Today on American Nomad’s History Trails, we’re time-traveling through over 300 years of history as we visit North Carolina’s oldest established town: Bath, North Carolina. Today Bath is a quiet riverfront community where the past feels ever present. As you stroll its historic streets, you can hear voices of the past whisper in the rustle of the trees and the riverfront breezes. The State of North Carolina preserves several buildings in historic Bath as a state historic site, with museums and historic homes like the Palmer-Marsh House, the Bonner Home, and the Van Der Veer House. In this adventure, we’ll dive deep into the heart of Bath’s history and tour a few historic stops, from pirate tales to Revolutionary War drama and beyond.
Located on Bath Creek, a tributary of the nearby Pamlico River, the area around Bath started seeing settlement in the late 1600s and quickly became a popular port for trades and industries like naval stores, furs, and later, tobacco and other cash crops. Bath was officially chartered on March 8, 1705 by the then Carolina legislature—keep in mind, North and South Carolina would not officially split until 1712.
Prominent early residents included John Lawson, the famed explorer, surveyor, and the state’s first historian. Lawson is often considered a “father of Bath“ as he laid out the town plan and helped secure its charter. The original lots were all located on the waterfront, highlighting the early importance of maritime trade. Also residing in Bath was Christopher Gale, who would become the first Chief Justice of Carolina. Thomas Harding was the first shipbuilder in Bath and Harding street is named in his honor. Charles Eden, controversial ‘friend of the pirate Blackbeard,’ frequented Bath, especially during his years as governor (1714-1722).
By 1708, Bath consisted of twelve houses and about fifty residents. While this may seem tiny by today’s standards, this was a blossoming community in North Carolina at the time. Within a few years of the charter, there was a grist mill (1707), the colony’s first shipyard , and a library—the first public library in North Carolina. The Library, a massive gift of 1000 books and pamphlets, was donated to St. Thomas Parish. Like many early colonial communities, St. Thomas did not have a church building in its formative years, but rather would meet in local homes. This large donation of books and pamphlets no doubt placed a lot of faith into the promise of what Bath would become. The residents were focused on making this a thriving center of industry and community.
St. Thomas Church was ultimately built in 1734 and remains the oldest church and active parish in North Carolina. The church was progressive for its time, establishing the colony’s first free school for natives and blacks. We’ll take a tour of the church later in our historic adventure.
Bath served as the first capital of North Carolina, making it a bustling center of politics and intrigue. Taverns and businesses were established in Bath to service the traditional maritime trade as well as the political economy, servicing legislators and the court officials while they were in town. Bath’s new status as an important port and political center, as well as its rapid growth in the early 1700s led to both prosperity and times of trouble and unrest. Political rivalries were a source of friction, and early epidemics and Indian wars left the people in a state of sadness, shock and also forged a resilient spirit.
the Year 1711 – Despair, Rebellion and War Come to Bath1711 – Despair, Rebellion and War Come to Bath
Cary’s Rebellion:
In 1705, the crown appointed Thomas Cary, an Anglican, as the new colonial official for Carolina. While Anglicanism was the official religion, this region of North Carolina was home to a significant and powerful Quaker population.
This is of particular interest to me: I recently discovered I’m a direct descendant of Hannah Baskell and Henry Phelps, the first Quaker family in North Carolina, who settled in Perquimans County (near present-day Hertford) after being expelled from Salem, Massachusetts. In 1672, Phelps even hosted the father of Quakerism, George Fox, there! As someone from an Anglican-Catholic background, learning about this Quaker connection truly highlights the depth of this early religious conflict.
At first, Cary was a staunch Anglican whose policies infuriated the local Quakers. They responded by sending representatives to London to petition the Lords Proprietors for his removal. Sensing that his power hinged on the local population rather than officials three thousand miles away, Cary made a shocking political U-turn: he allegedly converted to Quakerism and immediately began removing Anglican officials from office.
Parliament was livid that the Quakers had seized control and sent Edward Hyde to become governor in 1711. Cary, however, refused to surrender his office, leading Hyde to declare Cary and the settlement of Bath to be in open rebellion against the Crown.
This power struggle—known as Cary’s Rebellion (1708-1711)—effectively shut down the government. The fighting and political chaos damaged property and destroyed crops already withered by a severe drought. As the population grew stressed and malnourished, yellow fever struck in the summer, turning an already desperate situation into the dark days of 1711 that set the stage for the coming war.
