Beaufort’s interest in historical preservation began in 1960

The semiquincentennial anniversary in the Town of Beaufort, N.C., came and went in 1959, with no fanfare.

(The community of Beaufort was settled in 1709 and claims to be the third oldest settlement in the North Carolina colony, after Bath and Edenton.)

 

It was duly noted that Ruth Barbour, who was the editor of the Carteret County News-Times, may have been the only one around who could spell the word “semiquincentennial” and knew that it was the proper term for a 250-year anniversary. (She is shown below.)

 

The oversight was finally brought to the attention of one of the pillars of the community – the town’s official historian as well as its former mayor and past local school board president – Grayden  M. Paul. (Below is a photo of Grayden Paul when he attended Wake Forest (N.C.) College in 1919.)

 

Barbour reported that Grayden Paul “was not one to let a mere thing like a year deter him.” He believed that the town should go ahead and celebrate the 251-year anniversary in 1960…and act like they planned it that way.

“To finance the celebration, Mr. Paul decided that a thousand dollars would be a good start,” Barbour wrote. “If only 10 people contributed $100, the amount would be in hand. He went before the town board and received its blessing.”

“I knew if we could get $100 from each business in town, we’d have enough money to put on the whole celebration,” Grayden Paul said.

“The money was raised, the celebration was a success, and this was the spark that ignited general interest in capitalizing on Beaufort’s past,” Barbour wrote.

Grayden Paul came up with the idea to reenact the 1747 pirate invasion of Beaufort. He told the newspaper: “The only way Beaufort knew for certain it had ever had any pirates ashore was because somebody had found an ancient bill” from merchant William Moore to cover the cost of beef to feed 10 pirates who were detained in the town jail.

Not much is known about the invasion, other than the leaders of the town militia were hailed as heroes – Col. Thomas Lovick and Maj. Enoch Ward.

We know a bit more about the 1960 reenactment, however. Historian Neal Willis participated as one of the pirates.

He said members of the Fire Department dressed as pirates, wearing bandannas and nautical outfits. They carried plastic cutlasses and guns. “The town defenders were mostly merchants dressed in overalls and straw hats and carrying guns,” Willis wrote.

 

The pirates planned to charge over the breakwater “with blood curdling screams, waving cutlasses and firing guns,” he said. “We had been practicing the landing for a week, mostly when the tide was high. When the real landing came, the tide was low. The boat ran aground about six feet from the shore.”

“The bow was on land, but the rest of the boat was over water about 10 feet deep. We didn’t know the water was that deep until we went over the side and were in over our heads,” Willis said. “Our pirate costumes were wet and coming apart. Our guns were wet, and some didn’t fire. Our plastic cutlasses were floating away.”

“But we still charged the defenders. We put up quite a fight. After the battle, the town defenders loaded us into horse drawn wooden carts and carried us to the jail....”

The Pirate Invasion has beome an annual event, drawing large crowds of spectators each year to Beaufort.

Barbour stated: “Grayden Paul’s small group that started things rolling for the town’s 251st anniversary in July 1960 was the nucleus of the Beaufort Historical Association.”

Welcome to Beaufort. Nautical flags spell out the name of the town.

A natural showman, promoter and storyteller, Grayden Paul dressed in outlandish costumes to conduct guided tours around town. Tourists were thoroughly entertained.

 

In 1968, the North Carolina Department of Transportation named the drawbridge that carried U.S. Route 70 over Gallants Channel into Beaufort as the Grayden Paul Bridge. It featured a “double-leaf bascule span” and had been built in 1957 to replace the original 1927.

 

The Grayden Paul Bridge was replaced in January 2018 with a new 65-foot, high rise, fixed-span bridge – known as the Gallants Channel Bridge.

 

In the 1960s, the Beaufort Woman’s Club, under the guidance of its president Emily Loftin, initiated the development of a Beaufort town crest.

Permission was sought from the College of Arms in London, England, to adopt the Duke of Beaufort’s crest for the design.

Authorities approved a design that preserved the original heraldry in the upper two quadrants of the crest, including the three fleurs-de-lis (also spelled fleurs-de-lys) in the shape of a lilies and the three three golden lions passant with their faces toward the viewer. 

In the lower two quadrants, replacing the three fleurs-de-list are three red roses of Lancaster – the ruling house at the time Beaufort was chartered in 1723 – as well as three fish that take the place the lions.

Primary graphic designers and artists on the project were Will Hon and Richard Thomas.

 

 

The United States observes its Semiquincentennial (250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence) on July 4, 2026. 

A product of the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, Pa., in July 1776 was the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson ws the primary author. 

Here are two versions of possible graphics under consideration:

 Major events are planned in Boston, Philadelphia, New York City and Charleston, S.C.

The federal government intends to issue commemorative coins and postage stamps.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to throw a “spectacular birthday party” by assembling a White House task force named “Salute to America 250.”

Proposals include a “Great American State Fair” to be held in the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, featuring pavilions from all 50 states.

In addition, Trump said he would create the “Patriot Games” for high school students across the nation to “allow young Americans from every state to show off the best of American skill, sportsmanship and competitive spirit.”