Albemarle Area Fishing Tournament Calendar
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Chowan River
Edenton
Cashie River
Windsor
Cashie Wetlands Walk
Windsor
Boardwalk in a natural wetlands environment with cypress trees and other swampland flora. Walk takes visitor to the edge of the Cashie River, which is 20 miles long, as deep as 80 feet in places, and begins and ends within the county of Bertie. An observation deck allows views of several different species of endangered waterfowl as well as other swampland animals in their natural habitats. Canoes available at no charge. Free. Windsor
Freeman Hotel
Windsor
Home of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce and the Windsor Visitor's Center. Constructed in 1840s as a hotel and renovated for offices in 1980s. Greek Revival building with double portico and fanlighted gables; two of first-floor rooms have original tin walls and ceilings. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Free.
Historic Hope Foundation: Hope Plantation/King Bazemore House/Samuel Cox House/Margaret Long Tyler Library
Windsor
The Historic Hope Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization, owns and operates the Hope Plantation, the 1803 Palladian mansion of former North Carolina Governor David Stone (1770-1818), and the King-Bazemore House, a 1763 structure significant for its gambrel roof and brink end walls, as well as a spacious visitor center and a small research library. Both homes are furnished with period pieces and are open to the public for tours and educational programs. The visitor center houses the library and some exhibits on the Stone family and 19th century Bertie County life and is available for meetings, programs, and social functions. Historic Hope Foundation maintains these facilities for the benefit of the public to illustrate and interpret agrarian life in eastern North Carolina 1760-1840 and the heritage of the Roanoke-Chowan Region. ## Hope Plantation is located in southern Bertie County on the edge of Roquist Pocosin, four miles west of Windsor, adjacent to NC Highway 308. It was a grant in the 1720s from the Lords Proprietors of the Carolina colony to the Hobson family. Zedekiah Stone, of New England, acquired the property in the late 1760s with his marriage to Elizabeth Shriver, the widow of the previous owner, Francis Hobson. In 1793, Zedekiah Stone gave the plantation to his and Elizabeth's son, David Stone (1770-1818). During David's ownership the plantation was further developed and prospered. After his death, the then 1,051 acre property was sold by his son in 1836. A precocious youth, David Stone was graduated, first in his class, from Princeton in 1788. His education and various fields of endeavor proved him, like Thomas Jefferson, to be an heir of the Eighteenth Century Enlightenment. By 1803 David Stone had built an impressive mansion at Hope to accommodate his wife, Hannah Turner, eleven children to be, his many guests and as a fulfillment of his interest in architecture and as a haven to pursue his other many interests. Built on an ''above ground'' basement, the Hope mansion portrays basic Palladian design with some neoclassical elements. The five bay facade features a pedimented double portico. The hipped roof is topped by a ''widow's walk'' surrounded by a Chinese Chippendale balustrade. The floor plan is adapted from Abraham Swann's ''The British Architect,'' a copy of which David Stone owned. The first floor rooms are entered from a center through hall. On the second floor are a large drawing room and a library, which housed Stone's 1,400 volumes. In addition to the main stair, a service stair runs from the basement to the attic. Hope was a self-contained plantation as was Stone's other plantation, Restdale, in Wake County. He owned at one time 8,000 acres in both Bertie and Wake. His estate inventory lists by name 138 slaves of African descent. At Hope he operated a water powered grist mill, a still, and, probably, as indicated by his inventory, a saw mill, a blacksmith shop, a cooper's shop and houses for spinning and weaving. His farm lands produced wheat, corn, oats, rye, flax, and cotton, for which he had a ''cotton machine.'' On his pastures he raised cattle, sheep and horses, in his woods he raised hogs, while his forests produced timer for the sawmill. David Stone was a member of the 1789 State convention at Fayetteville at which he voted to ratify the United States Constitution. By age 33, he had become an attorney, a Superior Court judge, and a member of the North Carolina General Assembly for a number of sessions. He also had been appointed to the Board of Trustees for the University of North Carolina on which he served the rest of his life. In addition to these honors, he had been elected to the United States Congress, in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Later, he served, again, as a Superior Court judge. In 1808, he was elected governor of North Carolina for two terms after which he returned to the United States Senate. Always interested in education, in his last years he established an academy in Wake County. David Stone's life was that of a planter, statesman, and scholar. Moved four miles from its original site to Hope is the 1763 King-Bazemore house, now ''one of only two gambrel roofed houses in North Carolina with brink end walls.'' Evidence indicates that the house is similar to the eighteenth century Hobson house which first stood at Hope. The King-Bazemore house and the Hope mansion represent a continuing agrarian culture during the Colonial and Federal periods in northeastern North Carolina. Historic Hope Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization, owns and operates these two rare and outstanding buildings and approximately forty-five acres surrounding them to preserve and promote their historical, architectural and archaeological assets for their educational and recreational benefits to the visiting public. Visitors are first introduced to this historic site at the reception facilities in its Roanoke-Chowan Heritage Center situated in the Hope Forest at Hope Plantation. Here, they receive background information on Hope and its environs through such educational tools as orientation films, exhibits, and the Hope Research library. In addition, the assembly room, classroom, 60-seat theater, and conference room are available for lectures, symposia, seminars, and workshops promoting the heritage of the area. The museum gift shop provides books and other supplementary material to complete the story of Hope and the Roanoke-Chowan region. Over a mile and a half of nature trails and picnic areas are available in the surrounding Hope Forest. Hope Plantation is on the Historic Albemarle Tour. hopeplantation.org