The Tuscarora War:
The year 1711, ushered in a cloud of despair as drought afflicted the region, bringing starvation. Still an even greater threat loomed, as tensions with the Tuscarora reached a fever pitch. The Tuscarora were furious with the colonists, who they blamed for stealing their land, bad trade deals and kidnapping their women and children. Tuscarora Chief Hancock and his people were hungry for retribution.
The Tuscarora’s opportunity for retribution struck in September 1711. Naturalist and Surveyor John Lawson, along with Christoph von Graffenried (founder of the new port city of New Bern), were exploring the Neuse River near present-day Grifton, NC, hoping to chart a trade route to Virginia, when they were captured by a large group of Tuscarora.
The Tuscarora spared Graffenried, perhaps mistakenly believing him to be the governor, but Lawson was not so lucky. On September 16th, they subjected him to ritual torture and killed him. The fate was bitterly ironic: Lawson had dedicated his career to cultivating friendships with tribes like the Occaneechi and writing detailed accounts that praised Native culture while fiercely blaming colonial abuse for Native destruction.
Less than a week after Lawson’s death, on September 22nd, the Tuscarora attacked colonial settlements along the Pamlico and Neuse Rivers, burning homes and killing many men, women and and children. Terrified colonists fled to settlements like Bath for safety.
The North Carolina colonists secured Native American allies, notably the Yamasee, and recruited troops from South Carolina. The first major counter-force, led by Colonel John Barnwell in 1712, temporarily broke the Tuscarora forces and captured their leader, Chief Hancock. However, after Barnwell broke the truce by selling captured Tuscarora into slavery, the fighting reignited. The war was finally decided in March 1713 with the defeat of the Tuscarora at Fort Neoheroka. The majority of the surviving Tuscarora eventually migrated north to New York to join the Iroquois Confederacy.
Pirates Plunder
In the years following the Tuscarora War, Bath continued to grow, becoming an important port city. It was home to numerous industries including the shipyard, naval stores, and cash crops like tobacco.
North Carolina’s coast is known for its relatively shallow entrances and treacherous Outer Banks sandbars, which made it difficult for large naval vessels to navigate but perfect for smaller, agile pirate ships to hide. This was the perfect setting for men like Edward Teach, also known as the notorious pirate Blackbeard. While technically piracy was frowned upon, Governor Charles Eden was willing to turn a blind eye, as long as pirates like Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet focused their pillaging in other colonies like South Carolina and Virginia. This arrangement was popular with locals who treated Teach as a celebrity, enjoying the influx of hard money and buying stolen goods from his crew at heavily discounted prices.
After issuing Teach a royal pardon in July 1718, Blackbeard settled for several months in Bath. It is said he even took a wife (one of purported fourteen wives in total, one in each port city). Eventually, Teach tired of his honest life in Bath and resumed his pillaging ways. In addition to Bath, Teach also frequented Beaufort (the Hammock House where he lived with one of his wives still stands) and Ocracoke, where he died in a ferocious battle on November 22, 1718. I’ll be doing a feature on Blackbeard’s North Carolina Haunts in a future post.
Blackbeard’s Buried Treasure in Bath?
Blackbeard’s time in Bath, only months before his death, has led many treasure hunters to believe Bath is the site of his famous buried treasure. While this makes for a great story, historians generally agree that the idea of pirates burying massive chests of gold is largely a myth, popularized by Robert Louis Stevenson’s 19th-century novel Treasure Island, rather than first-hand accounts of the period.
The reality of pirate plunder was far more practical:
- Pirates operated on a system where all liquid wealth (gold and silver coin) was split immediately among the crew and quickly spent on liquor and local services in port towns like Bath.
- The bulk of their “booty” consisted of high-value trade goods like sugar, cocoa, indigo (dye), and medical supplies—which they would sell or trade cheaply. This suggests the crew’s lavish spending was the biggest and most immediate economic impact on Bath.
While Bath may not hold Blackbeard’s buried riches, North Carolina is home to a real treasure trove: artifacts from Blackbeard’s sunken flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. The wreck was discovered by researchers and archaeologists in 1996 off Beaufort Inlet. You can view many of these 18th-century tools, cannons, and personal items at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, offering a tangible glimpse into the life of the infamous pirate. Learn more about the treasure and artifacts found on the Queen Anne’s Revenge here.
