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February 13,1997
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= 2'- ij;’'ANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 .V ACADEMY 5T
HERTFORD C 27944
The Perquimans Weekly
350
Vol. 65, No. 7
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Inside
Fire teaches
chlldfen about
community
spint
Page?
Pirates Claim
wins to keep
playoff hopes
alive
Pages
Hospital offers
latest in CT
scan
technology
' ■ Page 12
■: FeaturBd church:
Oak Grove
Methodist
Page 5
Perquimans County
an
All of Us Care
Community
February’s theme;
Know That
You Count
focusing on
Tolerance
Cooperation
Responsibility
Teamwork
Win/Win
Incorporate these Healthy
HABITS into your daily life and
help make our community a
better place to live!
For All of Us Care
information, contact
Dr. Randall L. Henion,
Perquimans County Schools
426-5741
Old Neck on National Register
Community earns
recognition as
significant
historic area
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Preseverance paid off for a
group of Perquimans County
residents andnatives. After
four years of organizing, plan
ning, fundraising and applica
tions, the group received noti
fication that the National
Register of Historic Places
now includes the Old Neck
Historic District.
“It’s quite a coup that this is
listed as an agricultural his
toric district,” said Stephanie
Bandy, site director at the
Newbold-White House. “It’s
rare that the National Register
would list an agricultural dis
trict. We should be real excited
about that. It’s kind of a big
deal.”
Encompassing over 3,300
acres, the district begins at the
foot of the U.S. Highway 17
bypass bridge and extends
southeast almost 4 miles,
roughly paralleling'the east
side of the Perquimans River.
The district is bounded in part
by U.S. 17 to the north, and
Union Hall Road and sutton’s
Creek to the east.
Old Neck Road and New
Hope Road are the primary
east-west arteries within the
district, with Union Hall Road
running north and south.
Among the structures of sig
nificance to the county’s histo
ry located in the district are
the Francis Nixon Plantation,
the William Jones Plantation,
the Fletcher-Skinner-Nixon
Plantation, Cove Grove, the
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PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
The Thomas Nixon Plantation is included in the Old Neck Historic District. After four years of
planning, researching and fundraising, the District’s nomination was accepted into the National
Register of Historic Places.
Miller-Skinner House, the
Matthew Towe Farm, the
Benjamin S. Skinner Jr. Farm,
the former Willow Branch
School, the Miller-Bundy
Farm, the John C. Bundy Jr.
Farmstead, the Winslow Farm,
the John Newbold Farm and
the Thomas Nixon Plantation.
Beth Skinner Taylor, whose
family has owned Cove Grove
since it was buUt by Benjamin
Skinner around 1830, chaired
the Old Neck Historic District
at the request of Albert Eure of
the Perquimans Restoration
Association. Taylor said many
Old Neck residents, former
residents and descendants of
those who built Old Neck’s his
toric buildings supported the
effort to establish the district.
The committee was able to
raise enough money through
two events, one at Cove Grove
in 1993 and a second at
Riverside in 1994, to obtain
matching funds to pay the
$8,000 consulting and research
ing fee necessary to write the
nomination for Old Neck.
The actual work was done
by Drucilla H. York, and archi
tectural historian with Local
History Associates in
Greenville, with the assistance
of local historian Raymond
Winslow Jr. The two had pre
viously written the book “The
Historic Architecture of
Perquimans County, North
Carolina.”
In addition to the architec
tural and agricultural signifi
cance of the Old Neck District,
York noted the social history
of the area. Many of the homes
are stUl owned by descendants
of the builders. Many of those
who built the homes were also
related to each other. In addi
tion, much of the overall land
scape has remained much as it
was in the 19th centimy.
“In many North Carolina
coastal areas today, the rural
landscape is marred by hous
ing and strip developments
along the road and water
fronts,” York wrote in her
nomination. “The integrity of
the Old Neck Historic District,
however, sets it apart from
other rural areas within the
Albemarle region and makes it
an outstanding example with
in North Carolina.”
The Chamber of Commerce
has set up a committee to
assist and support the estab
lishment of historic district
throughout the county. Taylor
thinks the Chamber is on the
right track.
“One of the things we said
from the very beginning is
we’ve got the Newbold-White
House, but you’ve got to have
something else,’ Taylor said.
“We must expand and promote
the history of the county.”
Preserving and promoting
the county’s history can also
translate into a stronger econ
omy, according to Sandra
Smith, Executive Director of
the Chamber. Smith said cul
tural tourism is the fastest-
growing industry in North
Carolina.
