Cousteau made Beaufort a port of call. 



The restoration has even attracted a 

 luxury passenger service vessel — a 

 mini-Love Boat of sorts. The cruises of 

 about 100 passengers travel the In- 

 tracoastal Waterway, stopping off in 

 Beaufort for a day of sightseeing. 



Inevitably, some of those just pass- 

 ing through have decided to make 

 Beaufort their home, leaving fewer and 

 fewer residents who are as native to 

 the area as Grayden Paul. 



Nancy and Mike Barton are two 

 transplants to Beaufort. They moved 

 here last year after four years of travel- 

 ing and living on a boat. When they 

 decided it was time to return to land, 

 they faced a decision. They wanted to 

 open a business; but where? 



They narrowed the choice down to 

 an area around the Chesapeake or 

 Beaufort. Nancy says Beaufort won 

 hands down. They had sailed through 

 the town before and found it "quaint 

 and unspoiled." 



The Bartons, along with several 

 other business partners, are renovating 

 one of Beaufort's oldest homes into a 

 country inn. 



Beaufort natives praise and curse 

 the town's restoration. Yes, times have 

 changed, says Grayden Paul. But he's 

 pleased with the progress. If it means 

 more folks get to see his beloved town, 

 it's all right by him. 



Since he moved there from Davis in 

 1922, Paul has watched Beaufort make 

 a complete circle, from thriving fishing 

 village to ghost town and back to 

 vibrant seaport. 



Through the changes, the boardwalk 

 has remained the social center of the 

 community, says Paul. "In 1912 Front 

 Street was paved. The tide came right 

 up over the road to the houses." Paul 

 says residents walked uptown via the 



boardwalk that was built over the 

 street because the rising tide often 

 covered the road. 



In those days, the men of the town 

 gathered around the pot-belly stoves 

 in the waterfront stores. "All the 

 fishermen and the hunters would sit 

 around and talk until late," says Paul. 

 "Even the barbershops stayed open til 

 12:00 on Friday and Saturday nights. 

 Now they stay open six or eight hours 



Photos from N.C. Division of Archives and History 



a day and charge you $5 a haircut." 

 Times have changed in Beaufort. 



Today it is a modern historic village. 

 A contradiction in terms, perhaps, but 

 a successful contradiction. The town's 

 ability to shove some of its past aside 

 while retaining much of its beginnings 

 has resulted in a combination that may 

 keep Beaufort alive for three more 

 centuries. 



— Nancy Davis 



Turn-of-the-century photos of Beaufort's railway and waterfront 



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