Plymouth in Washington County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Plymouth was at the Center of the Underground Railroad in North Carolina

By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), June 14, 2025

1. Plymouth was at the Center of the Underground Railroad in North Carolina Marker

Inscription. Plymouth Landing In the late 17th century, two traders built a trading post on the Roanoke River in what is now downtown Plymouth. By 1738, the site was called Brickhouse Plantation on maps. A shipyard was built there in 1771, and a settlement known as Plymouth Landing developed. Cedar shingles, lumber, turpentine, and other freight was shipped from Plymouth Landing. A group of investors bought Plymouth Landing in 1790, and later that year the U.S. Congress designated the settlement as a port of delivery, meaning that goods could be delivered there.

Dismal Swamp Canal The Dismal Swamp Canal was dug by enslaved laborers through 22 miles of swamp to link the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina with the deepwater harbor in Norfolk, Virginia. When the canal opened in 1805, it gave northeastern North Carolina a link to larger cities in the northern U.S. and abroad.

In 1815, William J. Lewis and other explorers sailed a small flat-bottomed boat from the headwaters of the Roanoke River in the Virginia mountains to the Albemarle Sound, and then through the Dismal Swamp Canal to Norfolk. Their trip showed that goods could

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be sent from hundreds of miles upriver to Norfolk's harbor. A story about Lewis's expedition was published in a Baltimore newspaper, Niles' Weekly Register, in July 1816.

The Beginning of the Underground Railroad There were 16 states in the United States of America in 1805 when the Dismal Swamp Canal opened. In 11 southern states, including North Carolina, slavery was legal, meaning that in those states, African Americans could be owned and treated as property and forced to work without pay for their owners. Many enslaved people worked on plantations, but others were hired out by their owners to work at commercial fisheries and other businesses.

Enslaved people sometimes left the plantations where they were held and tried to make their ways to a northern state where slavery was illegal, or to Canada. They traveled along secret routes and stayed in safe houses owned by people who were sympathetic to their plight and willing to help them. Eventually, this network of secret routes and safe houses became known as the Underground Railroad. And the Underground Railroad ran through Plymouth.

The Plymouth waterfront was a busy place

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), June 14, 2025

2. Plymouth was at the Center of the Underground Railroad in North Carolina Marker

in the 19th century. Author David Cecelski wrote in The North Carolina Historical Review that when freedom seekers came to seaports such as Plymouth, they entered a "maritime underworld" where they might find help. They mingled secretly with ships' passengers, free and enslaved dock workers and sailors, and ships' crews. Enslaved men worked on the docks loading and unloading ships. Enslaved people also worked as ships' cooks, cleaners, carpenters, pilots, sail makers, riggers, caulkers, and dock workers. Ships' passengers gathered on the Plymouth docks. Some of the people in this busy, bustling crowd were willing to help freedom seekers.

Turpentine Camps and Naval Stores A different type of Underground Railroad activity took place in the swamps and forests near Plymouth. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the wilderness around the Albemarle Sound was the center of the naval stores industry, which produced turpentine and other products used to build and maintain wooden sailing ships. Turpentine was produced at work camps around the sound. The camps were deep in the wilderness, far from law enforcement and slave patrols. They

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were ideal places for freedom seekers who needed money. Workers were hired on the spot with no questions asked. They were paid in cash and could leave on a moment's notice when they wanted to continue their journeys.

[Captions:]
This map shows the route of the Dismal Swamp Canal, dug by enslaved laborers through 22 miles of swamp. The canal opened in 1805 and linked the Albemarle Sound with the deepwater harbor in Norfolk, Virginia. (From the North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; used by permission)

Enslaved people who left plantations in the South sometimes were pursued by hounds and men on horseback. (Getty Images, used by permission)

Turpentine camps deep in the wilderness around the Albemarle Sound near Plymouth provided freedom seekers with a way to earn quick cash. (From the U.S. Department of Agriculture, used by permission)

Erected 2025 by National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom; Washington County, North Carolina; Town of Plymouth, North Carolina.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans • Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Network to Freedom series list. A significant historical month for this entry is July 1816.

Location. 35° 51.988′ N, 76° 45.229′ W. Marker is in Plymouth, North Carolina, in Washington County. It is at the intersection of West Water Street and Monroe Street, on the right when traveling west on West Water Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 215 W Water St, Plymouth NC 27962, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain. It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Tidewater,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Plymouth Water Street Landing Park (here, next to this marker); Why Plymouth? (here, next to this marker); Roanoke River Lighthouse (a few steps from this marker); Hampton Academy (approx. 0.2 miles away); Brick House Landing (approx. 0.2 miles away); Augustin Daly (approx. ¼ mile away); Battle of Plymouth (approx. ¼ mile away); Cushing’s Torpedo (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Plymouth.

Another marker is no longer nearby. Battle of Plymouth (was approx. ¼ mile away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Additional keywords. self-emancipation

Credits. This page was last revised on June 22, 2025. It was originally submitted on June 22, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 351 times since then and 75 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 22, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.