New Bern, formerly Newbern, is a city in

Craven County, North Carolina Craven County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 100,720. Its county seat is New Bern. The county was created in 1705 as Archdale Precinct from the now-extinct Bath County. It w ...

, United States, and its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. It had a population of 31,291 at the 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Neuse and the Trent rivers, near the headwaters of

Pamlico Sound Pamlico Sound ( ) is a large estuarine lagoon in North Carolina. The largest lagoon along the North American East Coast, it extends long and wide. It is part of a large, interconnected network of similar lagoons that includes Albemarle Sou ...

on the North Carolina coast. It lies east of

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, north of Wilmington, and south of

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. New Bern was founded in October 1710 by the

Palatines Palatines () were the citizens and princes of the Palatinates, Holy Roman States that served as capitals for the Holy Roman Emperor. After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the nationality referred more specifically to residents of the ...

and

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

under the leadership of Christoph von Graffenried. The new colonists named their settlement after

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, the Swiss region from which many of the colonists and their

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

had emigrated. New Bern is the second-oldest European-settled colonial town in North Carolina, after

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. It served as the capital of North Carolina from 1770 to 1792. After the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

(1775–1783), New Bern became wealthy and quickly developed a rich cultural life. At one time New Bern was called "the Athens of the South," renowned for its

Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history I ...

and Athens Theater. These are both still very active today. New Bern has four historic districts listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

; their numerous contributing buildings include residences, stores and churches dating back to the early eighteenth century. Within walking distance of the waterfront are more than 164 homes and buildings listed on the National Register. Also nearby are several bed and breakfasts, hotels, restaurants, banks, antiques stores and specialty shops. The historic districts contain many of the city's 2,000 crape myrtles—its official flower—and developed gardens. New Bern has two "Local Historic Districts", a municipal zoning overlay that affords legal protection to the exteriors of New Bern's historic structures.

History

New Bern was settled in October 1710 by the

and

under the leadership of Christoph von Graffenried. The new colonists named their settlement after the

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

, home state of their patron. Von Graffenried had the original plat of the town laid out in the shape of a cross, though later development and additional streets have obscured this pattern within the regular

street grid In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at Angle#Types of angles, right angles to each other, forming a wikt:grid, grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, fr ...

. The British governor's palace (present-day

Tryon Palace Tryon Palace, also called the Governor's House and the Governor's Palace, is a two-story building located in the eastern part of New Bern, North Carolina. The building is a faithful reconstruction of the original 1770 residence built by archite ...

) served as the capitol of North Carolina from 1770 until the state government relocated to Raleigh in 1792, after a fire had destroyed much of the capitol. This became the first permanent

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

of North Carolina. There was no printer in North Carolina until 1749, when the North Carolina Assembly commissioned James Davis from Williamsburg, Virginia to act as their official printer. Before this time the laws and legal journals of North Carolina were handwritten and were largely kept in a disorganized manner, prompting them to hire Davis. Davis settled in New Bern and was appointed by Colonial postmaster general

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

as North Carolina's first postmaster, who also became active in North Carolina's politics, as a member of the Assembly and later as the Sheriff. Davis also founded and printed the '' North-Carolina Gazette'' in New Bern, North Carolina's first newspaper. Powell, 2000, pp. 34-35 During the 19th-century Federal period, New Bern became the largest city in North Carolina, developed on the trade of goods and slaves associated with plantation agriculture. After

was named the state capital in 1792, New Bern rebuilt its economy by expanding on trade via shipping routes to the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. It was part of the

Triangle Trade Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset t ...

in sugar, slaves, and desired goods. It reached a population of 3,600 in 1815. In 1862 during the early stages of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, the area was the site of the Battle of New Bern. Federal forces captured and occupied the town until the end of the war in 1865. Nearly 10,000 enslaved blacks escaped during this period in the region and went to the Union Army camps for protection and freedom. The Union Army set up the Trent River

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...

camp at New Bern to house the refugees. It organized the adults for work. Missionaries came to teach literacy to both adults and children. Due to the continuous occupation by the Union Army, New Bern avoided some of the destruction of the war years. There was much social disruption because of the occupation and the thousands of

