The African American Experience of Northeast North Carolina celebrates the contributions of African Americans and encourages a deeper understanding of the significance of the region’s cultural heritage to build more inclusive communities. This self-guided trail is a collaborative project between nine NC counties, including Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Martin, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Washington.
Overview of the Trail: The African American Experience of Northeast North Carolina is a self-guided, digital heritage trail featuring 30+ sites significant to African American history across northeastern NC. It includes outdoor interpretive signs, monuments, parks, waterways, and museums designed to inspire exploration and deepen understanding of African American contributions to the region’s history.
Within the broader trail, several Currituck County sites are highlighted for their historical and cultural importance:
Historic Jarvisburg Colored School
A central Currituck County asset on the trail and an anchor site for African American heritage in the region.
Significance:
a. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
b. Served African American students from the post-Civil War era (beginning 1868) through the era of segregated schools, up until about 1950, when educational consolidation occurred.
c. Now preserved as a museum, illustrating classroom life of multi-grade education under limited resources and commemorating community and educational resilience.
Currituck Union Highway Marker
This interpretive marker commemorates the Currituck Union School, the first county-provided consolidated school for African American students, which operated starting in 1950.
It marked the transition away from numerous smaller segregated schools toward a centralized educational institution.
Dunston Family Historical Interpretive Sign
A new interpretive sign honoring the Dunston family, who played a significant role in landownership, education, and civic leadership within the African American community of Currituck County.
The sign is located at Currituck Community Park in Barco and reflects longstanding African American presence and contributions in the area.
Corinth Missionary Baptist Church
One of the oldest congregations established by newly freed African Americans (founded in 1866).
The site reflects not only religious life but community organization and resilience after emancipation, another asset on the Currituck segment of the heritage trail.
Captain Benjamin J. Bowser Gravesite
Located adjacent to the Historic Jarvisburg Colored School and behind the Corinth Missionary Baptist Church is the gravesite of Captain Benjamin J. Bowser, a member of the all-African American crew at the Pea Island Lifesaving Station. These brave men rescued stranded sailors in the perilous and turbulent waters along the northern North Carolina coast in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Pea Island Lifesaving Station, while rescuing many sailors who may have succumbed to the sea, was known for one rescue in October 1896. This rescue, as spotlighted in the film “Rescue Men – The story of the Pea Island Surfmen,” would illustrate the dedication to duty of these heroic men and earned them the Gold Lifesaving Medal.
Context Within the Trail
These Currituck County sites are part of the broader African American Experience of Northeast North Carolina trail, which spans multiple counties in the region and includes similar interpretive markers, historic sites, and museums to illuminate African American history and cultural heritage across northeastern NC.
Why These Matter
• Education History: The Jarvisburg Colored School and Currituck Union Highway Marker trace the evolution of African American education from segregation to consolidation.
• Community Leadership: Interpretive signs like the Dunston Family marker celebrate prolonged African American community contributions in local leadership and civic impact.
• Religious & Social Life: Corinth Missionary Baptist Church embodies local spiritual and communal foundations linked to post-emancipation life.
The African American Experience of Northeast North Carolina celebrates the contributions of African Americans and encourages a deeper understanding of the significance of the region’s cultural heritage to build more inclusive communities. This project is a collaborative project between nine NC counties that include: Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Martin, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Washington.
For more information about the African American Experience of Northeast North Carolina, please check out their website: https://ncblackheritagetour.com/ and/or follow them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ncblackheritagetour
