History of New Bern, NC

Graffenried, Franz Louis Michel and John Lawson. They named the settlement after It was named after Bern, the capital of Switzerland. Von Graffenried originally directed the town to be laid out in the shape of a cross, but later development obscured this shape. This became the first permanent seat of the colonial government of North Carolina. Following the American Revolutionary War, New Bern became the first state capital.

Tryon Palace was completed in 1770 as the British colonial government house. After the Revolution, it was used as the first state capitol of newly independent North Carolina. The Palace burned in the 1790s. A modern reconstruction, built from the original plans and on the original foundation, is a historic site and tourist attraction. During the 19th-century Federal period, New Bern was the largest city in North Carolina.

After Raleigh was named as the state capital, 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, New Bern was the site of the Battle of New Bern. The town was captured and occupied by Union forces until the end of the war in 1865. Nearly 10,000 enslaved African Americans escaped during this period in the region and went to the Union 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 started classes to teach adults and children literacy.

After the January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, slaves in Union-occupied territories were