Down through the years, this port town on the south bank of the Roanoke River (earlier called the Moratucke River) has played a key role in the history of the Albemarle region. The Plymouth Historic District comprises most of the town which was laid out in 1787. Plymouth once had its own Customs House and collector as was a designated Port of Entry. Until the outbreak of the Civil War, it was a bustling port city with cypress shingles, lumber and other wood products and agricultural produce being shipped north to Norfolk, Baltimore, New York, Boston and even the West Indies.
Its prominence as a shipping center made it the object of many fierce battles during the Civil War for both Union and Confederate forces. Probably the most important event took place on October 27, 1864, with the sinking of the confederate ironclad the "C. S. S. RAM Albemarle." Today, reenactments of many of the battles are held at nearby Fort Branch which was constructed by the Confederates. Along the route of its present walking tour, only five houses and a portion of Grace Church survive from the period before the war.
Tragedy struck again on April 14, 1898 when a raging fire destroyed most of the commercial district. Today you will find a quiet community with shady lanes and the fragrance and beauty of dogwoods, azaleas and crepe myrtles. Plymouth lies in a vast area of pristine estuaries and wetlands and nearby fertile farmland and pine plantations.
Pettigrew State Park and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge are nearby and offer excellent habitat and wildlife viewing opportunities. Also within Washington County is Somerset Place Plantation, one of NC's largest coastal plantations on the shores of Lake Phelps. In Creswell the Davenport Homestead, built in the late 1700s, is being preserved as a model of an early North Carolina farmstead.
Points of Interest:
1. PORT O' PLYMOUTH MUSEUM. The Port O' Plymouth Museum, established in 1988 by the Washington County Historical Society in the old Seaboard Coastline depot in downtown Plymouth, displays many artifacts from the region.
2. WINDLEY-AUSBON HOUSE. Only one of many historic homes and buildings on the walking tour, the Windley-Ausbon House at 302 Washington Street still bears scars from its involvement in the Civil War. Bullet holes in the banister and blood stains near a second-floor window attest to the Civil War's impact on the town.
3. NEW CHAPEL BAPTIST CHURCH. This red brick cruciform building with tall, twin towers at its front entrance makes it one of the region's most architecturally imposing churches. The church was designed by its pastor, the Rev. S. C. Copeland and was built for a congregation of freedmen. With multiple entrances and its principal portico reached by seven exterior staircases, traditionally it is said that it was build on the biblical description of Solomon's temple.