In 1722, the Capital moved from Bath to Edenton on the Chowan River near the Albemarle Sound. Edenton would remain the capital of North Carolina until the 1740s when it moved to New Bern, Brunswick Town and then back to New Bern. Bath still occasionally hosted the General Assembly in 1743, 1744, 1752. Governors Rob Daniel (1703-05), Thomas Cary, Charles Eden and Matthew Rowan (1753-54) made their home in Bath for a tim, as did long time speaker of the house, Edward Mosely – thus keeping Bath in the midst of the political sphere.
In spite of losing its status as the capital city, Bath continued to grow and serve as a prominent port city for North Carolina. In 1722, it was named the seat of Beaufort County, and the first county courthouse was constructed in 1723.
St. Thomas Church – The Spiritual Cornerstone of Bath
St. Thomas Parish was established in 1696 with the formation of Bath County. In the early years, the parishioners would meet in each other’s homes and hold lay-led prayer meetings or occasionally receive the sacraments from an Anglican priest. They finally got a permanent church in 1734.
The first permanent minister at St. Thomas was Reverend John Garzia, a Spanish Anglican minister who spoke broken English, but was determined to meet the needs of the parishioners in eastern North Carolina. Given the difficulty in recruiting priests to the mostly undeveloped North Carolina colony, Garzia would not only serve Bath, but at times travel throughout the region to bring the sacraments like communion to other communities. He was severely underpaid—he eventually had to go to court to get four years of back wages, as the state was responsible for paying Anglican clergy at the time.
By the time St. Thomas was finally built, the port town of Bath, with its bustling society of wayfaring seamen and dockside workers, had earned a reputation for frivolity and laissez-faire attitudes. It was not uncommon for men to skip church to bet on horseracing or other pleasures. Rev. Garzia lamented the waywardness of Bath, writing that “adultery, incest, Blasphemy and all kinds of profaneness has got such a deep root.”
One North Carolina legend further cemented Bath’s reputation as ‘sin city,’ telling the story of Jesse, a local man so fond of gambling and pleasure that he dared to skip church on Sunday to race his horse against the Devil himself. As the story goes, the Devil won the race, leaving behind scorching evidence of the infernal contest. You can still see the supposed ‘hoofprints’—legendary barren spots where the grass refuses to grow—at the old Bath racetrack, known locally as the “Devil’s Hoofprints,” about three miles outside of town.
Great Awakening firebrand preacher George Whitefield was so disgusted by the sinful ways of Bath when he came to preach on his revival tour that he is said to have cursed Bath to not survive for another 100 years. Local legend states that Whitefield cursed the town from a bluff overlooking the Pamlico River, declaring that the town’s wicked ways would cause the silt to fill the harbor and the river to cease to flow, thus sealing Bath’s fate.
While Whitefield all but wrote Bath off as a den of sin, Garzia’s faith and persistence endeared him to the community and helped create a strong foundation for St. Thomas moving towards the future.
While at St. Thomas, Garzia acquired several treasures for the church, including a silver chalice engraved with his name, two silver candelabras presented by King George II in 1740 when the church was consecrated, and the Queen Anne Bell, cast in 1732. All these historic items are still in the church’s possession today.
Garzia tragically perished after falling from his horse in 1744 while en route to minister to sick parishioners. His death left his wife destitute, and creditors seized his property to settle his debts. The Society of the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts (SPG), which supported colonial churches, especially those struggling financially with funds, provided for his widow and three children with a pension.
St. Thomas appealed to the SPG to send a priest, but because Garzia’s troubles were well-known to them and others in England, the Society was reluctant to reply to requests for a replacement. In spite of Garzia’s important work, Bath remained an unappealing job for even the most fervent of ministers…
The Call is Answered…
Nearly ten years after Garzia’s death, the Reverend Alexander Stewart answered the call to lead the flock of St. Thomas. Hailing from County Antrim in Ireland, his family had ties to the Royal Stuart clan of Scotland. Stewart was well-educated, holding a Master’s degree from the University of Dublin. He had been asked by fellow University of Dublin classmate, the newly appointed North Carolina Governor Arthur Dobbs, to come to North Carolina to chaplain his family. Stewart originally planned to settle in New Bern, but the vestry of Christ Church there had already employed a minister, leading him to accept the post at St. Thomas.
