Named for the city of Bern, Switzerland, the town was located on the triangle of land where the Neuse and Trent rivers meet. This is called the confluence of the Neuse and Trent Rivers. The original settlers suffered with the climate, a lack of provisions and supplies, diseases and Indian problems. Von Graffenried and the surveyor, John Lawson, were taken prisoner by the Indians. Lawson was burned at the stake, but von Graffenried was spared. Once the war with the Tuscarora Indians was ended, New Bernians looked to the natural resources for their support. Tar, pitch and turpentine along with other native products loaded down ships bound for England, New England and the West Indies. The ships would return with rum, molasses, sugar and manufactured goods.

When King Charles II had been restored to the English throne in 1660, he issued a "Carolina Charter" granting eight of his loyal supporters(they were called the Lords Proprietor) wide areas of land in the New World. The area spread from Virginia to the Spanish border of Florida and from the Atlantic Ocean to the "South Seas" or the Pacific Ocean. It was called Carolina from the word, "Carolus", the Latin word for Charles- in honor of the King. William, Earl of Craven, was one of the original Lords Proprietor, and it is from his family name that Craven County got its name. New Bern became the seat of the Craven Precinct (now county) in 1722.

By the middle of the eighteenth century, the river port had grown in size and importance. Because New Bern is centrally located between the Albemarle and Cape Fear, the colonial assembly often met here. The Colony's first printing press was established in New Bern in 1749 and two years later, the printer, James Davis, published the colony's first newspaper, pamphlet and book.

The royal governor, William Tryon, saw the need for a permanent capital in the growing colony and selected New Bern as the site. Tryon Palace, first colonial and state capitol building of North Carolina, was designed by the English Architect , John Hawks. The palace, completed in 1770, made New Bern the political center of North Carolina, and that was important in the growth of the town. New Bern became a center of events leading to the Revolution. The first publicly organized assembly was called here in 1774..against the wishes of royal governor, Josiah Martin, who fled the capital for safety in May of the following year. Throughout the Revolutionary War, the port sheltered many privateers.

Early in 1777, the first state government under a new constitution was begun under Richard Caswell. In the 1790's, the growing population of the western counties caused the General Assembly to move the state capital to a more central location. Joel Lane's farm was purchased, and there they established the present capital of Raleigh. The Federal Era saw New Bern develop fully into a city. There was much culture and wealth here after the Revolution. The first school to be chartered in North Carolina, the New Bern Academy, along with the Masonic Temple and Theater, the Episcopal Church and other churches built by the Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist and Roman Catholic congregations illustrate educational, civic and religious sophistication in New Bern.

Union forces captured the important port city of New Bern early in the Civil War (March 14, 1862). The Northern officers established headquarters in Neuse River mansions while other soldiers moved into other houses throughout the city. The Union forces occupied the city for the rest of the war. For this reason, New Bern survived with less physical damage than many other small southern towns.

After the difficult period of Reconstruction, New Bern entered its third era of development. Before and well after 1900, fine quality pine, cypress, oak and other hardwoods kept the lumber mills busy. By 1916, there were sixteen lumber mills here. New Ber n became a source of seafood and what was not bought locally or shipped out was processed in fertilizer plants.

With the coming of World War II, the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point started August 16, 1941, on the Neuse River halfway between New Bern and Morehead City. It ranks as the largest United States Marine Corps Air Station in the world. The many personnel and marines coming to the area helped to boost the local economy and continue today. New Bern remains a progressive city, but much relating to her history can still be seen. The Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens take a visitor back two hundred years. The Dixon-Stevenson House and John Wright Stanly exhibition houses further illuminate the early history of the city. The New Bern Academy Museum, the Civil War Museum and the Fireman's Museum help to illustrate the life style of times past. The historic sites and old homes, large and small, along the waterfront make it easy to understand why we say,..."Our charm is Historic!"

How New Bern got its Name

In 1710, the Swiss and German settlement was named the New Bern in honor of the founder's home, Bern, Switzerland.

When Bern, Switzerland was founded, it was named by a group of hunters. They named the city for the first animal they came upon on their hunting expedition. It was a bear. "Bern" is the old Germanic word for Bear, and it became the symbol of the city. It has been adopted by New Bern, as well. The black bear symbol is well represented throughout the city."

From:  Historic New Bern