Gov. Morehead envisioned a ‘large port city’ at Shepard Point

Some 170 years ago, the first North Carolina Railroad train ran the full length of the 223-mile corridor from Charlotte to Goldsboro, fulfilling a dream envisioned by former Gov. John Motley Morehead (shown above). The exact date was Jan. 21, 1856.

 

While all this was unfolding, former Gov. Morehead had been busy plotting and planning the extension of a rail line from Goldsboro to Beaufort Harbor. (Legislation had been approved in 1852 to construct the 96-mile Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad from Goldsboro to the coast.)

 

Former Gov. Morehead and his chief aide, Silas Webb (shown below), came to Carteret County in 1853 on a “scouting mission.” They were looking for a location to build “a large port city.”

 

Former Gov. Morehead purchased 600 acres of land at a location known as Shepard Point from Bridges Arendell Jr. in 1853. He paid a tidy sum of $2,133.33 for the property. The two men formed a partnership named the Shepard Point Land Company.

Also investing as stockholders were the three brothers of Bridges Arendell Jr. – Thomas Arendell, William Arendell and Dr. Michael Arendell. Another stockholder was Peter Gustavous Evans (shown below), Gov. Morehead’s son-in-law.

 

“Gov. Morehead planned to make his new town a second New York City,” said Herbert W. Stanford III (shown below), author of “A Look into Carteret County, North Carolina: History, Economics, Politics and Culture.”

 

Former Gov. Morehead believed that “with an excellent location on the seacoast and with a railroad running to the port, it would be possible to bring the products of the state here for shipment to foreign countries and to larger U.S. cities,” Stanford added.

Beth Keane, a historic preservation consultant, said former Gov. Morehead wrote a glowing description of the new town to attract inhabitants in 1857. In his words:

“Situated on a beautiful neck of land…almost entirely surrounded by salt water; its climate salubrious; its sea breezes and sea bathing delightful; its drinking water good and its fine chalybeate spring, strongly impregnated with sulfur, will make it a pleasant watering place....”

Former Gov. Morehead continued: “Capitalists may never have again such an opportunity for good investment. A great city must and will be built at this place.”

The first lots were sold on Nov. 11, 1857. One observer said: “Bidding was brisk. By nighttime, more than 100 lots had gone under the auctioneer’s hammer to new owners. In a crude office building, several clerks were kept busy making out the deeds, which were signed by Mr. Morehead as president of the land company.”

The first train, with passengers aboard, ran from Goldsboro to Shepard Point on June 7, 1858. People hooped and hollered, as the famed locomotive engine named “John Baxter” chugged into the depot.

Dr. Allen W. Trelease, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, said that former Gov. Morehead earned the title of “Father of the North Carolina Railroad.”

“It was not a product of his imagination alone, but he was the most effective campaigner and spokesman,” Dr. Trelease said. “The importance of the railroad to North Carolina’s development cannot be overstated.”

Ethel Stephens Arnett, a noted Greensboro historian, once described former Gov. Morehead “as calm and unhurried as the rising sun,” possessing “an amazing ability to adjust to what he was able to get.”

As for that “new port,” it began as Pier No. 1. Early exports were salt and naval stores, those resin-based components – cordage, mask, turpentine, rosin, pitch and tar – used in building and maintaining wooden sailing ships.

On Feb. 10, 1861, the new town was officially incorporated as “Morehead City,” as a lasting tribute to former Gov. John Motley Morehead.

Although Morehead City uses the slogan: “A little bit of heaven since 1857,” the official seal uses 1858 to mark the year the town was formally established, heavily tied to the completion of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, which began full operations that year.

 

While land sales began in late 1857, the year 1858 represents the “official founding date of the railroad town and port at Shepard’s Point.” 

(However, incorporation by the state didn’t occur until 1861.)

 

The dominant heraldic elements are oak leaves and acorns to symbolize strength as well as an ocean seashell that reflects the community’s rich maritime heritage.