|
|
©2004-2008 Coastal Carolina Indian Center. All Rights Reserved. To contact the webmaster, click here. All other site inquiries should be submitted using the "Contact Us" link found above.
|
News Bulletin Fort Neoheroka on track for National Historic Status (4/20/07) Archaeologists Charles Heath and Dr. John Byrd have crossed the first hurdle in securing permanent protection of the Fort Neoheroka battlefield site near Snow Hill, North Carolina. Fort Neoheroka was the last stronghold for the Tuscarora during the war with the colonials of 1711-1713. At the end of the final siege on the fort led by Col. James Moore of South Carolina, more than 950 Tuscarora men, women and children had been killed or captured and sold into slavery. The destruction of the fort by Moore's forces dealt a devastating blow to the Tuscarora nation, as well as opened North Carolina's interior to colonial expansion, and thus has an extraordinary significance to the not only the Tuscarora, but also to the state of North Carolina, and the history of the United States of America. Byrd and Heath worked together with Dr. David Phelps on East Carolina University's excavation of the fort site in the 1990s, and the two are currently working together to compete the site nomination process to have the fort site designated on the National Register of Historic Places They have, in fact, submitted the first draft of the nomination for review to the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology (OSA) and have recently received comment from the OSA on the submission. This marked the successful completion of a major first step in the lengthy and intensive process to achieve the coveted status on the National Register. The next step is for Byrd and Heath to review the commentary from the OSA and submit a revised packet for final review. Based on the scheduling requirements, plans are to present and submit the final package in October of 2007. Charles Heath said everyone expects that the fort site will be placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the December 2007/January 2008 time frame. According to Heath, "Having the site placed on
the National Register of Historic Places is essentially the first official step
that leads to further protection for the site, as well as national recognition
for the site in perpetuity."
©2007 Coastal Carolina Indian Center |
|
|
©2004-2007 Coastal Carolina
Indian Center. All Rights Reserved.
|