Not long after moving to Bath, tragedy struck when yellow fever claimed the lives of Stewart’s wife and children. One of his parishioners, John Peyton Porter, also fell to the disease. After their mutual loss and shared grief, Porter’s widow and Stewart’s friendship blossomed into romance, and they were married. Stewart pushed headlong into restoring the church, which had remained unfinished since its construction began.
Sadly, his second wife died after giving birth to their daughter, Rosa. He later married Miss Johnston, a sister of the late Governor of North Carolina Gabriel Johnston.
Beyond the demands of his family life, Stewart threw himself into completing the church and providing for his flock at St. Thomas.
Under Stewart’s leadership, St. Thomas was not only restored but also finished. In 1762, he proudly reported that the parishioners had “not only finished their church in the best manner they are able, but have now likewise a neat glebe house (the first ever built in this province), with outhouses, almost finished.” These improvements solidified the physical presence of the Anglican Church in the colony, creating the lasting structure we still admire today.
Like his predecessor, Garzia, Stewart had to contend with the growing number of “dippers,” as he called the Baptist sect. While both sought to worship God, the Baptists opposed the Anglicans and many of their sacraments like infant Baptism. In 1758, Stewart tried to combat their influence by writing a book, The Validity of Infant Baptism, which was printed by James Davis in New Bern.
He was likewise upset over the growing number of “New Lights” — a product of the First Great Awakening — who substituted revivalism, dramatic conversions, and emotional religious ecstasy for the time-honored ritual of the Book of Common Prayer, an anchor in stormy seas to devout Anglicans but an empty mouthing of phrases to the unchurched or the backsliders. Frustrated by their success, Stewart even tried “dipping” a few converts himself as a last resort. He also worried over the inroads made by “numerous sectuaries . . . having strollers” (itinerant clergymen.) Stewart’s tireless opposition to dissenters was rooted in the structure of colonial government. As a minister of the established Church of England, he was, in essence, an extension of the Crown’s authority. The growth of Baptists and other sects was seen not merely as a theological problem, but as a threat to the political and social order of North Carolina. His fight to maintain the primacy of the Anglican Church was therefore a battle for the established colonial identity itself.
During Reverend Stewart’s tenure, St. Thomas Parish opened a school for Native American and African American students, a profoundly progressive action for its time.
After the death of his third wife from illness, he married a fourth and final time to Sarah, Michael Coutanch’s widow. Sarah and Michael were the original owners of the magnificent Palmer-Marsh House, which we will visit in a few minutes on our Bath tour.
September of 1769 brought a ferocious hurricane that laid waste to many areas of the coast, including Brunswick Town, some 160 miles away. In the midst of the storm, as Rev. Stewart raced from his house to shutter the outbuildings and tend to livestock, he was slammed by flying debris that shattered his legs so severely he never fully regained their use. He died from complications from surgery in 1771, survived by his widow and four children, but most of all by the indelible stamp of his unique and tirelessly dedicated personality on St. Thomas Parish.
Today St. Thomas remains an active Episcopal parish. While not part of the State Historic Site, St. Thomas is open to the public on most days, where you can take time to say a prayer and learn about the history of this parish and its importance in Bath. If you are lucky you will get a ‘purrs’onalized tour by Tom the Church Cat. We became best friends during my visit. He showed me around the graveyard. My only regret is I didn’t have any Churu to tip my pawsome tour guide.
Buried History: Many of the early parishioners were not buried in the graveyard, but underneath their pews inside the church—a common practice of the day. The graveyard has souls from as early as the 18th century. An early Carolina legislator and planter, Edward Salter, is one of the cemetery’s most curious residents. He was originally buried in a brick vault not far from the current church structure. During excavations in the 1950s, his remains were carefully removed and taken into the care of the North Carolina State Archives for preservation and study. Salter was finally restored to his rightful resting place at St. Thomas Church with full honors in 2011. Returning one of colonial North Carolina’s earliest politicians to his original community. May he finally REST in PEACE!
