The North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office has reviewed or co-sponsored fifteen archaeological studies in Carteret County since 1987, including recovery at two prehistoric Native American burial sites and salvage at a site containing approximately 700 prehistoric features such as houses, burials, and cooking pits. Over 300 sites are recorded in the Historic Preservation Office's statewide inventory. Currently the Underwater Archaeology Unit is conducting major archaeological studies of a shipwreck near Beaufort thought to be the 1718 wreck of Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge.
The first architectural survey in the county was conducted in Beaufort in the early 1970s and was the basis for the Beaufort Historic District National Register nomination of 1974. Since then, the Historic Preservation Office has sponsored three additional survey projects in the county, including a study of Beaufort's African American neighborhoods and an update of the original Beaufort Historic District survey for which a grant was awarded in 1996. These surveys were cooperative local-state projects accomplished with grants and staff assistance from the Historic Preservation Office.
Since 1978, $74,950 in federal preservation grants administered by the Historic Preservation Office have been awarded to projects ranging from restoration of the Carteret County Courthouse and the Old Beaufort Jail to an underwater archaeology field school to surveys of Beaufort's historic architecture and the Old Burying Ground. State appropriations awarded since 1969 and totaling $316,500 include grants for several sites in Beaufort, the Carteret County architectural survey, and preparation of a National Register nomination for the Cape Lookout Village Historic District.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Carteret County's ten National Register listings include the Beaufort Historic District (1974), four individual houses in or near Beaufort, the Old Burying Ground in Beaufort, Portsmouth Village, Fort Macon, Cape Lookout Lighthouse and Coast Guard Station, and Cape Lookout Village. The site of the shipwreck thought to be Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge was placed on the state's National Register Study List in 1997.
LOCAL PRESERVATION COMMISSIONS
The Historic Preservation Office has assisted the town of Beaufort in its establishment and administration of the local Beaufort Historic District overseen by the Beaufort Historic District Commission. The success of these activities has qualified the town to participate in North Carolina's Certified Local Government program. In 1994, the Historic Preservation Office awarded a Certified Local Government grant to Beaufort for the development of comprehensive design guidelines for the district. Historic Preservation Office staff has provided technical assistance to facilitate preservation of Portsmouth Village and Cape Lookout Village.
Eight income-producing tax credit projects have been completed in Carteret County at a total construction investment of $700,200, and one additional historic building is currently undergoing renovation to utilize the credits. The Historic Preservation Office reviews and provides restoration technical services for all preservation tax credit projects.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PUBLICATIONS
The Office of Archives and History published the findings of the architectural survey in Beaufort, North Carolina in 1970. Since then, educational activities co-sponsored by the Historic Preservation Office in the county have included a cemetery restoration workshop in 1990 and a workshop in 1992 for non-profit organizations and historical societies seeking grants for rural community projects. In 1995, the Beaufort Historic Preservation Commission printed the survey report, "Beaufort's African-American History and Architecture." In 1997, the town of Beaufort and the Beaufort Historic Preservation Commission hosted and co-sponsored the annual statewide preservation commission conference. State and federal grants are assisting preparation of a new publication on Beaufort's historic architecture.
The Historic Preservation Office has provided technical assistance in the restoration of numerous historic properties including Beaufort's Old Burying Ground, the 1796 Courthouse, Old Beaufort Jail, the Carteret County Museum, the Beaufort Train Depot, Cape Lookout Light Station, Cape Lookout Village, Morehead City Municipal Building, and Portsmouth Island Village.