Sometimes, it’s easy to feel like the problems of today are unique to our time and place, but this latest batch of the Carteret County News-Times (1960-1963) demonstrates that people have been working through similar problems for at least 50 years. One issue, from March 16, 1962, somehow touches on big storms flooding the area (and the difficulty of insuring coastal property), U.S. House elections, and redistricting—almost as if it were printed in 2022.

Luckily, no one died in the nor’easter that hit Morehead City and the rest of the coast in March 1962, but the storm did cause quite a bit of damage. A paper from the preceding week (March 2, 1962) pictures flooding along some of the commercial streets and describes buildings that were not up to code to withstand the storm. One commissioner reported that an insurance firm in New York abstained from insuring the area because of the building code problems. A week later, a headline reads (perhaps unsurprisingly): “Red Cross Says Best Way to Help Dare Is Give to Local Red Cross.”

Another front page story describes a bid for the 3rd Congressional District by Morehead City resident S.A. Chalk Jr. Chalk Jr. ran against incumbent David Henderson in the Democratic primary (though in a much different Democratic party than we think of today). He accused Henderson of voting for “policies that are bound to cause even further trouble,” saying, “He claims he’s conservative, but his voting records do not bear this out.” Chalk Jr. still lost the primary, apparently, as Henderson went on to represent the district until 1977.

Aside from the familiar arguments of House elections, the article also mentions that Harnett County was added to the district in 1960. And while the headlines haven’t changed much over the last 50 years, the list of counties included in the 3rd District certainly has. In 1962, the district included 10 counties: Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Harnett, Jones, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Sampson, and Wayne. In 2023, the district will expand and morph to contain parts of 15 counties: Beaufort, Camden, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico, Pitt (partly), Sampson, and Wayne (partly). For visual thinkers, an interactive map of NC’s congressional districts can be found here.

You can see the full batch of the Carteret County News-Times here and explore all of our digital newspapers in our North Carolina Newspapers collection. You can also explore more materials from the Carteret County Public Libraries on their partner page and their website.

A January 1958 article showing and detailing events in a 1957 retrospective

Nearly a dozen years and over 14,000 pages of the Carteret County News-Times have been newly added to DigitalNC, courtesy of our partner, the Carteret County Public Libraries. While previously covering from May 1948 to March 1949, DigitalNC now covers from May 1948 to January 1960. Based out of Morehead City, this newspaper covers Carteret County and joins the Pine Knoll Shores, another newspaper that services Carteret County.

An article in the Carteret County News-Times, dated January 13, 1950

The News-Times is a weekly and semi-weekly newspaper that offers mostly local headlines, although some are of national importance. Many are naturally about the North Carolina coast and maritime news, like the article to the right. In early 1950, scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution released glass bottles into the ocean off the coast, in order to test the ocean’s drift due to winds or currents. The bottles included notes that had a return address to the institute on them, and if the notes were returned, the sender received 50 cents back for their help.

Having this massive increase in pages from the News-Times helps gain knowledge and increase representation of coastal North Carolina cities in our collection. To browse through other materials from the Carteret County Public Libraries, take a look at their partner page, or visit their website.

This front page of the July 20, 1939 issue of The Beaufort News announces the first annual Coastal Festival.

Thanks to nominations from the Carteret County Public Libraries, we’ve extended our community newspaper coverage in southeast North Carolina and the Inner Banks with two new titles:

• The Beaufort News [Beaufort, February 5, 1925-December 28, 1944]
• Carteret County News-Times [Morehead City, May 18, 1948-March 29, 1949]

These two titles feature news that’s particular to coastal communities. There is special emphasis on weather and its impact on travel, events, and maritime businesses. However you’ll also find news typical to community papers regardless of location: the impact of state government on local life, personal and business news, school events, and advertisements. Towns covered include not only Morehead City and Beaufort, but also much smaller communities like Newport, Wire Grass, Merrimon, Otway, Harlowe, Core Creek, North River, Davis, Harkers Island, Lenoxville, Lola, Russell’s Creek, Lenoxville, and more. We’ve especially enjoyed news items and advertisements related to Ocracoke Island, Hatteras, and other remote areas of the Outer Banks.

These papers really increase the representation of eastern North Carolina on DigitalNC. To view more papers from points east (or elsewhere), head over to our Newspapers collection page.