The Palmer-Marsh House: Oldest Extant House in Bath (circa 1751)
An architectural treasure, the Palmer Marsh House has witnessed over 270 years of Bath history. Built in 1751 by naval merchant Michael Coutanche (also spelled Coutanch), the Palmer Marsh House is a two story-home built upon a cellar constructed with ballast stones, housing an enormous cooking fireplace and two impressive chimneys encompassing seven hearths.
The first floor has a spacious entryway on both the northern and southern sides of the house that welcomed important guests across the generations from legislators to merchants to governors to patriots and loyalists…The wide doors to provide breezes to keep the house cool in the torrid summer months. It is believed that Mr. Coutanche used part of the home as a storefront, and the parlor was used for entertaining guests.
Coutanche was originally from the Isle of Jersey and lived in Boston before settling in Bath in 1739. He was a beloved member of the town and elected to the General Assembly.
The wide wooden staircase led upstairs to the second floor with a spacious landing, master bedroom and three smaller bedrooms. Michael would use this space to not only conduct his business, but host meetings of the N.C. General Assembly representing Bath as well.
Michael, who was beloved in Bath, died in 1761 leaving his widow behind. As I mentioned earlier, she eventually remarried Rev. Alexander Stewart of St. Thomas Church. Michael is buried in the family cemetery in the home’s back gardens.
Buried History: Stories in Stone – The Palmer-Marsh House Cemetery is the final resting place for members of the Countanche, Palmer and Marsh families. One of the oldest graves in the cemetery is that of Mrs. Mary Evans, a relative of the Countanche and Lillington families. According to legend, Mary died of a broken heart after her husband was lost at sea.
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Gravestones serve two purposes – to provide the name and life information of those buried in that site, but also at times as a loving artistic testimony to honor those who have been lost. Mary’s gravestone is called a “portrait stone.” This type of marker was popular in the 18th century. The image is not a true likeness of the deceased person. Instead, each stonecutter often carved the same signature face over and over – using the same face for men, women, and children – changing only the details of hair and clothing to suit the individual being depicted. (source NC Bath Historic Site)
Make sure to stop and spend a moment in prayer and reflection with those who came before us…they have powerful stories to tell – each soul an important fabric in the history of Bath.
A New Beginning
.With Michael Countanche’s death, his son-in-law and daughter sold the property to Lillington and James Lockhart before it was eventually purchased by Robert Palmer.
Palmer was born in Scotland and had served as a Colonel in the British Army. He settled in Bath with his wife and sons, after being appointed customs collector and surveyor general of the colony. Palmer’s salary was 900 pounds a year, which is equivalent to around $276,000 dollars today, thus making him one of the highest paid officials in the colony.
Governor Tryon and his wife Lady Margaret the Palmers right after Christmas in 1764. They enjoyed a feast of delicious spiced puddings, a ham for the smokehouse and leg of venison. “In the Fall of 1765 and Winter of 1766, the Colony erupted in protests in Wilmington and Brunswick Town, as well as murmurings of discontent in the port city of Bath over the newly issued Stamp Act. Yet, for the Palmer family, the fall of 1765 was a time of mourning as Robert’s beloved wife, Margaret lay dying in the home’s master bedroom. She was buried underneath the church floor, as was the custom of St. Thomas at the time. Next to the altar, Colonel Palmer placed a handsome slate tablet, testifying that although away from her native land she had labored under the severest bodily afflictions, she had borne them ‘with uncommon Resolution and Resignation to the last.'”
In 1767, Palmer was appointed as a commissioner to contract for constructing a new courthouse and jail in Bath. He kept careful watch as the workmen erected the new buildings at the foot of Craven Street and Bath Creek.
Palmer’s ties to Royal Governor Tryon led him to be deplored by the Regulators (see our feature Reckoning with the Regulators to learn more). Palmer served as a Lt. General of the Regulator Campaign for the Royal Governor’s militia. The Regulators were defeated at the Battle of Alamance on May 16th, 1771.
On New Year’s Eve 1770, Palmer took a new oath of office as secretary and clerk to the crown. With his new responsibilities he decided to move to New Bern into a residence he’d built there for council sessions. With the move to New Bern, Robert deeded his Bath home to his younger son William and his wife. His older son, also named Robert, had chosen a career in the British military.
