The lengthy devetu 4
courthouse-jail project
Public Parade has seen oftu
faced by deadline after deadline
At times it appeared to be unend
ing;, V
This week a new deadline was
set. But it will be up to firms
outside the county to meet it. We
speak of the 2:30 P.M. deadline on
September 16 for construction bids
to be submitted. Official
notification is printed elsewhere in
today’s edition.
But eagerly awaiting die bid
opening will be Chowan County
commissioners. They have $l.B
- from a federal grant to
construct the facilities. However,
unforeseen delays could have
produced development costs
beyond the budget.
The bottom line, therefore, will
* be carefully watched during the
T bid tajly process. It will bi
something other than just anothef
deadline since the county has!
already passed the “go” or “no
go” stage.
Open Waterfront
The Town of Edenton has now
done what should have been done
years ago, purchase the Byrum
property on the waterfront.
When the town could have obtain
ed the property for prdbably half
what is now to be paid the political
climate was not right. One of the
owners, George Alma Bynpn, was
mayor.
However, a lot of conversation
would have been avoided had the
councilmen possessed sufficient
< foresight to purchase the property
Regardless of who the owners
were.
at least one of which
'l|B|of»%ve figures, the town
the property for less
cash money than at the earlier
time. So, it is a good deal for the
town and the Byrums.
This newspaper had not taken a—
position oneffortsof theowners-te
develop the small tract by erec
ting townhouses. For this we have
been criticized.
We maintain a feeling that there
is just so much government can
tell a man he can’t do with
property he owns. When it goes to
the extreme the government
should own the land if its highest
and best use is to keep it for all the
people to enjoy.
Therefore, we were net
' disturbed about what the Byrums
wanted to do with the tract, but the
principle involved. Too much
restraint of free enterprise and the
right of ownership is dangerous.
When this happens, then it is time
for the ownership to change, which
Continued On Page 4
it 4 7 BSE
HEAVY PROPERTY DAMAGE Wade Thomas Nixon, 18,
Route 1, Tyner, escaped serious injury when the 1968 Chevrolet,
shown here went out of control early Friday morning and struck
the front of a house on SR 1002 near Small’s Crossroads. The
house, owned by Mrs. John D. Hobbs, was unoccupied at the time
of the 2 A.M. accident. State Trooper M.J. McArthur has
estimated total property damage at $11,500.
Tannery, Artifacts Found
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BOTTLE REMAINS Pat
Garrow, senior archaeologist
with Soil Systems, Inc.,
displays several glass shards
from old bottles found at the
Chowan County Courthouse
Jail site.
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TANNERY WALL FOUND Charles Haecker and Mark
Cochran labor at the location of the main wall of an old tannery,
found to be in an unusually good condition. Tools of the ar
chaeologists include a shovel, used commonly, and a four-inch
auger which enables soil samples to be taken without seriously
endangering artifacts located in the ground.
House Damaged In Accident
A car struck a house on SR 1002
early Friday morning leaving
some $11,500 in property damage.
The driver was only slightly in
jured and the house was unoc
cupied.
Wade Thomas Nixon, 18, Route
1, Tyner, was identified by State
Trooper M.J. McArthur as driver
of the 1968 Chevrolet involved in
By Flynn Surratt
The remains of the main tan
nery wall, tanning vats, a lime
kiln, and other structures have
been confirmed by a team headed
by Pat Garrow, senior ar
chaeologist with Soil Systems, Inc.,
on the site of the Chowan County
Courthouse jail complex during
the first three days of intensive
study.
As of Wednesday, the ar
chaeological team had pinned down
the location of the main tannery
wall following confirmation of the
presence of the tanning vats. The
vats were located by a number of
means including the Sauthier
map, a four-inch auger taking test
borings, and Ph meter which
measures acidity levels in the soil.
Garrow reported the tests
yielded pieces of the wood flooring
in several of the vats, identified as
white pine. He credited the fine
level of preservation to the fact
that the vats are located below
the accident. Time of the accident
was placed at 2 A.M. but it was not
discovered until several hours
later.
