GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 410

Short Title:  Newbold-White House Funds.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representatives James and R. Thompson.
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Referred to:  Basic Resources.
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March 1, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO THE PERQUIMANS COUNTY RESTORATION ASSOCIATION FOR THE PURCHASE OF LAND SURROUNDING THE NEWBOLD-WHITE HOUSE AND THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE'S VISITOR INTERPRETATION AS THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HISTORY CENTER FOR NORTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 
Whereas, 1989 marks the three hundredth anniversary of the beginning of North Carolina's history as an independent political unit; and
Whereas, this history began in 1689 when the Lords Proprietors appointed Philip Ludwell as Governor of that part of Carolina lying "north and east of Cape Feare;”and
Whereas, much of the business of governing this newly-designated colony was conducted at the State's oldest house, Newbold-White, one and one-half miles downriver from the present town of Hertford in Perquimans County; and
Whereas, the Newbold-White House is the only surviving meeting place of the Proprietary period government (1663 - 1729); and
Whereas, the Newbold-White House has been restored under the auspices of the Perquimans County Restoration Association, the State of North Carolina, and numerous private donors; and
Whereas, the Newbold-White House is now open for public visitation, school groups, and other educational functions; and
Whereas, this historic property supplies the "missing link”between the 1584-87 failure of the English to seat a permanent settlement on Roanoke Island and the founding of North Carolina's first town, Bath; and
Whereas, land which was once part of the Newbold-White plantation property is now in private hands; and
Whereas, this land is to be sold in the near future; and
Whereas, this land is badly needed in order to protect North Carolina's oldest house from encroachment by modern development; to preserve for the future a realistic presentation of a Tidewater North Carolina plantation, complete with a seventeenth century wharf on the Perquimans River; and to provide space for the interpretation of the life-style and agricultural practices of the seventeenth century; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to The Perquimans County Restoration Association, Inc., the sum of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) for the 1989-90 fiscal year for the purchase of land surrounding the Newbold-White House; and for the continued development of the historic property's visitor interpretation as the seventeenth century history center for Northeastern North Carolina.
Sec. 2.  This act shall become effective July 1, 1989.