Tryon Palace

05/31/2026

It was a beautiful day at our United States Colored Troops (USCT) Commemorative Anniversary event on Saturday. We enjoyed seeing friends and new faces, and we thank the many families who came out to share this moment of history with their children. We'll post more from the event this week, but here is a look at the camp life that our 35th USCT interpreters displayed.

For more on the USCT, visit TryonPalace.org or follow us on social media for more upcoming events!

05/29/2026

that artisans were some of the highest-earning free Black professionals during the Civil War?

According to a survey from 1864, carpenters, blacksmiths, coopers, and brick masons averaged between $402 and $510. This income was surpassed by barbers and grocers but otherwise put craftspeople on the higher end of earners.

During the late 18th through 19th centuries, New Bern was home to a large community of African American artisans who provided industries that were vital to the town’s growth and sustainability. They established religious and civic organizations and often used the profits from their craft to purchase themselves and their families out of slavery and into freedom. We may not know what individuals looked like, how they felt, or the things they said, but we know what they made. They shaped the bricks that constructed the city’s buildings. They spun fiber into threads and sewed the clothing for New Bern’s residents. They crafted the barrels that stored and shipped New Bern’s goods throughout the colonies and newly formed nation. These individuals not only contributed to the communities in which they thrived but to New Bern as we know it today.

You can read the book that inspired the Tryon Palace Inclusive Public Art Project! Catherine Bishir’s book “Crafting Lives: African American Artisans in New Bern, North Carolina, 1770-1900” is available from University of North Carolina Press, the Tryon Palace Museum Store, and other retailers.

To learn more about the Tryon Palace Inclusive Public Art Project, visit TryonPalace.com! Plus follow us on social media to see when our next Inclusive Public Art Project event will take place!

05/28/2026

Check out this story from Valentina Wilson and WCTI News 12 on our upcoming Commemorative Anniversary of the USCT! If you're looking for something fun to do this weekend with the whole family, join us this Saturday from 11am - 3pm at the New Bern Academy for this FREE event!

A weekend event in downtown New Bern will honor the legacy and sacrifices of the United States Colored Troops, the African-American Union Army branch that helpe

05/28/2026

Thank you Valentina Wilson for sharing this incredible story! We hope to see everyone this Saturday from 11am - 3pm at the New Bern Academy Museum for this FREE, family-friendly event. This is a drop-in event, so you don't have to stay the whole time. Don't miss author and historian David Cecelski's keynote remarks around 12:30.

05/27/2026

🪡🧵If you've seen the Tryon Palace Fife and Drum Corps Play this year, you've likely seen them carrying their BEAUTIFUL new Grand Union Flag. The Grand Union Flag was one of the earliest flags used as a symbol of unity between the American colonies--and eventually states. Our incredible Historic Costumer, Ericka, and her team of volunteers created this HAND-SEWN masterpiece as an authentic recreation for our Fife and Drum Corps. Here's a look at the new flag

05/26/2026

✅🗓 THIS SATURDAY (05/30): Don't miss our United States Colored Troops (USCT) Commemorative Anniversary at the New Bern Academy Museum (508 New St.) from 11am - 3pm.

This free, family-friendly celebration will put visitors into the middle of an American Civil War encampment with interpreters dressed in replica uniforms of the 35th USCT who first mustered on those very same New Bern Academy grounds, including interpreters who are direct descendants of those very men. Our engaging USCT interpreters will give demonstrations on camp life, cooking, military drills, and firearm handling.

Author and historian Dr. David Cecelski will give a keynote address (around 12:30) at the New Bern Academy Museum on the USCT and Abraham Galloway’s advocacy for enslaved people, pushing for the American Civil War to become a fight for liberation and not just the preservation of the Union. Cecelski is the author of “The Fire of Freedom: Abraham Galloway and the Slaves’ Civil War” (University of North Carolina Press, 2012).

05/25/2026

Please join us in remembering and honoring the legacies of the brave people who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

On Memorial Day, Tryon Palace is honored to offer free One Day Passes to veterans of the United States Armed Services and their immediate families. All tickets for Memorial Day must be purchased in person at the North Carolina History Center and cannot be purchased online.

05/22/2026

The William Hollister House on the corner of Broad and George Streets is a quintessentially "New Bern" building in many ways?
The architectural style—Federal-Adamesque—may have been out of style in other cities in 1840, but in New Bern, some of the stylistic features likely seemed in keeping with local architectural preferences. Additionally, the side-passage floorplan was particularly common in New Bern.
Beyond the architectural style, the builders of this house were also New Bernian. Catherine Bishir writes in Crafting Lives that this house—one of the town's first large constructions since the 1820s—was built by local craftsmen. Unlike nearby towns and cities, which were bringing in outside architects and builders to assist with their projects, all the craftspeople who worked on the William Hollister house were from New Bern. Built by a mix of Black and White, free and enslaved artisans, the Hollister House is truly a display of local craft.
You can read the book that inspired the Tryon Palace Inclusive Public Art Project! Catherine Bishir’s book “Crafting Lives: African American Artisans in New Bern, North Carolina, 1770-1900” is available from University of North Carolina Press, the Tryon Palace Museum Store, and other retailers.

To learn more about the Tryon Palace Inclusive Public Art Project, visit TryonPalace.com! Plus follow us on social media to see when our next Inclusive Public Art Project event will take place!

05/21/2026

Tryon Palace is honored to offer free One Day Passes to veterans of the United States Armed Services and their immediate families.

Please note: ALL tickets for Memorial Day, for veterans and general public, must be purchased IN PERSON at the North Carolina History Center and cannot be purchased online.

05/20/2026

For the record, we typically ask our visitors not to play in the fountains.