Damage to the home of Mrs.
John D. Hobbs was placed at
SIO,OOO and $1,500 on the car, which
was declared a total loss. •
Nixon was charged with drunk
driving, reckless driving, and
failure to report an accident.
Investigation showed that the
Nixon vehicle was traveling at a
high rate of speed when it went out
of control as it came out of a curve
in the road. The vehicle ran off the
right side of the road, crossed a
ditch and traveled a considerable
distance before striking the house.
Trooper McArthur reported that
the seven-room dwelling was
knocked six to 10 inches off the
foundation.
Mrs. Clark Earns Promotion
ROCKY MOUNT - Mrs. Gail G.
Clark, head bookkeeper in the
Edenton office of Peoples Bank
and Trust Company has been
promoted to the office of assistant
cashier. The promotion was an
nounced today by Peoples Bank
Senior Vice President, Vann
Johnson.
A native of Pitt County, Mrs.
Clark is a graduate of Belvoir-
Folkland High School. She joined
Peoples Bank in 1966 following
seven years banking experience
with the Greenville office of
NCNB. •
Tax Revenues
A total of $73,566.88 in sales tax
revenue for the quarter ending
June 30 has been received by
Chowan County and the Town of
Edenton.
Distributed on the ad valorem
basis, the county received
$55,703.16 while the remaining
$17363.72 went to the town.
..
ground-water level, and water is
often an excellent preservative,
though a factor making ex
cavation a special problem.
Other testing led to the
discovery of a lime kiln where
shells were burned to obtain
limestone used in the . leather
preparation process.
Checking into deeds dating back
to 1762, Garrow also reported that
the southeast comer of the site
was the location of another
structure believed to be a tobacco
and snuff factory. Although no
description of the facility is
available, it is known that the
factory was owned by a man
named Halsey and that the
business was sold in a Sheriff’s
sale in 1769.
That site would have been the
site of the jail facility, although
plans were changed to locate the
jail at the northeast comer in
stead.
At the southwest comer, Garrow
says a number of enclosures were
located that could have been
anything from a garden to
livestock facilities. Later con
struction and demolition at that
point destroyed all of the remains.
Actual excavation is planned for
a 60 feet x 150 feet tract where an
outside privy was located. The
archaeologists will strip the area,
one soil layer at a time until the
project is complete. Otherwise,
the work will mostly involve only
intensive surveys with contracts
Continued On Page 4
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Volume XLHI.—No. 33. Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, August 18, 1977.' Single Copies 15 Cents.
Actions Blocked
Efforts to keep townhouses from
being built on Edenton Bay near
the Masonic Temple have ap
parently been successful. The
Town of Edenton has entered into
an agreement to purchase the
property from George Alma and
Thomas Byrum.
The purchase price was not
disclosed.
Town Council approved the
purchase at a special meeting
Monday afternoon after
“generous donations” were
received from the private sector.
W.B. Gardner, town ad
ministrator, said “the town will
Meeting Slated
The annual meeting of Edenton
Chamber of Commerce has been
set for September 29. It will be
held at Chowan Golf & Country
Club.
The decision was made Thurs
day at the monthly meeting of the
board of directors. At that time
Dr. A.F. Downum, Jr., president,
appointed the following to the
nominating committee: Morris
Small, Jr., Bill Norvell, Jack
Evans, Cam Byrum and himself.
The board also discussed
erecting signs on or near the U.S.
17 by-pass and plans of the Mer
chants Committee to conduct
town-wide promotions.
She is married to Alton R. Clark,
assistant cashier of the bank’s
Consumer Credit Office, and they
have three children: Allen, age 11,
Jason, age nine; and Vonda, age
three. The Clarks are members of
the Immanuel Baptist Church.
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Mrs. Gall G. Clark
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PREPARING FOR STUDENTS Mary Ralph, left, a new
math instructor at Holmes High School, is shown above with
Linda Nichols, P.E. instructor, as they chat with Dr. John Dunn,
superintendent while preparing the groundwork for the up
coming school year.