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

camped near the city. Whereas the 1860 Census had shown a population of 5,432 (of which 3,072, or 57%, were black), the population had swollen by the end of the war to more than 20,000, mostly because of the influx of freedmen. Still, New Bern recovered more quickly than many cities after the war. By the 1870s the lumber industry was developing as the chief part of New Bern's economy. Timber harvested could be sent downriver by the two nearby rivers. The city continued to be a center for freedmen, who created communities independent of white supervision: thriving churches, fraternal associations, and their own businesses. By 1877 the city had a majority-black population. The state legislature defined the city and county as part of

North Carolina's 2nd congressional district North Carolina's 2nd congressional district is located in the central part of the state. The district contains most of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County. Prior to court-mandated redistricting in 2019, it also included northern Johnston Co ...

which, as former plantation territory, held a concentration of the state's black residents. They elected four blacks to the US Congress in the late 19th century. The state's passage of a constitutional suffrage amendment in 1900 used various devices to

disenfranchise Disfranchisement, also disenfranchisement (which has become more common since 1982) or voter disqualification, is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing someo ...

black citizens. As a result, they were totally closed out of the political process, including participation on juries and in local offices; white Democrats maintained this suppression mostly, until after passage of federal civil rights legislation, including the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights move ...

, which provided for federal enforcement of constitutional rights. By 1890 New Bern had become the largest lumber center in North Carolina and one of the largest in all of the South. During this time, as many as 16 lumber mills were running and employing hundreds of men from New Bern and the area. The competitive nature of the lumber barons, the abundance of lumber and craftsmen, led to the construction in New Bern of some of the finest homes in the South, many of which have survived. The lumber boom lasted until the 1920s. One by one the lumber mills went out of business. Today only

Weyerhaeuser The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

manufactures lumber in the area. The city has four National Historic Districts and two local ones, which have helped preserve the character of the architecture. The Downtown Local Historic District is or ; the Riverside Local Historic District covers or . Union Point Park borders the Neuse and Trent rivers.

Hurricanes

New Bern's location near the Atlantic coast renders it subject to the effects of

Atlantic hurricane season The Atlantic hurricane season is the period in a year, from June 1 through November 30, when Tropical cyclone, tropical or subtropical cyclones are most likely to form in the North Atlantic Ocean. These dates, adopted by convention ...

s. For example, in the 18th century the town suffered severe damage in the Great Chesapeake Bay Hurricane of 1769.Hand, Bill (31 July 2016)
Awash in a hurricane's wrath in 1769
'' New Bern Sun Journal'' Other hurricanes such as Hurricane Ione in 1955 and

Hurricane Floyd Hurricane Floyd was a very powerful and large tropical cyclone which struck the Bahamas and the East Coast of the United States. It was the sixth list of named tropical cyclones, named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1 ...

in 1999 have also caused significant flooding and damage.Hand, Bill (17 September 2017)
Hurricane Ione was a storm to remember
'' New Bern Sun Journal'' In September 2018,

Hurricane Florence Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived tropical cyclone that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third hurri ...

made landfall in the United States just south of Wrightsville Beach, 88.4 miles southwest of New Bern. A storm surge of up to 13.5 feet, in addition to days of heavy rains, severely flooded various parts of the town. ational Hurricane Center Storm Surge Inundation Map, Sept 13, 2018

Geography

New Bern is located at the confluence of the Trent and Neuse rivers, two tidal waterways, in North Carolina's

Inner Banks The Inner Banks are the inland coastal region of eastern North Carolina. Without historical precedent, the term "Inner Banks" is an early 21st-century construct that is part of an attempt to rebrand the mostly agrarian Coastal Plains east of I-95 ...

region. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 4.87%, is water. U.S. routes 17 and 70 pass through the city, merging briefly as a four-lane expressway passing south of the city center. US 70 leads west to Kinston and southeast to

Morehead City Morehead City is a port city in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. Hi ...

near the Atlantic Ocean.

