state.parks
Hammocks Beach State Park, circa 1900
In the early 1900s, Dr. William Sharpe bought 4,600 acres of land along Queens Creek near Swansboro, N.C., around what is known as The Hammocks. He hired a Black outdoorsman, John L. Hurst, who was born to enslaved parents, to manage the property while he was at his permanent home in New York. This photo shows the children of Sharpe and Hurst riding on a carriage at the property.
Sharpe wanted to will the property to Hurst, who had become his partner and friend, but Hurst persuaded Sharpe to donate it to the North Carolina Teachers Association, an organization of Black teachers in the state. By the time Hammocks Beach finally opened as a state park, the civil rights movement was making significant strides nationally, culminating in the passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which began a mandated integration of public places.
Photo from the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation archives
Hammocks Beach State Park, circa 1900
In the early 1900s, Dr. William Sharpe bought 4,600 acres of land along Queens Creek near Swansboro, N.C., around what is known as The Hammocks. He hired a Black outdoorsman, John L. Hurst, who was born to enslaved parents, to manage the property while he was at his permanent home in New York. This photo shows the children of Sharpe and Hurst riding on a carriage at the property.
Sharpe wanted to will the property to Hurst, who had become his partner and friend, but Hurst persuaded Sharpe to donate it to the North Carolina Teachers Association, an organization of Black teachers in the state. By the time Hammocks Beach finally opened as a state park, the civil rights movement was making significant strides nationally, culminating in the passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which began a mandated integration of public places.
Photo from the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation archives