Allow Enough TimeAllow two hours per mile for canoeing and three miles per hour for kayaking under normal conditions.Driving and shuttle time is extra

Know the WaterCheck recent and predicted weather conditionsCheck water conditions: water temperature, and wind and wave conditions. Remember, if you aren’t dressed for the water, you aren’t dressed for the paddleKayak trails are more exposed to wind and waves and can become hazardous when winds are strong.

Play It SafeLock your car and take your keys with youDon’t paddle aloneWatch for motor boats. Paddle near the bank and turn your bow into the wake.Let someone know your plans-where you are paddling and when you plan to be back.Place food and gear in water-tight containers or hatches and secure in canoes or kayaks.Don’t overload your boat. Avoid horseplayCarry plenty of drinking water

Respect PropertyDon’t litter or pollute the water with trash or other waste.Don’t cut trees or harass animalsDon’t build campfiresAccess to private land should be by invitation only.Camp only in designated areas.

Paddling Information

Rocky Mount Area (Map Available)www.ci.rocky-mount.nc.us/parks&rec/paddletrail.html

Tarboro Canoe/Kayak TrailDunbar Road to Bell’s Bridge12.5 miles, 3.5 hours paddling

Put in at the North Carolina Wildlife access on Dunbar Road between US Hwy 64 and NC Hwy 97. This narrow and winding section of the Tar River is rugged and scenic. The shallow water conditions and fallen trees make this section almost impassible by boat, but perfect for canoes and kayaks. Stop and rest or have a picnic on one of many sand bars that jut out at the bends of the river. Take out for this section is at Bell’s Bridge located on NC Hwy 33 just north of Tarboro.

Bell’s Bridge to Riverfront Park11 miles, 3 hours paddling

This paddle is along the Tar River and is sheltered the entire way. The put-in is at Bell’s Bridge using the North Carolina Wildlife Access on NC 33 North approximately one mile outside the Tarboro city limits. Take out is at Riverfront Park in downtown Tarboro. Turn on to Granville Street off Main Street and continue to the park entrance. Paddling from Bell’s Bridge at NC 33, the Tar River twists for approximately five miles. Just before reaching maker 141, the entrance to Fishing Creek will be on the left. Downstream just past marker 143 will be historic Red Iron Bridge, a railroad trestle that will become a part of the new Tarboro Bike Trail. From this point, the river straightens out and continues to the Riverfront Park take-out in downtown Tarboro.

Pitt County (Map Available)Mid-East RC&D, (252) 830-6375mideastrcd@coastalnet.com

Canoe/Kayak Sales and RentalSteve’s Bicycle Shop, (252) 442-5020Stevesbicycles@aol.com1120 S. Wesleyan Blvd (Peddler’s Village - Hwy 301)

NC Paddle Trails Association www.ncpaddletrails.org

Boating and Fishing RegulationsNorth Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission(919) 733-3391

Information/Classes/Guided Trips Tarboro Parks & Recreation, (252) 641-4276jarvispettaway@tarboro-nc.com

Produced by the Town of Tarboro500 Main Street, Tarboro, NC 27886, 252.641.4200 www.tarboro-nc.com

Wilson Street

St. John Street

Church Street

St. James Street

Pitt Street

Granville Street

Bridgers Street

Baker Street

Park Avenue

Philips Street

Battle Avenue

Johnston Street

Walnut Street

Alb

emar

le A

venu

e

Mai

n St

reet

Mai

n St

reet

Trad

e St

reet

St. A

ndre

w S

tree

t

St. P

atric

k St

reet

St. D

avid

Str

eet

Pano

la S

tree

t

Hen

dric

ks S

tree

t

Alb

emar

le A

venu

e

Dan

cy S

tree

t

St. P

atric

k St

reet

St. A

ndre

w S

tree

tSt

. And

rew

Str

eet

St. D

avid

Str

eet

Pano

la S

tree

t

Nor�eet Court

Lanier Court

Porter Street

Trad

e St

reet

Popl

ar S

tree

t

Water Street

Quadrant 1

Quadrant 2Quadrant 3

Quadrant 4

Courthouse Square

Churches

Businesses

Private Homes

Public Buildings

Historic Buildings

Civil War Trail Marker

Riverfront Park to Old Sparta8 miles, 2 hours paddling

Put in at Riverfront Park in Tarboro located near the Main Street bridge between Princeville and Tarboro in historic downtown Tarboro. This section of the river is straight and wide, allowing you to enjoy the scenic beauty and wildlife of the Tar River. Take out for this section is at the North Carolina Wildlife access off of NC Hwy 42 just east of the intersection of NC Hwy 42 and Colonial Road.