Bandy added that cultural
tourists stay twice as long and
spend 2.5 times more money
than other tourists.
With that in mind, the
Chamber recently received
$5,000 in matching funds from
the Northeast Partnership to
develop a new'heritage and
tourism brochure.
“Chowan and Pasquotank
counties have both capitalized
on their historic significance,”
Smith said. “Perquimans
needs to do the same.”
Chamber honors volunteers
By SEAN JACKSON
Correspondent
Parker Newbern and Susan
Harris were named Volunteers
of the Year by the Perquimans
County Chamber of Commerce
during last'Tuesday night’s
annual banquet.
Harris, editor of The
Perquimans Weekly, and
Newbern, Hertford’s Public
Works Director, are volun
teers who work diligently to
promote and improve the
county but who expect nothing
in return,” said Paige Eure
outgoing Chamber vice presi
dent.
“Write this down,’ Harris
said as she accepted her
award. “It’s the fmst time you
have seen me speechless.”
Newbern, who serves as
president of the Albemarle
Firefighters Association, could
not attend the banquet because
the firefighters were holding
their annual banquet the same
night. He was presented with
his award by Chamber
Executive Director Sandra
Smith at the Chamber office
on Wednesday morning. Like
Harris, he was completely sur
prised by the honor.
Eure said last yeau: was very
successful for business
recruitment. The chamber
held 13 ribbon cuttings in
Perquimans County. Newly-
appointed Chamber president
Laurence Chappell said he
hopes this year will be just as
successful.
The keynote speaker for the
banquet was Rick Watson,
executive director of North
Carolina’s Northeast
Partnership. Communication
and commitment are two keys
to building a better future for
Perquimans’ residents,
Watson said.
He urged business leaders
and county and town officials
to stay focused and know what
the majority of their citizens
want.
Watson said Perquimans
already has an abundance of
resources that, if used proper
ly, could help improve resi
dents’ quality of life.
‘"rhe Newbold-White House
has tremendous potential from
an historic perspective along,”
Watson said.
He said a museum honoring
Hertford native and baseball
legend Jim “Catfish” Hunter,
in close proximity to the
Newbold-White House, would
maximize two of the county’s
more notable resources.
“There are plenty of
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Parker Newbern and Susan Harris were named Volunteers of
the Year by the Chamber of Commerce last week.
resources to draw upon for a
successful future. They key is
communication.”
Also recognized during the
banquet were new board mem
bers Rhonda Gregory, J.
Carlton Cole, Kristy Peters,
Chris Lane, and Robert Baker
Jr.; and outgoing members
Larry Swindell, Alice Jean
Winslow, Eure, Anna Wrae
Smith and Billy Nixon.
Swindell served as president
in 1996.
Hertford gives stamp of approval to tennis court grant
By SEAN JACKSON
Correspondent
Todd Hunter’s request to
seek a state grant for new ten
nis courts in Hertford was
approved by the Town Council
Monday at the council’s regu
lar meeting.
Hunter, the county’s recre
ation director, told the councU
that his plans are to build the
new courts directly behind the
library. The existing courts
are not regulation size. Hunter
said.
The site, presently owned
by the town of Hertford, will
be leased to the county for no
less than 20 years to meet the
specifications of the grant.
Council members approved
the lease on the condition that
the land be usejd for the con
struction of the courts only.
According to Hunter, the
old courts could be temporari
ly used as a parking facility
until a time when the Senior
Citizens Center finds the funds
to expand.
Hunter told council that
consultants have quoted
$57,000 as the price to build the
new courts, including lights, a
10-foot fence surrounding the
courts and a regulation sized
surface made of asphalt.
The council also heard
Robert Baker’s report on new
developments with the coun
ty’s economic development
commission.
“The shell building is on
track,” said Baker, who is
Executive Director of the
Perquimans County Economic
Development Commission.
“The incubator building is
back on track. 'The clients are
coming in to look at these
buildings. We think we may
have worked out some terms
that are favorable to the com
munity.”
One resident spoke to the
council concerning the town’s
present state of having several
dwellings and buildings in a
condition of terminal disre
pair.
“We can’t do anything until
he (the county’s building
inspector) inspects a building
or a dwelling and makes a
decision,” said Walter
Edwcurds, town attorney, ‘"rhe
law is very well defined. It’s
not like we haven’t been doing
anything.”