Teachers Begin Work Early
School opened Monday for the
145 teachers employed by
Edenton-Chowan Schools. They
will have until August 29 before
students report for their first day
of orientation and registration.
Dr. John Dunn, superintendent,
explained that the extra 10-day
period extends the teachers’
employment to a full 10 months as
authorized by the General
Assembly several years ago.
The teachers, of which 13 are
new to the local system, will use the
extra time to become oriented to
have little cash money in the site
of another waterfront park.”
Not revealing the purchase
price or how much was donated,
Gardner said a “generous portion
was raised from anonymous
donors.” Without the donations, he
added, the town would have been
unable to acquire the additional
waterfront property.
Gardner said this is another step
in the town’s effort to obtain title
to property on Edenton’s water
front.
However, the town will have to
bear the cost of development.
Gardner said the town has not had
time to discuss the extent of
development to take place in the
area.
The Byrums had obtained a
special use permit from the Board
of Adjustments to put townhouses
on the waterfront site. Just last
week a group known as “Citizens
to Save The Edenton Waterfront”
employed an attorney “for the
purpose of contesting the legality”
of the permit.
The Board of Adjustment action
Continued On Page 4
Referendum
The Chowan County Board of
Election has certified that a
sufficient number of registered
voters in the Town of Edenton
have signed a petition to call a
referendum on a change in the
method of electing councilmen.
Mrs. Joseph Thorud, executive
secretary, has informed Town
Administrator W.B. Gardner that
248 names on the petition are those
of registered voters. The petitions,
circulated by Mayor Roy L. Har
rell, bore 255 signatures.
Mayor Harrell last week urged
members of the Town Council to set
machinery in motion to have a
referendum to determine if the
people wanted to return to “ward
voting” on councilmen. He had
circulated the petition to
strengthen his case and when he
did not get a favorable response
from the councilmen, he went the
petition route.
At a special meeting Monday
afternoon, Gardner reported on
the certification but did not get a
motion to call the election. It is
understood that the referendum
will be held at the time of the
general election on November 8.
The regular municipal election
will be held at the same time.
Cwthard eB Page 4
their respective places of em
ployment. Time will be spent in
teacher conferences and
workshops and in preparing lesson
and classroom plans so that
classes can get underway at the
onset of the new school year.
A half-day of orientation for
students will begin at 8:30 A.M. on
August 29, with the first full day of
classes beginning Tuesday, Dr.
Dunn stated.
This years’ total enrollment is
expected to number at 2,650 for
kindergarten through grade 12.
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Rev. Jimmy C. Whitfield
Campmeeting
The 53rd. annual Happy Home
Campmeeting will be held from
Thursday through August 28, The
campground is located 17 miles
north of Edenton, off Highway 32.
The guest speaker for these
services will be Rev. Jimmy C.
Whitfield of Mount Olive. Mr.
Whitfield is a graduate of Holmes
Theological Seminary in
Greenville, S.C.
For the past 10 years he has
resided in Florida and served as
pastor and Christian Education
Director of the Florida Conference
of the Pentecostal Holiness
Church. He has ministered in
several youth camps and camp
meetings.
Services will be held daily at
10:30 A.M., 3 P.M., and at 8 PM.
Beginning August 21, special
youth services will be held each
evening at 7 P.M.
On August 22, at 8 P.M., Leverne
Tripp and his song Revival Band
will be featured.
Camping facilities plus meals at
reasonable rates will be available
during the campmeeting.
For further information contact
Rev. C.G, Chappell at 221-4039.
Petitions Filed
Less than a week after Edenton
Town Council denied petitions to
rezone two parcels adjacent to
U.S. 17 by-pass, the developers
filed new petitions in their three
year effort to build a shopping
center and other commercial
establishments on Virginia Road.
W.J.P. Earnhardt, Jr., and
Bernard P. Burroughs are asking
that a 10-acre tract on the south
side be changed from R-20 to
Shopping Center ans a like tract
Co*tln»g| On Page 4