, the state capital, is west via US 70. US 17 leads southwest to

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, and crosses the Neuse River on a new bridge to lead north to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Climate

New Bern experiences a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

typical of the

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. Summers are hot and humid, with frequent afternoon

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

s that account for much of the higher summer precipitation. Spring and fall are generally mild, with

fall foliage Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the normally green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, various shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown. The phenomenon ...

occurring from late October to early November. Winters are relatively mild and drier than the remainder of the year, with infrequent snowfall.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 31,291 people, 13,757 households, and 8,070 families residing in the city. Around 2,000 refugees from

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

have been resettled in New Bern.

2012

The population of the area was 30,291 (95% urban, 5% rural) people in 2014, a 31% increase in growth since 2000. Gender distribution is 47.5% male and 52.5% female with a median resident age of 38.8. The percentage of residents under the age of 18 was 24.2%. The 2012 racial breakdown includes White alone – 16,304 (54%), Black alone – 9,634 (31.9%), Asian alone – 1,844 (6.1%),

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

– 1,626 (5.4%), Two or more races – 747 (2.5%), American Indian alone – 50 (0.2%) and Other race alone – 13 (0.04%). The median income for a household in the city in 2015 was $41,285. The City of New Bern 2010 Census information shows the population of the area was approximately 29,524 people. From 2000 to 2010, the New Bern city population growth percentage was 27.7% (or from 23,128 people to 29,524 people). 22.8% of the New Bern city residents were under 18 years of age. Census 2010 race data for New Bern city include the racial breakdown percentages of 57.0 white, 32.8% black, 3.6%

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n, 5.8%

and less than 1% Native American, Also, there were 14,471 housing units in the City of New Bern, 88.2% of which were occupied housing units.

Arts and culture

New Bern has several sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Education

Colleges

* Craven Community College * University of Mount Olive at New Bern

High schools

New Bern High School New Bern High School is a high school in New Bern, North Carolina. The student population is approximately 1,700, and there are 165 faculty and staff members. The student-teacher ratio is approximately 14:1. Sports Athletic teams overview The ...

* Craven Early College High School

Middle schools

* Grover C. Fields Middle School * H.J. McDonald Middle School * West Craven Middle School

Elementary schools

* Trent Park Elementary School * Oaks Road Elementary School * J.T. Barber Elementary School * Brinson Memorial Elementary School * Ben D. Quinn Elementary School * Albert H. Bangert Elementary School * Creekside Elementary School * Bridgeton Elementary School

Private schools

* Calvary Baptist Christian School * St. Paul Catholic School (St. Paul Education Center) * The Epiphany School of Global Studies * New Bern Christian Academy

Media

Radio stations

* 1450 AM / 104.3 FM WNOS – News/Talk/Sports * 1490 AM / 103.9 FM WWNB - ESPN Radio – sports talk * 88.5 FM WZNB - Public Radio East – Classical Music * 89.3 FM WTEB - Public Radio East – NPR/News/Talk * 89.9 FM W210BS - Classical WCPE * 92.7 FM WBNK - K-Love - Christian Contemporary * 91.9 FM WAAE - American Family Radio – Religious * 93.3 FM

WERO WERO (93.3 FM, "Bob 93-3") is a contemporary hit radio music formatted radio station for Eastern North Carolina licensed to Washington, North Carolina, US, targeting the Greenville, North Carolina, and Eastern North Carolina areas. History T ...

- Bob 93.3 - Top 40 * 94.1 FM WNBU - Talk * 95.1 FM WRNS - Country * 95.7 FM W239BC - R&B Oldies * 97.5 FM WLGT - The Bridge – Contemporary Christian * 97.9 FM WNBB – Classic Country * 99.5 FM WMJV – 99.5/97.5 The Wave – Hot Adult Contemporary * 101.9 FM

WIKS WIKS (101.9 FM) is an mainstream urban-formatted broadcast radio station licensed to New Bern, North Carolina. The station is owned by Curtis Media Group. WIKS is an affiliate of the Steve Harvey Morning Show. History The 101.9 FM frequency i ...

