A Question of Wood and Time
When asked by superiors about the completion of the Confederate ironclad being built on the Neuse River upstream from New Bern, Gen. John Peck of the Union army stated, "Hitherto it has been a question of iron and time." Paraphrasing the general, state underwater archaeologist Leslie S. Bright now considers it "a question of wood and time." The CSS
Neuse is in a second battle for survival - not against Union forces but against the elements of nature.
Preservation Time Line1961-1963 Three local businessmen recover the CSS
Neuse.
Nov. 1963 Gov. Terry Sanford approves the allocation of $10,000 for moving the ship and applying wood preservatives.
1964 CSS
Neuse removed from recovery site and relocated to Governor Caswell Memorial Park.
July 1, 1965 Caswell Memorial Park becomes part of Historic Sites Section.
1969 State builds open-sided shelter over gunboat to protect it from rain; windblown precipitation and humidity remain a problem.
1970-1998 Preservation of hull begins. Care, maintenance, and protection carried out at regular intervals.
1972 CSS
Neuse visitor center constructed.
March 1993 Planning begins to enclose CSS
Neuse in environmentally controlled facility.
Nov. 1995 Conservation Assessment Program team recommends providing CSS
Neuse with a more controlled environment.
March 1996 East Group completes site plan and schematic design for new visitor center.
Sept. 1996 Hurricane Fran hits eastern North Carolina and flooding damages hull of CSS
Neuse. State rethinks enclosing the existing shelter.
Feb. 1997 State repair funding is redirected to remove gunboat from the floodplain.
April 1998 Site work begins to move CSS
Neuse to new location.
Why Move the CSS Neuse?Controlling the humidity and temperature around the vessel is the best way to preserve it, according to experts in conservation. Planning to enclose the CSS
Neuse began in 1993 with the development of architectural plans for a new shelter. In September 1996 Hurricane Fran made a direct hit on eastern North Carolina, and the resulting flood exceeded the "hundred-year" flood of 1964. Officials decided in February 1997 not to spend substantial funds in an area that had the potential to flood so badly. As a result, the only way to enclose the ship was to move it out of the floodplain. An area of higher ground on the current site will be the new location of the CSS
Neuse. A temporary structure has been designed to protect the vessel until a permanent facility is funded.
Future Plans for the CSS Neuse State Historic SiteThe ultimate goal at the CSS
Neuse State Historic Site is to enclose the vessel in a climate-controlled facility. This will provide optimal conditions for preservation by regulating the humidity and temperature around the ship.
Enclosures of the ship will give the site additional exhibit space. We will expand the scope of our displays to a regional approach. Exhibits will focus on the two battles in Kinston as well as aspects of the Civil War in other areas of eastern North Carolina, including Goldsboro, Seven Springs, and New Bern. Additional space will be available for interactive exhibits as well as education and audio visual rooms.
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