Belhaven
Innamorata
Steve & Carol
Fri 8 Nov 2024 19:51
35:32.075N 076:37.519W We decided to move a little further into the anchorage and nearer the dinghy dock.  I had contacted the ocean cruising club port officer Diana and arranged to meet her the following day so we went for a wander, found a cafe for a cup of coffee and went to the hardware store looking for a couple of bits before heading back to the boat. The following day we met Diana who took us on a tour of some of the towns streets telling us the history of the town and some of the properties, which are not very old by our standards, the oldest being built in the 1800's and most were early 1900’s, it was interesting though. Belhaven is the nearest town to the Alligator Pungo Canal which was the last stretch of the Intercostal waterway to be completed in 1928. Belhaven once boasted half a dozen lumber companies and a branch of the Norfolk and Southern Railroad. Hundreds of tons of timber and timber products like oil barrels which were produced in northeastern North Carolina were transported through Belhaven. There was and still is to a lesser extent small crabbing and shrimp fishing businesses locally. Today Belhaven has fewer people living in it than when it was a working town, with only abut 1600 people living there, many of whom have lived there all their lives. Some houses still had autumnal decorations.  Below is Old Captain Riddicks house originally built in 1800 it was added to in 1900s and raised and moved back 20 ft in the 2000s  Below is Bishop / Kirk home built in 1906 for Captain Benjamin Kirks by his son William who built quite a few of the properties in early 1900’s  We quite liked this one that looks like it needs a little TLC  RiverForest Mannor commissioned in 1899 by John Wilkinson, who was president of the JL Roper lumber company and vice president of the Norfolk and Southern Railroad, it was completed in 1904 John Wilkinson hired skilled tradesmen and the same skilled Italian plaster craftsman who made ornate plaster ceilings and cornises like we see in the UK but not common in US at all.  I dont think i have ever been anywhere quite so Christmassy - there are 32 christmas trees in the property and it's really not that big!      Upstairs there were 6 or 7 rooms all with the original beds apparently!  When we googled the Riverforest Manor later we found it's on the market for $3.2million! When we went for a walk by ourselves the following day in search of a couple of marine parts we want and of course a grocery store, we saw the first ever cotton field we’ve seen - the plants are so much smaller than I thought and the cotton which had blown off and was on the grass verge felt like a cross between cotton wool and wool!    We spent a couple of days in Belhaven, Tom and Sabrina arrived a few days after us and we spent a nice evening in the local brewery with them, when you go in you get a credit card size card as your tab and can help yourself to different beers by holding card against a screen and then pouring the beer which it measures in oz - pretty expensive but Steve enjoyed the 5 different ones he tried including 2 or 3 made at the Brewery as did Tom.  |