- Kiss FM – Hip Hop & R&B * 103.3 FM WMGV - V103.3 - Soft AC * 104.5 FM WSTK - Variety * 105.1 FM

WBKZ WBKZ (105.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Christian worship format branded as Air1. WBKZ is licensed to Havelock, North Carolina. The station was sold in 2010 by NM Licensing LLC. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundatio ...

- Air 1 - Christian Contemporary * 105.5 FM WXQR – Pure Rock * 107.9 FM WNCT – Classic Hits * 106.5 FM WSFL – Classic Rock * 107.1 FM WTKF-FM – The Talk Station

Infrastructure

Transportation

Coastal Carolina Regional Airport Coastal Carolina Regional Airport is a commercial airport located three miles (5 km) southeast of the central business district of New Bern, a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. EWN covers 785 acres (318 ha) of land. Co ...

is a public airport located south of the central business district of New Bern. The airport offers connecting flights to Charlotte and, via

Breeze Airways Breeze Airways, legally Breeze Aviation Group, Inc., is an American low-cost airline headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. The airline was founded by David Neeleman, who previously co-founded Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue, and Azul Linhas ...

, flights to

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

and

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

daily. The New Bern Transport Corporation, a business entity owned by

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

to manage its fleet of delivery trucks and other motor vehicles, is located in

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

, but was named after the town where

Pepsi-Cola Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

was first developed. The north–south

U.S. Route 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that spans in the Southeastern United States. It runs close to the East Coast of the United States, At ...

and the east–west

U.S. Route 70 U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern, Southern and Southwestern United States ...

pass through New Bern. As late as 1950, the Atlantic and East Carolina Railway offered passenger train service through New Bern to

to the east, by the Atlantic coast and to Goldsboro Union Station, where timed connections could be made with the Southern Railway's trains to central and western North Carolina. Service was terminated by the end of 1951.

Notable people

* Charles Laban Abernethy (1872–1955), US Congressman from North Carolina between 1922 and 1935 *

Lewis Addison Armistead Lewis Addison Armistead (February 18, 1817 – July 5, 1863) was a career United States Army officer who became a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. On July 3, 1863, as part of Pickett's Charge during ...

(1817–1863),

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

general * John Eric Armstrong (born 1973), serial killer who killed at least 5 prostitutes in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

,Michigan; Born in New Bern * Shawn Armstrong (born 1990), MLB pitcher * George Edmund Badger (1795–1866), US Senator from 1846 to 1855 * Bessie Banks (born 1938), singer, first to record the song "Go Now" * Graham Arthur Barden (1896–1967), 13-term United States House of Representatives, US congressman from 1935 to 1961 * Cullen A. Battle (1829–1905), postbellum mayor of New Bern * Samuel J. Battle (1883–1966), first African-American policeman in New York City * Walt Bellamy (1939–2013), NBA Hall of Fame basketball player * Sarah Boone (1832–1904), inventor * Bill Bunting (born 1947), NBA Basketball player * Christoph von Graffenried, 1st Baron of Bernberg (1661–1743), British Peerages in the United Kingdom, peer from the