Robert fell ill in 1771 and sailed for England for what he planned to be a short convalescent and recovery but ended up staying in England until 1788. As a staunch loyalist and former royal official, much of Robert Palmer’s property was confiscated during the American Revolution.
A House Divided – The Revolution Comes to Bath
Both Palmer Sr. and his son Robert were ardent loyalists. Robert Jr. joined a regiment of the British army headed by the former royal governor of South Carolina Lord Charles Greville Montagu.
William was divided and struggled throughout the war between family loyalty and his patriot leanings. William struggled after his crown appointments from Governor Martin (who succeeded Tryon) were stripped away. In 1776, Committees of Safety took over his role as customs collector for the Port of Bath.
He had always been loyal to the crown, but also had grown up in North Carolina and sympathized with the patriot cause. During this time, William began to fall into debt, and began drinking, struggling to pay his debts and manage his father’s affairs.He faced financial and political pressure. Should he remain faithful to his royal employers, his family and source of wealth or sign an oath of allegiance to the new (and technically treasonous) State of North Carolina, which was untested. If he made the wrong choice, he feared he’d lose everything.
America 250 – William Palmer faced the same questions many North Carolinians during the American Revolution had to come to terms with. Did they remain loyal to the crown or risk everything on the gamble of independence. From an modern day lens it is easy to say ‘Team Patriot,’ but what would you do if the wrong decision would cost you life, home and family?
His indecision led to Bath neighbors suspecting Palmer of being a loyalist, and in January 1778, his lands and homes were seized, with the exception of those he gave to his son. William finally took the patriot oath on May 22nd, 1778. While he did serve the patriot cause in Bath, Palmer’s Depression (led to drinking) and finances did not improve. In 1786, William Palmer, acknowledging his precarious state of health, traveled to New York with his family to seek a cure for his ills. Sadly he perished and in the wake of his death, his wife Mary, and their four young children returned to Bath. She supported the family by renting out various houses on the town lots she inherited until the mid-1790s when she remarried.
The Marsh Legacy and Beyond…
Robert Palmer Senior’s granddaughter, Helen lived in the house until 1802. Helen fell in love with a Frenchman named Lewis LeRoy. She sold the home to Brothers Daniel and Jonathan Marsh, merchants who had moved to the area from Rhode Island.
Helen’s husband was Catholic and she chose to convert to the faith. Lewis and Helen donated the land used to build Washington (aka ‘Little Washington)’s first Catholic Church (St. John the Apostle) in 1829.
By this time, Bath had gained the reputation of a ‘backwater town’ compared to the nearby thriving port city of Washington, on the banks of the Pamlico River.
Washington, referred to by man North Carolinians as ‘Little Washington,’ was founded in 1776 and was the first city named after General George Washington. The town’s location at the the junction of coastal (Pamlico) and inland (Tar) rivers made it a natural center for shipping and trade.
While Bath’s prestige and trade had dwindled, its prime location still attracted industry. The Marsh Brothers operated merchant operations and naval stores businesses in both Washington and Bath.
The home remained in the Marsh family’s care until 1915, when the they family sold it to Henry Ormond, who transformed it into a hotel. Many interesting characters stayed at the hotel in the 20th century, including Show Boat author Edna Ferber. While visiting Bath for four days in 1925, Ferber caught a show on James Adams Floating Theatre, which was docked in town during her stay. The showboat offered live entertainment in coastal towns. While Ferber referred to Bath as a “decaying little hamlet” and did not like her accommodations, it left enough of a mark upon her to write “Show Boat.” The novel would be transformed into one of the greatest musicals of all time (Hammerstein and Kern) and later films of all time. North Carolina born Ava Gardner brought it full circle by starring in the Oscar-winning film. Learn more here
Today the Bath State Historic Site offers guided tours of the Palmer-Marsh House. The home has been decorated in the style of the Palmer family, and although the furniture is not original, you still feel transported to what life was like in 18th and 19th-century Bath.
The nearby garden cemetery includes some of the oldest marked graves in Bath.
The Bonner House, another historic home open for tours via the State Historic Site, was built in 1830 by Dr. Bonner. It is considered one of the best examples of Adamesque Style in North Carolina. This particular home features a separate wing for the bedroom and dining room, with an attic above for storage. The first-floor rooms also extended beyond the second story with a shed roof in the back. Other extremely fashionable features included its unshuttered windows, downstairs mantels hand-carved in Adamesque style, and a wallpaper-bordered hall. In a lavish touch borrowed from more sophisticated houses of the day, the Bonner home also featured grain-painted doors and finger-painted baseboards upstairs.
