January-June “If Walls Could Talk-St. Thomas Church Celebrates 275 Years” exhibit. St. Thomas Episcopal Church, N. C.’s oldest remaining church, celebrates the 275th anniversary of the construction of the church building. View photographs and text highlighting the church through three centuries. Visitor Center.
January 15 Historical Film Series “We Are Marshall” (2006). After a plane crash takes the lives of most of the Marshall University’s football team, new coach Jack Lengyel must rally the surviving players and a grieving community to victory. Based on true events, this inspiring drama follows Lengyel and his assistant coach as they try to renew Marshall’s football program and help the close-knit West Virginia town find new hope. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7 pm.
February 7 “Slave Ship Archaeology: A Comparative Look at the English Slave Ship Henrietta Marie and Blackbeard’s Flagship Queen Anne’s Revenge.” David Moore, Curator of Nautical Archaeology at the N. C. Maritime Museum, will provide a brief look at the history and archaeological efforts undertaken on the Henrietta Marie which sunk in the Florida Keys in 1700 and the Queen Anne’s Revenge, which was initially the slave ship Concorde headed for Martinique, which was run aground and lost off Beaufort Inlet in 1718. Visitor Center. 10 am.
February 19 Historical Film Series “A Raisin in the Sun” (1961). Sidney Poitier plays Walter Lee Younger, a chauffeur with a wife and family to support. When a financial windfall puts Younger’s dream of starting his own business within reach, the family is plunged into conflict with one another and with the intolerant world around them. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7 pm.
February 21 Children’s HiSTORY Hour. Children ages 5-10 will learn about our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, as we observe his 200th birthday. Related book and activities. Fee charged: $1. Visitor Center. 10-11 a.m.
March 19 Historical Film Series “Somewhere In Time” (1980). In this romantic film, an elderly woman approaches playwright Richard Collier and presses a pocket watch into his hand whispering, “Come back to me.” Years later, Collier becomes obsessed with a picture of an early 1900s actress and discovers that she’s the woman who gave him the watch. Collier wills himself back in time to find the woman, and the pair begins a love affair out of time. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7pm.
April 4 Nautical Living History Day. The Carolina Living History Guild will demonstrate the commercial aspect of a port town in pre-revolutionary days. Activities will include navigational displays and activities, demonstrations of sailor crafts and weapons firing of a swivel gun and muskets during the day. Bonner Point. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
April 16 Historical Film Series “Mr. Holland’s Opus” (1995). In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it’s just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life’s purpose. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7 p.m.
May 2 Children’s HiSTORY Hour “Lawson’s Creek: Exploring Bath Town.” Explore Bath Town as founder John Lawson saw it and create a nature notebook. Appropriate for ages 5-10. Fee charged: $1.00. Visitor Center, 207 Carteret St. 10am-11am.
May 16 Open House and Bath Fest. Held in conjunction with National Tourism Week, Historic Bath’s open house and a town sponsored arts festival, Bath Fest, will feature free tours of the Palmer-Marsh and Bonner Houses, as well as arts and crafts, vendors, music, and theatrical performances, food booths, hands-on arts and crafts activities for children and adults. 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
May 16 Croquet Tournament. Join the Beaufort County Community College Foundation as a participant or spectator as it sponsors the sixth Annual Cut-Throat Croquet Tournament. Fee charged for players, spectators free. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m., tournament 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
May 21 Historical Film Series “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (1954). Set on a ranch in the Oregon Territory, this musical tells the story of Adam and his six unruly brothers. Adam marries Milly who’s appalled by the motley crew and takes it upon herself to tame them. Longing to become husbands like their brother, the boys go into town and kidnap six lovely women for themselves. Not without chaos and uproar, the boys and their wives eventually find happiness. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7 p.m.
June 18 Historical Film Series “The Greatest Game Ever Played” (2005). With a pint-sized caddie at his side, amateur golfer Francis Ouimet shocked the world at the 1913 U. S. Open when he outplayed defending British champ Harry Vardon. But Ouimet’s rise to the top wasn’t easy, with a hard-nosed father and a hard-knock life to overcome. A true-life story based on actual events. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7 p.m.
July-December “John Lawson’s Carolina.” John Lawson’s book “A New Voyage to Carolina” was published in 1709 and describes in detail the plants and animals as well as the habits of the Indians of the Carolina area. This display highlights some of his findings on the book’s 300th anniversary. Visitor Center.
