From Swan Quarter Volunteer Fire Department

Preserving a little piece of Hyde County’s history is becoming a reality thanks to a volunteer fire department and many people with a deep-rooted love of this rural North Carolina county. It has been a long time coming, but on Aug. 7, construction on the Hyde County Courthouse Bell Project finally got underway in the county seat of Swan Quarter.

The notion to protect the cast-iron bell that first hung outside the courthouse almost 100 years ago was the brainchild of the ladies who worked in the Hyde County Register of Deeds Office in the 1990s. Merita Spencer and Pam Sawyer discovered the dusty bell in the hot and humid courthouse attic where it had been stored for many years. They ended up carrying it – donging all the way – down to their office on the first floor. In 2007, the bell was moved next door to their office in the new Hyde County Government Center awaiting just the right organization to head up the necessary fund-raising efforts that would be required to save and display the bell.

The Swan Quarter Volunteer Fire Department officially launched the project in April 2018 when their members voted to take it on as a community project. Plans were drawn for a small landscaped park in the greenway between the old and new courthouses with the bell permanently displayed in a covered brick structure in the center. The Hyde County Board of Commissioners approved the project, a committee was formed, and the fund-raising began.

Hyde County native Ben Cahoon, of the Nags Head firm of Cahoon & Kasten Architects, has provided his professional design services, free of charge.

“The Courthouse was among the buildings, seen from the windows of my school bus, that birthed my interest in architecture,” Cahoon said. “So as the only architect to come from this place I owe the historic heritage that remains a debt of gratitude.  When I have opportunities, like with the bell, I will do what I can to honor our history.”

SQVFD Fire Chief Jeffrey Stotesberry reports that he is pleased with the fund-raising efforts to date.

“We have had at least eight different events in the past 16 months and literally hundreds of direct donations, big and small, from all of our supporters who love Hyde County, its history and people for one reason or another,” Stotesberry said. “We still have a little ways to go, but just getting the construction started should give us the boost we need to reach our financial goal.”

A number of benches for the park area have been sponsored by generous donors and will be dedicated to honor their loved ones, all of whom have a lasting tie to Hyde County.  Each of the park benches will bear individual bronze “in memory of” or “in honor of” plaques.

“We still have a few tee-shirts, lots of the new Hyde County license plates and a few Mattamuskeet Lodge pen-and-ink prints available. All proceeds go directly to the project. Interested parties can stop by the stationhouse at 25 Oyster Creek Road, or call me direct at 252-542-0901,” Stotesberry said. “At the SQVFD’s next lunch/dinner on Saturday, August 31, during the “Blue Crab Festival,” volunteers will be selling funnel cakes at what we hope will be our last fund-raising event necessary for this project. Please stop by while you are here for the festival.”

An additional feature of the project is a time capsule that will be sealed inside of the bell display – to be opened in 2069. Project coordinators are currently seeking appropriate items of historical significance to be placed in the time capsule for future generations to discover. Anyone with items they’d like included in the capsule can contact Clare Baum, 252-926-2261 or c.baum@earthlink.net.

The park itself will be named “Hyde County Watermen’s Park” and will be dedicated to the county’s past and present hardworking commercial fishermen. The bell display will be dedicated to the people of Hyde County. A separate program is planned for the sealing of the time capsule inside the display. Dates and times for all events will be announced as soon as they are available.