Beaufort County’s legacy of pirates, naval stores, steamboats and other marine-related history will be the focus of the annual N.C. Maritime History Council’s conference being held today and through Saturday at various sites in Washington and the county.

Conference events take place at the N.C. Estuarium, Turnage Theater and Historic Bath State Historic Site, among other locations. The conference is being held in conjunction with “Historic Port Washington: Legacy for Generations.” Among the conferences events is a Friday-night presentation by historian and author Kevin Duffus regarding Blackbeard’s black pirates. That presentation, which begins at 8 p.m. at the Turnage Theater, is open to the public.

The conference is not open to just members of the N.C. Maritime History Council, according to Blount Rumley, a council member of director of the North Carolina Estuarium, where a registration reception will be held this afternoon to kick off the conference’s visit to the area.

“Anybody can go,” Rumley said. Registration and schedule information for the entire conference or its components can be found at www.maritimehistory.com, he noted.

“Every year we have a conference, and it’s generally in the fall some time somewhere on the coast. In recent years, we’ve had it at … Jacksonville, Southport, Wilmington, Hatteras, Plymouth. … It’s a little bit academic, but it’s a whole lot of fun, too,” he said. “We try to mix fun and serious maritime history. We want it to be interesting.”

Other major conference events include a presentation on shipbuilding on the Pamlico-Tar River, naval stores and eastern North Carolina, shorewhaling in North Carolina, defending the East Coast during World War II with converted shipping vessels and the importance of the Pamlico-Tar River in developing eastern North Carolina. A demonstration of a steam engine is set for late Saturday morning at the Estuarium.

Rumley said there is still time for people to register for the conference. They may register at the conference or online by visiting the N.C. Maritime History Council’s website.

“We do have to charge for it because we have speakers we have to pay. … There are different rates for different parts of it,” Rumley said. “The whole conference is $110. … You can see different prices for different things.”

The council’s website explains its mission.

“The North Carolina Maritime History Council brings together all the elements that comprise our nautical heritage. It is a rich heritage, one that tells tales of high drama and unfortunate tragedy,” it reads.
“Often one finds the state’s economic and social development to be synonymous with its relation to the creeks, rivers and sea. The production of tar, pitch and turpentine, for instance, kept fleets afloat while providing a livelihood for innumerable North Carolinians for almost 200 years. It is, in fact, why we are called Tar Heels,” the website notes.