Paddling Regulations and Safety TipsSafety Equipment ChecklistFlotation Gear (Regulations require a Coast Guard approved wearable personal flotation device for each occupant)Audible signaling device (required by Coast Guard)First Aid Kit. Add insect repellant and sunscreenExtra paddle, float and pump for kayaksBow and stern linesFlashlight and extra batteriesCompass or GPSMarine VHF or cell phoneWater bottles with plenty of fresh waterWide brim hat and sunglassesKayak spray skirt

North Carolina Civil War TrailsFrom Atlantic coastal sites at Forts Fisher and Macon to Union cavalry operations in the western mountains, North Carolina offers a collection of Civil War sites as varied as its landscapes. Blockade running in Wilmington. Ironclads at Kinston and Plymouth. Sherman vs. Johnston battles in 1865. A surrender more than two weeks after Appomattox. “Lee’s Lifeline” on a crucial railroad.

Just about anywhere you go in North Carolina, you will bump into a Civil War story — one you may not find anywhere else.Below are the Civil War Sites located in and around Tarboro

Potter’s Raid TourUnion cavalry under Gen. Edward E. Potter left their base in New Bern July 18, 1863, on their way to burn the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad bridge at Rocky Mount and disrupt Confederate supply activities in the area. Potter ran into some resistance near Tarboro and on the

way back at Contentnea Creek. The raiders returned to New Bern July 23 after destroying supplies and partially burning bridges over creeks and rivers but the Confederates soon repaired the damage and restored rail service in Rocky Mount by August 1.

Occupation of Tarboro (Daniel’s Schoolhouse Engagement)Sign located at 130 Bridgers St. TarboroUnion Gen. Edward E. Potter and a cavalry battalion occupied Tarboro about 9 A.M. on July 20, 1863, after driving off Confederate cavalrymen who had come from the direction of Hamilton. Potter ordered Maj. Floyd Clarkson, 12th New York Cavalry, to block the Hamilton road about a mile east of the Tar River bridge. Clarkson, with three cavalry companies and a howitzer, first burned two vessels in the river near the bridge. About four miles from Tarboro, near

Daniel’s Schoolhouse, he clashed with Maj. John T. Kennedy and three companies of the 62nd Georgia Cavalry from Fort Branch. After a couple of charges and a few shots from the howitzer, Clarksonretreated to Tarboro in the face of sharp Confederate fire. Federal casualties numbered 6 dead, 14 wounded, and 18 captured. Maj. George W. Cole led three companies of the 3rd New York Cavalry across the river to assist Clarkson. A mile east of Tarboro, however, Cole encountered Confederate Lt. Col. John C. Lamb, who had marched from Fort Branch with two companies of the 17th North Carolina Infantry and a two-gun section of the Petersburg Artillery Cole and Lamb exchanged small-arms and cannon fire, and Cole withdrew. The Federals left Tarboro about 5 P.M., partially burnedthe Tar River bridge, and began the march back to New Bern.

Occupation of Tarboro (“All Were Burned...”)Trails sign located in the Town Common at the intersection of Main and Wilson streetsOn July 20, 1863, after bivouacking in the village of Sparta south of here, Gen. Edward E. Potter occupied Tarboro with a battalion of New York cavalrymen. A wealthy Tar River town and

trading center surrounded by productive plantations, Tarboro played a pivotal role in providing foodstuffs, medicine, and military supplies to Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia Potter later reported that he “found an iron-clad on the stocks and two steamboats on the river. The iron-clad [similar to the ram Albemarle] was of the Merrimac model, and her frame was very heavy and solid. All were burned, together with some railroad cars, 100 bales of cotton, [and] quartermaster’s subsistence, andordnance stores.” Soldiers

plundered private homes, the Masonic Lodge, the Bank of Tarboro, and other businesses for valuables The Federals marched south in the evening back through Sparta toward New Bern after the engagement at Daniel’s Schoolhouse a few miles east of here. They set the Tar River bridge afire behind them, but townspeople

extinguished it before it sustained extensive damage.

