The Schooner Jeanie B, a 72′ tall masted sailing vessel, will be coming to the City of Washington and become a fixture to the community of Eastern North Carolina.

The Washington Harbor District Alliance helped to formulate the new partnership between the City of Washington and The Schooner Jeanie B. This partnership creates a relationship that couples the vibrant waterfront in Washington, NC with the educational and family sailings of the vessel.  Schooner Jeanie B will reconnect the rich history of Washington’s past which was active with tall ships with the present when she arrives March 21.

The Schooner Jeanie B is a traditional sailing vessel that sails with Camps Sea Gull and Seafarer during the summer months and Boy Scouts of America and the Pamlico Sea Base during the spring and fall months.  Jeanie B teaches principles of sailing, ship handling, and traditional navigation including using the stars to find their way.  Team and character building are another benefit the campers, scouts and students experience  living aboard the boat as they travel around the Inner Banks of North Carolina visiting various ports such as Manteo, Ocracoke, Washington and Beaufort.

The Jeanie B also provides sailing excursions during the week and weekends from the docks in Washington, NC.  She can take up to 25 passengers for afternoon and evening sunset or star gazing sails.  The captain and crew of Jeanie B can put you at the helm of the 72′ vessel, allow you and your friends to raise her sails and navigate along the Pamlico River or just sit back and enjoy the peaceful sail of an afternoon or evening.

To celebrate the arrival of Schooner Jeanie B, the City of Washington, NC welcomes her March 21 – 24 with an array of activities.  Jeanie B will arrive in Washington on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 21 and that evening a lecture entitled, “Equinox, Solstice, Hallmark and Hershey.  A talk on astronomical events and how they merge with our lives” will be given by Dr. Lee Sutton, owner and operator of the schooner. Jeanie B teaches celestial navigation and her arrival, to coincide with the Vernal Equinox on March 21, couples that teaching to her new home.  The lecture will take place at the North Carolina Estuarium along the Washington waterfront.  Thursday and Friday, March 22, 23, the vessel will be offering free tours from 10am until 2pm.  Saturday, March 24, Jeanie will be offering free to all the public multiple sailings from the docks of the City of Washington.

After this arrival celebration, the schooner will make Washington, NC her permanent home and be available for corporate, family or group sailings throughout the year.  For additional information, please contact the Jeanie B at 804-519-0174 and schoonerjeanieb@gmail.com

Or go to www.http://jeanieb.com/

]]> http://washingtonncmarina.com/washington-reconnects-history/feed/ 0 http://washingtonncmarina.com/fun2/ http://washingtonncmarina.com/fun2/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:50 +0000 12345 http://washingtonncmarina.com/?p=42 When it’s time for a weekend get-away, a family vacation, or an extended stay at the magnificent Inner Banks, it’s time to head for Washington, North Carolina.

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The settlement that would be called Washington appeared in the 1770s, when James Bonner started a town on his farm, which bordered the Pamlico and Tar Rivers. First called Forks of the Tar, the name was changed in 1776 to Washington in honor of General George Washington, making the Original Washington the first town to be named after our First President.

Washington played a strategic role during the War for Independence. With the ports of Savannah, Charles Town, and Wilmington under British siege, the Continental Army relied on Washington as a supply port. After the war, the town grew in importance as a commercial and cultural center due to its prized location on navigable waterways. Washington soon established itself as the economic center of Beaufort County and its agriculture, fishing, and commerce trades. Near the end of the Eighteenth Century, the County Seat of government was relocated from Bath to Washington, since it had a more central location in Beaufort County, which was and still is split in two by the Pamlico-Tar River.

Washington fell to Federal troops early during the War Between the States, consequently stifling the town’s role in that war. The war left Washington devastated. Federal forces set fire to naval stores they were forced to leave behind as they vacated Washington under threats from the Confederate Army. The fire swept across the town destroying most of Washington’s early buildings of historical and architectural significance.

Residents rebuilt the town only to see it destroyed again by fire on September 3, 1900. A faulty stove flue sparked flames which consumed much of the city’s rebuilt central business district. Much of the downtown area’s late Victorian commercial architecture was rebuilt in the decade after this second fire and still remains as one of the most intact and historically and architecturally significant commercial downtown areas in eastern North Carolina.

In 1969, Washington undertook a major renovation project and witnessed the construction of Stewart Parkway, a road and park parallelling the waterfront area. This project included the construction of a 1,500 foot long walkway and bulkhead along the Pamlico River designed for both pedestrian and boat traffic. In 1978, the Washington Historic District was established and placed on the National Register of Historic Places, encompassing more than 600 properties in the central business district and residential areas on both sides. Structures in the Historic District date mainly from the late 1800s and early 1900′s, but include several structures dating from the late 1700s and early 1800s, which were able to survive the two tragic fires. A period of downtown revitalization which began in the early 1990s continues today. New and exciting shops and restaurants continue to operate and open in the historic downtown area, overlooking the Pamlico River. In 2002, the City of Washington completed the Renaissance and Stormwater Management projects, that expanded boater and pedestrian access to Washington’s waterfront, enhanced parking and traffic flow, and created a stronger tie between the waterfront, the Historic District and downtown.

Today, Washington maintains an important position in Eastern North Carolina. As a City of approximately 10,000 people and a greater community of approximately 26,000 residents, Washington remains the economic, cultural, recreational, and medical center of Beaufort County and of several other counties as well. The rivers, although no longer vital to the shipping trade, supply a valuable recreational, ecological, and aesthetic resource. With the renewed interest in historic preservation and downtown revitalization, Washington is a city that truly lives up to its motto: “Pride in the past, faith in the future.”