Thirty caches are located in five different regions throughout NC. Instructions for sending the documentation are in the passport. Once all five regions are completed, you have earned a special NC Civil War trackable geocoin. Mail the passport to the address inside the passport – then your passport will be returned with your unique coin.
All of the containers are the same - camouflaged 6 inch PVC tubes - the code word you need for your passport is inside the container on a laminated card and also taped on the container that holds the log sheet. Date your logbook and add your code word in the numbered area for the cache. As the containers may become over tightened, carry a TOTT to ease the opening process.
Passports will be available at the event, some Civil War Museums in NC, and via mail if you send me you address or you can download your passport here.
Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony
Thousands of enslaved African Americans across North Carolina pursued freedom by risking the journey to reach Union Army–occupied areas in the state’s northeast. From early 1862 until 1867, former slaves sought safety and community in a thriving freedmen’s colony on Roanoke
Island. The town of New Bern—where the James City camp was established in 1863 and continued for decades as an African American community—also became a center for freedmen.
Smaller settlements appeared in Beaufort, Carolina City, Washington, and Plymouth. On the banks of the Tar River, “Freedom Hill,” which became incorporated as Princeville in 1885, was also settled by African American freedom seekers during the close of the Civil War. At the beginning of the Civil War, Federal troops considered these escaped slaves to be “contraband,” or property of war. They later were known as freedmen or refugees. They became important sources of wartime labor and even military service. On Roanoke Island, the number of
contraband began at about 250 and grew to some 3,500 men, women, and children.
The colony became a recruiting ground for the United States Colored Troops (USCT), as well as a growing village that included churches and schools. Residents faced many challenges during the war years, at times writing petitions and letters of protest in the face of food shortages and other abuse of soldiers’ families. With the passage of President Andrew Johnson’s Amnesty Proclamation of 1865, the government returned lands settled by the freedmen during the Civil War to the former owners. This led to the end of the Roanoke Island freedmen’s colony.
PLEASE NOTE:
The marker has been made a reference point - as it is 1.5 miles along the highway from the location of cache - be very careful with children.
The park is gated and had daylight only hours. There is room to park on the side of the road but that is not advisable (soft ground). Park is bordered on the south and west by private property. There is no need to go onto private property.