July 14, 16 Past Times Day Camp. In this program, children ages 5-10 will learn the meaning of different colors and symbols and will design their own coat of arms, emphasizing a trait about themselves. They will also explore how the Scottish used plaids to represent families or clans as well as the use of wigs in England and the colonies to denote class. Besides art activities, a scavenger hunt through Bath will uncover commonly used heraldry symbols that are found in our surroundings. Both days will include a story/movie/rest time. Program limited to 25 children. Fee charged: $15 00 covers food and supplies. To register call 252-923-3971. Visitor Center. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
July 16 Historical Film Series “National Treasure” (2004). Modern treasure hunters, led by archaeologist Ben Franklin Gates, search for a treasure chest filled with funds for the Revolutionary War, rumored to have been stashed away by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. The whereabouts of the chest may lie in a secret code embedded in the U.S. Constitution and in a map drawn on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7 p.m.
July 18 “Naval Stores Industry and the Real Tar Heels: The Story of the Long Leaf Pine in NC.” Earl Ijames, curator at the Museum of History in Raleigh after many years with State Archives, will discuss the early naval stores industry in North Carolina, and will explain the various types of ecosystems in which the longleaf pine flourished throughout our state. Visitor Center. 10 a.m.
August 20 Historical Film Series “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” (2007). Benjamin Franklin Gates and Dr. Abigail Chase, who found riches and romance at the end of their first hunt for national treasure, reteam with their wisecracking partner in crime, Riley Poole, for another romp through U. S. history. Now, armed with a stack of long-lost pages from John Wilkes Booth’s diary, Ben is obsessed with finding the truth behind President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7 p.m.
September 12 “Can You Dig It? An Archaeological Tour of Northeastern North Carolina.” Former Historic Bath Site Manager Dr. Patricia Samford will present an illustrated talk on the early settlements of Native Americans and the people of English, European and African descent which followed. Dr. Samford will discuss the impact that these people had on shaping the landscape and customs of this region as found through archaeology. Visitor Center. 10 a.m.
September 17 Historical Film Series “The Great Debaters” (2007). When African-American poet Mel Tolson creates a debate team at historically black Wiley College, he pushes the team to a level of excellence that allows them to challenge powerhouse Harvard in 1935. But despite public success, personal clashes foment as the father of one of Tolson’s students resents his son’s loyalty to his coach. Based on a true story. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7 p.m.
October 10 “Growing a Tree: Uncovering Your Family Genealogy.” In observance of Family Genealogy Month, join Historic Bath staff person Bea Latham to learn some techniques for finding ancestral information. Afterwards, feel free to use the documents, resource materials and internet at the Visitor Center to work on your family tree. Bring a child, spouse, or other family member and start the search together! Visitor Center. 10 a.m.
October 15 Historical Film Series “Becoming Jane” (2007). Famed romantic novelist Jane Austen has a personal life as dramatic as any of her fictional characters in this historical drama. Jane rejects the advice of her parents, who want to see her married to the nephew of a wealthy noble, and instead falls for dashing but poor Irish lawyer Tom Lefroy. As sparks fly, both families intercede to head off the romance, but headstrong Jane will not be told what to do. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7 p.m.
October 24 “The Hoofprints Ghost Stories Concert.” Join local storyteller Terry Rollins as he brings to life some scary Tar Heel stories at the beginning of the Halloween season. Not appropriate for children younger than eight. Bonner House front yard. 7-8:30 p.m.
November 14 Children’s HiSTORY Hour “If You Sailed on the Mayflower.” In the Thanksgiving season, children ages 5-10 will experience coming to the New World on the Mayflower through books and activities. Fee charged: $1. Visitor Center. 10-11 a.m.
November 19 Historical Film Series “Memphis Belle” (1990). A U.S. bomber plane’s crew is ordered to hit a heavily defended German city. Capt. Dearborn leads his men into battle while their commander and a public relations officer anxiously await the squad’s return. Amid friction between the captain and his co-pilot, a scandal erupts when it’s learned that a medical officer has been dishonest. Based on the real-life World War II plane’s final mission. Refreshments served. Visitor Center. 7 p.m.
December 5 Children’s Christmas HiSTORY Hour. Usher in the Christmas season with a classic Christmas movie while trying your hand at stringing popcorn and cranberries. After the movie, children will be able to do some Christmas shopping on their own in the gift shop. Appropriate for ages 5-10. Fee charged: $1. Visitor Center. 10 a.m.
December 13 Christmas Open House. Tour the 1751 Palmer-Marsh House, the 1830 Bonner House, the 1790 Van Der Veer House and the 1734 St. Thomas Episcopal Church, decorated in period holiday fashion. Enjoy music, apple cider and fresh-baked gingerbread. 12 noon-4 p.m.