NCDOT Ferry System: Sans Souci Ferry
Windsor
One of the last two-car inland ferries in the state. Guided by a cable stretched across the river. Ride gives visitor a sense of nature at its best. Saves about 20 miles for locals who want to get to the other side of the Cashie River and could be a shortcut to the Outer Banks for travelers. Free. Sans Souci Ferry
Roanoke/Cashie River Center
Windsor
Focus on the vast floodplain and bottomland swamp system of the lower Roanoke basin. Historic items on the center property, including an ''in situ'' brick vault, a 150-year-old grave marker, and an outbuilding from a historic home what will house various artifacts, allow for interpretation of the Windsor area's past. ## The Partnership for the Sounds seeks to promote sustainable, community driven economic well-being and stewardship in the Albemarle-Pamlico Region through environmental education and nature-based and cultural tourism. Specifically, the Roanoke-Cashie River Center features a natural area and park with a boardwalk and canoe/small boat access to the Cashie River on the premises, an amphitheater for special events, exhibits of historical artifacts, science and nature displays, and educational programming on the history, heritage, and natural resources of the Roanoke and Cashie River area. partnershipforthesounds.org
Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge
Windsor
Established in 1989, the refuge is home to animals such as deer, otter, beaver, muskrat, and black bear, as well as more than 191 species of migrating birds. Informal trail systems are open to the public for hiking and birdwatching, including the new Charles Kuralt Trail which opened in spring 2000; some of the trails and refuge are only accessible by boat. Hunting by special permit only. Refuge is closed to public during permitted hunts for safety reasons. Special wildlife observation areas along Hwy.13/17 are available seasonably. Special fishing regulations apply in selected tributaries within the refuge boundaries. Fishing is permitted in the Roanoke River proper. Owned and operated by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge recreation.gov
Roanoke River Paddle Trail & Canoe Camping Platforms
Jamesville, Martin County
An emerging destination in northeast North Carolina, the Lower Roanoke River and its tributaries offer a unique wilderness experience for kayakers and canoeists. Meandering through the Coastal plain to the Atlantic Ocean, the Roanoke spreads out through the largest intact bottomland hardwood swamp forest east of the Mississippi. The area is home to black bear, river otter, white-tail deer, bobcat, beaver, and mink. Over 200 bird species have been identified including bald eagles. It is a birdwatcher's paradise. The River is renowned for its abundance of striped bass, largemouth bass, black crappie, lunker catfish, gar and bowfin. Thousand year-old bald cypress trees and towering tupelos form a lush canopy overhead. Seven camping platforms off the river have been completed as part of Phase One of the development of this water trail by Roanoke River Partners. To complete Phase One, three more platforms will be constructed between Hamilton, Plymouth and up the Cashie River to Windsor with nearly 140 miles of water trail linking the platforms. Phase Two will extend the paddle camping trail up to Roanoke Rapids, increasing the trail total to 200+ miles. Reservations for the Trail can be made at Roberson's Marina in Jamesville. Visitors will be educated about the trail system, and will sign a liability waiver and a ''pack-in and pack-out'' waste policy agreement to be used with the platforms. A per-person rental fee is paid to hold the reservation and receive a permit. Call 252-794-6501 to reserve a platform and visit us at www.roanokeriverpartners.org roanokeriverpartners.org
Roanoke River Basin
Windsor, Halifax County, Martin County, Northampton County, Plymouth
nature.org
Roanoke River
Windsor, Halifax County, Martin County, Northampton County, Plymouth
Historic Windsor
Windsor
Created by the Colonial Assembly in 1768, New Windsor was established on the site known as Gray's Lading where William Gray had offered 100 acres for a town. Today, the National Register Historic District encompasses that same area. A scenic boardwalk from the Cashie-Roanoke River Interpretive Center to the Cashie River Bridge borders the waterfront that was once a busy port with a customs house and a branch of the State Bank serving West Indian and coastal water trade. Artifacts from the archaeological dig authorized by the NC Deparment of Transportation in 1996 at the site of the Chowan River Bridge on US 17 North are displayed in a small museum at the Interpretive Center where artifacts confirm once speculative evidence that earlier permanent settlement in North Carolina was in what is today known as Bertie County on a point between the Roanoke and Chowan Rivers and the Albemarle Sound. Bricks from the cellar of a home that once stood on that site have been removed and reassembled at the center. A self-guided walking tour through the Historic District encompasses the area of the town as it was first laid out in 1768 and includes the traditional commercial district and the oldest residential section of the town where some of the houses date to the 18th century. Two early churches, Cashie Baptist and Windsor United Methodist Church which have been modernized stand on the original sites. Grave markers in the church yard cemeteries attract genealogists regularly. St. Thomas Episcopal Church, built in 1839, retains most of its original architecture. Sandy Point Baptist Church just acress the Cashie River on US 17 North was formed in 1835, but the original structure is much older. The framework of the church was constructed in 1776 as a house of worship for the congregation of Cashie Baptist which included both blacks and whites. The building and grounds were purchased by members of the black congregation who had founded Sandy Point Missionary Baptist Chruch when the white congregation moved to Windsor. Other points of interest in the town include the Livermon Park and Mini-Zoo, the Cashie Wetlands Walk, and the Tuscarora Indian Musuem and the 19th century Freeman Hotel which houses the office of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce. Historic Windsor is on the Historic Albemarle Tour. windsor-bertie.com
