UNC Sea Grant 



7: "A 



V 



February, 1984 



COAST 4 WATCH 



Photo by Gene Furr 



N.C. Travel and Tourism photo 



Towns S 

 that were 



Portsmouth church steeple (left); Portsmouth from above (right) 



Towns with names like Exeter, Old Town Point, 

 Brunswick Town, Charles Town and Buffalo City 

 once dotted the maps of coastal North Carolina. 

 Towns whose only link to the present is a crumbling 

 wall, an abandoned house, an excavation, a recollec- 

 tion. 



The Roanoke Island colony may be North 

 Carolina's most famous abandoned settlement. But 

 other towns have flourished and then died. Bruns- 

 wick Town, established on the shores of the Cape Fear 

 River in 1728, was envisioned as a seat of government 



and a trading center. But a nearby town, first called 

 Newton, then Wilmington, grew to overshadow 

 Brunswick Town. 



Hurricanes, politics and a lack of commerce caused 

 the demise of several coastal towns and villages. 

 State and county histories tell us about their fate. 

 But two Carteret County communities, deserted 

 during the twentieth century, are still fresh in the 

 minds of a few former inhabitants. This month, 

 Coastwatch takes a look at Portsmouth Village and 

 Diamond City. 