Civil War CemeteriesTrails sign located between Calvary Episcopal Church and Howard Memorial Church at the intersection of St. James and St. David streets — Civil War soldiers and veterans are buried in Calvary Episcopal Churchyard and Old Town Cemetery. Among the fifty Confederates interred in the churchyard are Gen. William Dorsey Pender and Lt. Col. John L. Bridgers. In May 1863, Pender led a brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville, “bearing the colors of a regiment in his own hands up to and over the entrenchments, with the most distinguished gallantry.” He was mortally wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. Bridgers, who died in 1884, commanded the Edgecombe Guards at the Battle of Big Bethel, Virginia, on June 10, 1861.Henry Toole Clark of Tarboro, North Carolina’s governor from July 1861 to September 1862, is also buried in Calvary Episcopal Churchyard. He readied the state for war, assembling troops, gathering supplies, making critical alliances, and defending vital ports from early Union attacks.Construction began in 1859 on Calvary Church, one of the county’s most important landmarks, but stopped during the war The church was consecrated in 1868. Old Town Cemetery, surrounding Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church, was created as a public burying ground in 1790. Union soldiers killed at the Daniel’s Schoolhouse engagement in 1863 were buried there until their families claimed the remains after the war. The cemetery also contains marked and unmarked graves of Confederate soldiers who died here in Confederate hospitals. The gateway arch on St. David Street honors them. Of the more than

1,400 Edgecombe County men who served in the Confederate army, many are buried in Tarboro (including 40 in Greenwood Cemetery on Howard Avenue), while others rest in family cemeteries throughout the county.

Princeville African American MuseumTrails sign located in Princeville at 310 Mutual Blvd (Route 258), one block north of the intersection of Route 258 and

State Highway 33 — During the Civil War, thousands of slaves escaped to U.S. Army lines, and more than thirty African Americans from Edgecombe County enlisted in the 35th, 36th, and 37th U.S. Colored Troops, 14th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, and U.S. Navy. After the war, former slaves sought refuge at a U.S. Army camp located here on the plantations of John Lloyd and Lafayette Dancy. The freedmen called their settlement of huts and shanties on the Tar River floodplain Freedom Hill. Freedman Turner Prince, a carpenter born into slavery in 1843, acquired a lot here in 1873, built a house, and constructed other permanent dwellings for the residents. By 1880, the population was 379; occupational

categories included laborer, laundress, washerwoman, carpenter, blacksmith, grocer, seamstress, and brick mason. In 1885, the North Carolina legislature incorporated the town, which its occupants named Princeville in their carpenter’s honor. Princeville was the first all-black town and independently governed African American community incorporated in the United States.The town struggled to survive during the Jim Crow era, defeatingefforts early in the twentieth century to annex it to Tarboro Princeville’s population increased to 636 by 1910, then declined as black Southerners migrated north. The population later rose to 2,100 in the 1990s.Princeville’s location has subjected it to frequent flooding. A leveecompleted in 1965 protected the town until 1999, when Hurricanes Dennis and Floyd overtopped it in the worst flood on record here. Princeville’s residents soon began rebuilding their historic community, repairing houses and constructing new homes, a town hall, a park, and an African American history museum.

OCCUPATION OF TARBORO★ ★ ★

Daniel’s Schoolhouse Engagement

P O T T E R ’ S R A I D

Union Gen. Edward E. Potter and a cavalry battalion occupied Tarboroabout 9 A.M. on July 20, 1863, after driving off Confederate cavalrymen whohad come from the direction of Hamilton. Potter ordered Maj. Floyd Clark-son, 12th New York Cavalry, to block the Hamilton road about a mile east of the Tar River bridge. Clarkson, with three cavalry companies and a howitzer, first burned two vessels in the river near the bridge. About fourmiles from Tarboro, near Daniel’s Schoolhouse, he clashed with Maj. JohnT. Kennedy and three companies of the 62nd Georgia Cavalry from Fort

Branch. After a coupleof charges and a few shots from thehowitzer, Clarksonretreated to Tarboro inthe face of sharp Con-federate fire. Federalcasualties numbered 6 dead, 14 wounded,and 18 captured.

Maj. George W. Cole led threecompanies of the 3rd New YorkCavalry across the river to assistClarkson. A mile east of Tar-boro, however, Cole encounteredConfederate Lt. Col. John C.Lamb, who had marched fromFort Branch with two companiesof the 17th North Carolina Infantry and a two-gun section of the Peters-burg Artillery. Cole and Lamb exchanged small-arms and cannon fire, andCole withdrew. The Federals left Tarboro about 5 P.M., partially burned the Tar River bridge, and began the march back to New Bern.