The Bonners made their money from farming and naval stores. Sadly, like many planter-class families, the Bonners enslaved workers; 35 individuals worked their land.
Joseph’s son, Joseph Y. Bonner, chose the life of a waterman, following the path of countless other Bath residents of bygone years. His sister, Caroline, married well-known agriculturalist Dr. John F. Tompkins, who published the Farmer’s Journal and founded the North Carolina State Agricultural Society and the State Fair. The State Fair in Raleigh continues to be one of the greatest community traditions in the Old North State.
Unlike New Bern and Washington, Bath’s isolated location helped to protect it from Union occupation during the Civil War, allowing it to serve as a blockade runner’s haven. Two of Joseph’s sons, William and Thomas, served as surgeons in the Confederate army, as did the Reverend Israel Harding. The Reverend was the rector of St. Thomas Parish and was named for a Bath Revolutionary War veteran. With “Little Washington” occupied by Federal troops for two long years, Bath was almost isolated by the river blockade, the opposing lines being drawn up only a few miles from town.
Today, the home is decorated in mid-nineteenth-century design, much as the Bonners would have enjoyed. A true treasure on the tour is a painting by Thomas Sully. The figure in the portrait is unknown, but it is believed to be that of Nancy Johnston (daughter of Governor Samuel Johnston)… read more here
The Van Der Veer Home:
The Jacob Van Der Veer Home is next to the Visitor Center on Harding Street. This architectural treasure was originally built circa 1790, probably by Ephraim Whitmore. It was purchased by businessman and financier Jacob Van Der Veer in 1824. He lived in the home for twelve years before moving to another residence. Fun fact: Van Der Veer founded the Bank of Washington in 1851.
Over the years the home changed hands many times before being purchased by the State of North Carolina in 1972 and moved to its current location. It currently houses exhibits on the history of Bath. Learn more about this historic district on the official website.
Planning Your Visit to Historic Bath
A visit to Bath truly transports you through history. There is nothing more peaceful than catching a sunset at Bath Creek, looking out at the waters that were once so vital to North Carolina. Today Bath remains a community tied to its maritime roots, with many visitors now enjoying water-based fun like kayaking, boating, and fishing.
I recommend starting your Bath visit at the Historic Site Visitor Center and Museum. There you can learn about the history of Bath from expert staff members. Throughout the year, the Bath Historic Site hosts special events like Maritime Trade Days, pirate-themed events, and more. For the latest historic fun in Bath, I recommend following the State Site Facebook Page.
As an active parish, St. Thomas Church is separate from the state museum houses, but it remains open most days to the public. You can also attend services there on Sundays. While I believe God is present everywhere, for me, I love worshipping in the same place that the faithful have for centuries. It gives me strength, knowing their faith kept them going even when times got tough.
Bath is a small community; while it doesn’t have large chain hotels, you can discover charming bed and breakfasts like the cozy Inn at Bath Creek. This gracious inn offers gorgeous waterfront views and easy walking access to all Historic Bath has to offer.
The Bath Harbor Marina and Motel is a boater’s dream destination. This boutique motel has its own marina and boat slips, making it the ideal getaway for those who want to be close to the water.
Pirates and Mariners will enjoy good eats at Old Town Country Kitchen (breakfast there is phenomenal), Blackbeard’s Tavern (pub food and pizza), and The Quarterdeck (ice cream fit for a pirate).
Bath is a great day trip from ‘Little’ Washington or Belhaven (I recommend the River Forest Inn there, which we’ll feature in a future post).
Thanks for joining on this tour of Bath…I hope it inspires you to book your own visit to North Carolina’s oldest town – place where the past and present collide, you can enjoy the serene peace of riverfront views, down home hospitality and perhaps meet a pirate or two.
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Hi, I’m Adele Lassiter, the travel enthusiast behind American Nomad Traveler. This is where I share my love for history, cool museums, art, and travel tips. When I’m not writing, I’m a singer-songwriter with a passion for Americana music. You can find my new album here: adelelassiter.bandcamp.com
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