Stretching that penny postage

How do you get more value out of your postcards? Make 'em twice as long and fold'em in the middle!

Reverse of double postcard instructing the sender to "put rubber-band around folded card" to hold it closed and informing the sender that the card could be mailed for "one cent postage all over the world."

by John B. Green III

One of the things we miss here at the library are the regular visits of our friend Jim Hodges. Jim is the able curator of the New Bern Historical Society and always has something interesting to share with us.  The pandemic has brought these visits to a temporary halt but with the library reopening in stages perhaps we'll see Jim in the not too distant future.  In the meantime, since Jim has been having such a good time posting examples of the Historical Society's excellent postcard collection, we thought we'd join in the fun.  Here are two unusual New Bern cards from our Julia Bishop Smallwood (Mrs. Roger) Wernicke Collection.  These cards, which date from around 1910, are twice the length of regular cards and required folding in the middle in order to mail them.  The extra length, though, allowed the creation of panoramic views - in this case a view of the 200 block of Pollock Street and a view of the city school yard on Hancock Street.

Panoramic view of the 200 block of Pollock Street looking west. Visible from left to right are an unidentified house, the Elks Temple Building (in distance), the U.S. Court House and Post Office (now City Hall), and the Hughes-Stewart House

Detail of left side of above card

Detail of right side of above card.

Panoramic view of the 500 block of Hancock Street, west side, showing the city school grounds. Visible from left to right are the original Centenary Methodist Church, New Bern Academy, Second New Bern Academy, Moses Griffin Building, houses on Johnson Street, and the Pepsi-Cola headquarters and bottling plant.

Detail of left side of above card.

Detail of right side of above card.

Lost Churches

More time travel through the collections of the Kellenberger Room

First Baptist Church, northwest corner of Johnson and Metcalf streets, photographed c.1900. Built c. 1811-12 with the tower  added c. 1833, the building was replaced by the Baptists with a new church in a different location in 1848. The old church became the home of the African American St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church following the Civil War.  They replaced this building with a new church on the same site in 1910.

by John B. Green III

Continuing our time travel for the self-isolated and socially distanced, we examine photos of New Bern churches lost to time.  Either accidentally burned or in some cases demolished as the needs or tastes of their congregations changed, these fascinating buildings would be prized additions to our town today.

Tabernacle Baptist Church, northeast corner Broad and George streets, photo c. 1900. Designed by New Bern architect Herbert Woodley Simpson and completed in 1897, Tabernacle Baptist Church was enlarged in 1913 and unfortunately destroyed by fire on the evening of November 30, 1931. The congregation erected a brick building on the same site in 1943.

Centenary Methodist Church, 500 block New Street, south side, photographed c. 1901. Probably designed and erected by New Bern builder Hardy B. Lane, the church was completed by 1843. Originally designed in the Greek Revival style with a square tower topped by four corner spires, the structure was extensively remodeled in 1884 by architect J. Crawford Neilson and builder A.M. Carroll, both from Baltimore. The church was replaced by a new facility two blocks east in 1905.  The 1843 building was sold and served as a furniture warehouse until it was demolished in 1939.

Christian Church, 300 block Hancock Street, west side, photo c. 1914. Built between 1887 and 1889, the Christian Church was described at its dedication as:  The new church is a neat, attractive building.  It is 60 x 34 feet in size; the top of the steeple is 108 feet from the ground; the pitch of the ceiling is 21 feet; the walls, inside, are imitation stone; the ceiling overhead is of native woods, beautifully painted and finished with gilded trimmings; stained-glass windows; gallery in front end; very comfortable pews; handsome pulpit furniture; the room is heated by one of Mott's furnaces; well lighted at night by gas, one of I.P. Frinks' silvered corrugated glass reflectors being used, besides a gas-light on each side of the pulpit and two in the gallery.  The church was destroyed by fire on the evening of December 30, 1918 and replaced in 1926 at a new site on Broad Street.

Thanksgiving recipes from 1896 New Bern

Advertisement from the Elm City Cook Book, 1896.

By John B. Green III

Church fundraising cookbooks are well known today, but they were a new thing in 1890s New Bern.  When the ladies of Centenary Methodist Church decided to raise money for the church, they turned to this new medium.  The resulting Elm City Cook Book was published in 1896 and quickly sold out.  A second, retitled edition, the Best by Test Cook Book was issued in 1908.  Although the recipes were not signed it was stated that they had been "selected from the manuscript collections of ladies of well known culinary skill."

What follows are recipes for a few favorite Thanksgiving dishes as presented in these two cookbooks.

Advertisement from the Best by Test Cook Book, 1908

Vanished New Bern, No. 4

a series of views of lost area buildings

By John B. Green III

House at 411 Hancock Street

Sometimes very interesting houses go unnoticed and unappreciated until it is too late to save them.  This small 1½ story house, formerly located at 411 Hancock Street, dated to at least 1898 when it appeared on the Sanborn Map Company's insurance map of that year.  Altered and deteriorated, the house was demolished in the 1980s.  This c.1890s photograph shows the house in its prime.  To the left is the still extant house at 409 Hancock Street.  To the right rear is the original Centenary Methodist Church which faced New Street.