will teach people.
“My main concern‚” she says‚ “is educating children of all colors about the area where they live.”
Story by Karin Beuerlein
Photo by Stephen Cherry
