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newbern .insider info . us Contact Advertise Listen WTKF in All Areas Atlantic Beach Beaufort Emerald Isle Havelock Morehead City New Bern Oriental Swansboro HOME AREA INFO WEATHER Weather Visitors Center Chamber of Commerce Overview and History Economic Profile Demographics and Statistics JOBS Employment Resources MEDIA Newspapers, Journals and Magazines Television Stations Cable Television Radio Stations GETTING HERE, GETTING AROUND By Land Car Rental Taxicabs, Shuttle Vans and Limousines Trolleys and Buses By Air By Sea ABOUT THE AUTHOR Craig Ramey STAY HOTELS & MOTELS New Bern Hotels and Motels Price Code BED & BREAKFASTS New Bern Bed & Breakfasts and Small Inns Price Code VACATION RENTALS CAMPING New Bern Area Campgrounds SHOP SHOPS Downtown New Bern Shops Around New Bern Shops Furniture Stores Jewelry Stores Antiques SALONS & DAY SPAS New Bern Salons and Day Spas HEALTH & WELLNESS Healthfood Stores Vitamins and Supplements Exercise Fitness Centers Acupuncture PETS Pet Care Services Pet Food and Supplies Animal Health EAT RESTAURANTS New Bern Restaurants Coffee shops Bakeries Wine Shops and Wineries Planning and Pricing NIGHTLIFE New Bern Nightlife Breweries Movie Theaters Liquor Laws and ABC Stores HAVE FUN ATTRACTIONS General Attractions Tours State and National Parks NIGHTLIFE New Bern Nightlife Breweries Movie Theaters Liquor Laws and ABC Stores EVENTS January February March April May June July August September October November December GOLF Golf Courses SPORTS, FITNESS & PARKS Bicycling Fitness Centers Gymnastics Running and Walking County Parks Municipal and City Parks DAYTRIPS ARTS Museums, Performance Halls and Organizations Music Theater Dance Art Galleries Crafts Photography and Visual Arts Art Lessons VOLUNTEER Public Sites and Parks Animal Care Services Human Care Services Environmental Services BOAT-FISH-SURF FISHING What's Biting Fishing Piers BOATING & WATERSPORTS Motor and Sailboat Rentals and Sailing Instruction Scuba Diving and Snorkeling MARINAS, BOAT SALES & SERVICES Marinas Boat and Yacht Sales Yacht Charters and Schools Public Boat Ramps Boating Emergency Numbers WEDDING WEDDING PLANNING Wedding Venues Wedding Receptions Caterers Cakes Wedding Registries Wedding Planners Florists Bridal Shops and Formal Wear Music Photographers Videographers Transportation Rental Equipment Marriage Licenses Wedding Show FAMILY KIDSTUFF Amusements Animals Arts Birthday Parties Lots to Learn Outside Fun Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream & Smoothies SCHOOLS Public Schools Independent / Private Schools Child Care COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES Colleges and Universities MEDICAL SERVICES Hospitals Urgent and General Medical Care Mental Health and Addictions Alternative and Complementary Healthcare Home Healthcare Adult Day Care Support Groups and Services Emergency and Other Phone Numbers HEALTH & WELLNESS Healthfood Stores Vitamins and Supplements Exercise Fitness Centers Acupuncture SENIORS & RETIREMENT Services and Organizations PETS Pet Care Services Pet Food and Supplies Animal Health VOLUNTEERING Public Sites and Parks Animal Care Services Human Care Services Environmental Services REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE New Bern Real Estate Agencies New Bern Neighborhoods and Developments Apartments Utilities Commercial Real Estate BANKING & MORTGAGES Mortgage Companies REAL ESTATE SERVICES Home Building and Remodeling Home Building and Remodeling MOVING & STORAGE MORE CITIES ATLANTIC BEACH BEAUFORT EMERALD ISLE HAVELOCK MOREHEAD CITY ORIENTAL SWANSBORO Real Estate, Hotels, Restaurants, Tryon Palace Beautiful New Bern, situated along the Neuse and Trent rivers, invites visitors to enjoy water views, street art, unique shopping and dining options and charming bed and breakfast inns. Anchoring the town's love of history is Tryon Palace , the reconstructed home of 1770s British-Colonial Governor William Tryon. Walking tours or trolley tours of New Bern's architecturally rich historic districts provide great ways to learn about the three centuries of New World life in this region. In more recent history, New Bern is known as the Birthplace of Pepsi-Cola. Visitors and residents enjoy fishing and boating on the rivers, golfing on local courses, relaxing in waterfront parks, visiting farms, hiking and camping in nearby Croatan National Forest and local art galleries and shows. The town's rich history factors into many of its best attractions and things to do and see. And visitors often fall in love with the small-town appeal of New Bern — so much so that they make this riverfront town their homes. History … New Bern’s Greatest Attraction Swiss settlers, first led by naturalist explorer John Lawson and Swiss Christoph von Graffenried, built their town at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers in 1710. Later, Col. Thomas Pollock, a wealthy landowner took over the leadership necessary to keep people both safe and interested in maintaining useful businesses trading with other coastal cities and with England. Before the settlers came, the Tuscarora Indian lived in the area and fished the waters around their town aptly named Chattoka, the Indian word for “where the fish are taken out.” Upheaval of very long established Native American traditions began when Charles II of England created the Carolina Charter of 1660, granting vast areas called proprietorships in the New World to his eight noble advisers. Under Lord Proprietor William Craven, the area now including New Bern was explored, charted and publicized by Lawson before he brought settlers in. From 1711 to the late 1720s, the Tuscarora, fought for their way of life. They lost their struggle to soldiers and Indians friendly to the British under Cols. John Barnwell and James Moore and were relocated to New York State. Until the late 1720s the Coree, a neighboring tribe, continued attacks and chased settlers off, leaving the city virtually uninhabited, although Pollock was selling lots from 1720 on. Settlers dribbled in during the latter part of the decade, building the town value as a port and a political center from 1730 to 1754 when then Territorial Governor Dobbs established his New Bern residence. In 1765 Governor William Tryon saw to legislating New Bern as permanent capital of the colony, completed Tryon Palace in 1770 and enhanced a flourishing economic and cultural life in the city even though more centrally located Raleigh took the title capital in 1792. Until the abrupt decline in the mid-1830s, when Wilmington's deeper waters and railroad to Raleigh took major port business, New Bern remained the largest port and the largest settlement in southeast North Carolina. Lumber business rebuilt New Bern's economy from the 1840s to the 1920s, as domestic building flourished throughout the colonies, barring the years of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Along with the rest of the country, the New Bern area struggled with the Great Depression, but grew again with the ever-increasing military growth along the southeast coastal waterways and new national affluence with retirement plans and family vacations. The newer directions capitalize on the rich history, fine climate, transportation, manufacturing and recreation opportunities in the area with boat builders, golf courses, cultural heritage, forest and water abundance and a favorable tax rate compared to nearly anywhere. New Bern bustles with a good variety of activities to appeal to every age group and grows every year with a keen eye on preservation of what keeps people coming back. Historic markers point out the houses where the first elected assembly in the colonies met in defiance of the crown in 1774, where a signer of the U.S. Constitution lived and where George Washington slept — twice. Markers also point out the office of jurist William Gaston, the first chief justice of the state Supreme Court and composer of “The Old North State,” the state song. A Town of Firsts From the colonial capitol, to the birthplac...