On July 18, 1863, Union Gen. Edward E. Potter led infantry and cavalry from New Bern to destroy the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad bridge at Rocky Mount. The infantry feinted toward

Kinston and returned to New Bern. Potter raided Greenville, then sent part of his cavalry to Rocky Mount and occupied Tarboro. The raiders damaged or destroyed bridges, trains,

munitions, and mills before returning to New Bern on July 23, but the Confederates restored rail service by Aug. 1.

The Blount-Bridgers House, con-structed here for Thomas Blount inthe Federal style about 1808, was laterthe home of Lt. Col. John L. Bridgers(1821–1884). As a captain, Bridgersserved with distinction in the 1stNorth Carolina Volunteers during theBattle of Big Bethel on June 10, 1861.He commanded the garrison at FortMacon on the Outer Banks that fall.His brother, Robert R. Bridgers,served in the Confederate Congressuntil the end of the war.Lt. Col. John Bridgers Congressman Robert Bridgers

Gen. Edward E. Potter– Courtesy U.S.A.M.H.I.

WI L

MI N

GT

ON

AN

DW

EL

DO

NR

R

A T L A N T I C A N D N C R R

ROANO

K E RIVER

TAR RIVER

NEU SE RIVER

Little ContentneaCreek

Hamilton

Kinston

Rocky Mount

Fort Branch

Sparta

Snow Hill

GOLDSBORO

Princeville

Potter’s Raid Site

Other Civil War Trails Site

Contentnea Creek

SwiftCreekVillage

You Are Here

New Bern

Greenville

ScuffletonBridge

Hookerton

Falkland

BlackJack

St. John’sChurch

Grimsley’sChurch

Potter’s Raid from New Bern to Rocky Mount and Tarboro

Maj. John T. Kennedy Maj. George W. Cole

HISTORIC PRINCEVILLE★ ★ ★

From Slavery to Freedom Hill

During the Civil War, thousands of slaves escaped to U.S. Army lines, andmore than thirty African Americans from Edgecombe County enlisted inthe 35th, 36th, and 37th U.S. Colored Troops, 14th U.S. Colored HeavyArtillery, and U.S. Navy. After the war, former slaves sought refuge at aU.S. Army camp located here on the plantations of John Lloyd and LafayetteDancy. The freedmen called their settlement of huts and shanties on theTar River floodplain Freedom Hill.

Freedman Turner Prince, a carpenter born into slavery in 1843,acquired a lot here in 1873, built a house, and constructed other permanentdwellings for the residents. By 1880, the population was 379; occupationalcategories included laborer, laundress, washerwoman, carpenter, blacksmith,

grocer, seamstress, and brick mason. In 1885, the North Carolina legislatureincorporated the town, which its occupants named Princeville in their carpenter’s honor. Princeville was the first all-black town and independentlygoverned African American community incorporated in the United States.

The town struggled to survive during the Jim Crow era, defeatingefforts early in the twentieth century to annex it to Tarboro. Princeville’spopulation increased to 636 by 1910, then declined as black Southernersmigrated north. The population later rose to 2,100 in the 1990s.

Princeville’s location has subjected it to frequent flooding. A leveecompleted in 1965 protected the town until 1999, when Hurricanes Dennisand Floyd overtopped it in the worst flood on record here. Princeville’s resi-dents soon began rebuilding their historic community, repairing houses and constructing new homes, a town hall, a park, and an African Americanhistory museum.

“Coming into the Lines,” by combat artist Edwin Forbes, shows escapedslaves passing two Union soldiers. – Courtesy Library of Congress

Brothers in Arms– Courtesy Library of Congress

Princeville residential area in the snow, early 20th century. – Courtesy N.C. Office of Archives and History

Princeville grocery store, commercial area, early 20th century. – Courtesy N.C. Office of Archives and History

EDGECOMBE COUNTY

CULTURAL COUNCILArts

Tarboro & Edgecombe County Paddle Trails & Civil War TrailsHow to use this mapTake a look at the County map below. This Thumbnail will give you and idea where the different trails are. The grey rectangles marked “map 1”, “map 2” and “map 3” correspond to the three large trail maps with the respective numbers. See the map legend for details on the map.

Map 1

Map 2

Map 3

Map 1

Map 2 Map 3