Beaufort, North Carolina

On Wednesday we drove to Beaufort for lunch and a meander around town intending to visit Cape Lookout but there weren't any boats going out at times that we liked.

Walking the boardwalk

We had lunch outside at Finz where we shared crab cakes as an appetizer, which again we delicious followed by a combination plate of more crab cakes, shrimp and scallops served with mediocre fries. The shrimp and scallops were lightly breaded and very good.

We then walked through town which has many historic homes as this blog outlines.

We found the Old Burying Ground - their site contains some very interesting history regarding the graves.

The Old Burying Ground grew up around the building used for sessions of the Court and for reading the service of the Anglican Church in St. John’s Parish. The cemetery was deeded to the town of Beaufort in 1731 by Nathaniel Taylor, following the first survey of the town.

The northwest corner is the oldest part of the cemetery. The corner looks empty, however a 1992 archeological survey confirmed that there are many graves in this area. It is

probable that some of the unmarked graves contain victims of the Indian wars whose skulls were cleft with tomahawks of hostile Coree and Neusiok Indians. It is recorded that in September, 1711 the area had “been depopulated by the late Indian War and Massacre.”

The earliest graves were marked with shell, brick, or wooden slabs, because stone markers had to be brought from afar by wooden sailing vessels. 

Characteristic of this period are vaulted graves bricked over in an attempt to protect them from high water and wild animals.

Most of the graves are facing east. The reason is simple. Those buried had wanted to be facing the sun when they arose on “Judgement Morn”.