, who founded New Bern in 1710 * Caleb Bradham (1867–1934), pharmacist, best known as inventor of Pepsi * John Heritage Bryan (1798–1870), US congressman from 1825 to 1829 * Chase Crawford (born 1996), actor and producer * James Davis (1721–1785) First postmaster and first printer of North Carolina. Founder of the '' North-Carolina Gazette'', North Carolina's first newspaper. * Gary Downs (born 1972), NFL player for the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos; current college football coach * Davon Drew (born 1985), NFL tight end * Elwood Edwards (1949-2024), voice of AOL's "You've got mail" * Mary McKinley Daves Ellis (1835–1916), First Lady of North Carolina * William Gaston (1778–1834), jurist and US congressman from 1813 to 1817 * John Patterson Green (1845-1940) attorney, the first African American state senator in Ohio. * Montario Hardesty (born 1987), NFL running back for Cleveland Browns * Nathan Healy (basketball), Nathan Healy (born 1990), professional basketball player * William J. Hutchins (1813–1884), mercantilist, railroad owner, and Mayor of Houston from 1861 to 1862 * Donna Hutchinson (born 1949), former member of Arkansas House of Representatives, born in New Bern * Jumpin Jackie Jackson (1940–2019), Harlem Globetrotter basketball player * George Koonce (born 1968), NFL player for Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks; athletic director of University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee * Peter Loftin (1958–2019), entrepreneur * Bob Mann (American football), Bob Mann (1924–2006), NFL player; first African American to play for Detroit Lions and later Green Bay Packers * Aaron Martin (American football), Aaron Martin (born 1941), former NFL player for Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Redskins * Donum Montford (1771–1838), brickmason * Eliza Jane McKissack (1828–1900), director and founding member of Conservatory of Music at University of North Texas * Linda McMahon (born 1948), 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment * David B. Mintz (), Methodist minister and Circuit rider (religious), circuit rider * Michael R. Morgan (born 1955), African American justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina * Rob Morgan (actor), Rob Morgan (born 1973) actor, ranked #20 on the New York Times list "The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century" * Dan Neil (journalist), Dan Neil (born 1960), Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive journalist * Bob Perry (baseball), Bob Perry (1934–2017), MLB outfielder * James E.C. Perry (born 1944), justice of Supreme Court of Florida * Henry Lee Scott (1814–1886), U.S. Army colonel and son-in-law of Winfield Scott * Chandler Seagle (born 1996), MLB catcher * Teddy Shapou (1919–1985), Flying Tiger during World War II * Brian Simmons (born 1975), NFL player for Cincinnati Bengals and New Orleans Saints * Furnifold Simmons (1854–1940), former United States Senate, U.S. senator * William Henry Singleton (1843–1938), former slave who became noted

soldier * Richard Dobbs Spaight (1758–1802), 8th Governor of North Carolina from 1792 to 1795, and US congressman for the 10th District from 1798 to 1801 *Sara Stanley (1837–1918) Abolitionist, educator * Edward Stanly (1810–1872), son of John Stanly, congressman 1837–1843, appointed Military occupation, military governor of North Carolina in 1862 * Fabius Maximus Stanly (1815–1882), rear admiral of U.S. Navy, namesake of WWII destroyer USS Stanly (DD-478), USS ''Stanly'' (DD-478) * John Stanly (politician), John Stanly (1774–1834), father of Edward Stanly, US congressman (1801–1803 and 1809–1811) * Sean Strickland (born 1991), Mixed Martial Arts, MMA fighter, currently competing in the Middleweight (MMA), middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC as of August 2021 * Adam Warren (baseball), Adam Warren (born 1987), MLB pitcher * George Henry White (1852–1918), attorney, banker, last of four African-American US congressmen from North Carolina in the 19th century; next was not elected until 1992 * Kevin Meade Williamson (born 1966), screenwriter, involved with ''Scream (1996 film), Scream'', ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'', and television series ''Dawson's Creek'' * Bayard Wootten (1875–1959), photographer and suffragette

In popular culture

* Jules Verne's 1896 novel Facing the Flag, ''Face au Drapeau'' (''Facing the Flag'') featured New Bern as the place where one of that story's main characters is committed to an asylum by the U.S. government.''Backwards to Britain'', edited by William Butcher (Chambers, 1992) * Nicholas Sparks set a few of his novels (''The Notebook (novel), The Notebook'', ''A Bend in the Road'', ''The Wedding (Sparks novel), The Wedding'', and ''The Return'') in the city.

References

External links

* *
New Bern Convention and Visitors Bureau
* * {{Authority control New Bern, North Carolina, Capitals of North Carolina Cities in Craven County, North Carolina Cities in North Carolina County seats in North Carolina Former colonial capitals in North Carolina Former state capitals in the United States German Palatine settlement in the United States New Bern micropolitan area Planned communities in the United States Populated places established in 1710 Populated places in colonial North Carolina Populated places on the Neuse River Populated places on the Trent River (North Carolina) Swiss-American history