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The Washington High School Marching Band (circa 1948) is
leading a fall parade down Market Street to Main Street Washington. On the left is Welsh's Drug Store, in the Savings and Trust Co. building, and Stowe's Cleaners, which was located where Vann's Studio is now. The bell tower of the old City Hall was then an unenclosed structure. (VS.) |
This book depicts the pictorial history of the city of Washington, North Carolina from 1895 through 1999. Softcover, 128 pages. ISBN 0-7385-0556-0. Published by Arcadia Publishing. First published 2000.
WASHINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA is located at the mouth of the Tar River, where the Pamlico River begins, in the heart of Eastern North Carolina (U.S.Hwy 17S). Washington is a city marked by its rich industrial heritage and the surrounding beauty of the Pamlico River and the fertile farmlands of Beaufort County. Washington is the county seat and was the first town named in honor of General Washington. Washington grew during the 1800s to become one of the prominent shipping ports for lumber and a variety of agricultural produce. With the arrival of the railroads and the following economic hard times of the Depression-era America, Washington's character changed dramatically, forcing many of the local mills and businesses to close. However, today, the city is experiencing a remarkable resurgence of business and opportunity and has again become a significant contributor in the economy of the state.
"Washington, North Carolina" has over 230 stunning black-and-white photographs and postcards and allows readers a unique opportunity to explore their hometown as never seen before. As if stepping back in time, readers will experience the Washington of yesteryear, when the masts of commercial ships, like slender church steeples, dominated the waterfront, when the piercing whistles of trains entering and leaving the many lumber mills punctuated the city's daily activities, and when the sounds of horse-drawn wagons and early automobiles echoed throughout Main and Market Streets. This book also captures scenes of daily life: farmers laboring in the field and also meeting at Brooks Store to swap stories, gossip, and advice; people gathered on Main Street enjoying colorful parades; and children swimming at Whichard's Beach Campground and Marina in nearby Chocowinity.
Local writer and photographer Louis Van Camp has compiled an enchanting visual history, in both word and image, that celebrates the beauty and traditions of this charming city. Washington, North Carolina will surely be a treasure to all readers familiar with this historic city and will provide future generations a rare glimpse into the past of their ancestors.
In 1913, B.L. Susman advertised his Washinton Horse Exchange Co. in a sales booklet called Washington, North Carolina. The author and photographer are unknown, but it was printed by the Press of Joseph J. Stone & Company of Greensboro, North Carolina, for the Washington Chamber of Commerce. The author proclaimed that "If there be one city in the old North State which affords more fruitful interest to the capitalist, the manufacturer or the home seeker, than another, that city is Washington... [for] nowhere in the South has this writer found a greater abundance of milk of human kindness, or a higher regard for the personal care of their fellowman, than pervades the city of Washington, North Carolina." (WL.)
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