This tablet was erected May, 1911 by the North Carolina Society of Colonial Dames of America to mark the site of Fort Johnston, the first fort in the Province of North Carolina, built under Act of Assembly of 1745 and completed 1764, and named in honour of Governor Gabriel Johnston. The Patriots of the Cape Fear resisting the execution of the Stamp Act in 1766 forced the spiking of its 24 cannon, the gift of King George II.
The fort was the refuge of Governor Josiah Martin after his flight from New Bern, May 24, 1775 until he was compelled by the patriots to abandon it July 18, 1775, on which day it was destroyed and Royal Government in North Carolina ceased.
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