New Bern + Kellenberger Room

At the confluence of the Neuse and Trent Rivers lies the town of New Bern. Founded in 1710 by a group of Swiss and German settlers led by Baron Christopher de Graffenried, New Bern is the second oldest town in North Carolina. As the Colonial Capital of North Carolina, Governor Tryon decided to build a permanent capitol building and residence for the governor. Tryon’s Palace was built during the 1760s, but burned in 1791, only the Stable Offices survived. In the 1950s, the Palace was restored and today is a major tourist attraction for New Bern.

During the Civil War, New Bern fell to Federal forces on March 14, 1861, and remained occupied by Union troops until the end of the war, despite several attempts by Confederates to recapture the town. The New Bern Historical Society has plans to turn the former New Bern Battlefield into an historical park.

Today, visitors are attracted to New Bern for its history. The Kellenberger Room of the New Bern-Craven County Public Library does its part to help preserve that history and make it available to the public. The Room contains over 8000 books, 2000 microforms, several hundred photographs, and oral histories/interviews. The library’s Craven County Digital History Exhibit has digitized some of those items, as well as items from the collections of Tryon Palace and the New Bern Historical Society, for research on the web.