"Visting the Albermarle museum in Plymouth today" Topic

My job with a major auto glass repair company takes me all over tidewater and
into NC. Yesterday I spent all afternoon in Edenton and took some real good
pictures of the coast line there. But today I had to go back between Edenton
and Plymouth. So while waiting on the customer I went into Plymouth and over
to the Civil War Museum. Now considering I have been in and out of museum
basment for years researching I was really appalled at the displays within the
building. One of the finest colt collections was displayed but was out in the
open and some even had the holsters that where coming to pieces. Swords just
hanging on the wall and photos in places where light can hit them. But the
worst of it all was a Federal Flag hanging and I mean just hanging from the back
room wall. It was going to pieces a bit at a time. I was so disgusted with
what I saw I had to leave and could not stand to see such a fine disply going to
hell. I dont understand why no one has yet to take this small but wonderful
place over and make it into a show piece. They had a deck out side that I know
cost several thousands of dollars but weapons where left out in the air and open
for all sorts of problems to occur. Now the only uplifting moment was the Half
Scale model of the Albermarle (but then the full scale Nuese in Kinston is a
site to behold) floating in the river was nice and a new item just found. A 6.4
Brooke rifle round found in the swamp and defused in great condition.

Peter

As many times as I've been through Plymouth, I've never seen more than the display at the rest stop. The half scale model sounds interesting. Kinston does have a great little museum for Neuse as well.

Have you ever been to Fort Branch? (Another site that I kept driving by on my treks between Kitty Hawk and Greenville.)

Closest we come here is a Parrott rifle from USS Hartford sitting in a park in Cincinnati.

How was the weather? Good day for boating on the Albemarle?

I have visted the Neuse display at Kinston as well.
It's really cool to see this lower hull section, realizing that it was a Confederate Ironclad.
The thing looks huge to me, even though this ship was small in comparison to other ICs.
And looking over the hand hewn lumber, it amazes me how they put it all together.

I hope to get to Plymouth some time to see the stuff there, while there's something left to see.
Joep

As a child, I lived for a time in Plymouth with my
grandparents. Often, while walking in the town, I'd
wonder why there was no museum, since, in addition to
the CSS Albemarle action, there were several land actions
fought in or near the town.

In those days, mid to late 1940's, there was still damage
evident to buildings in the town from cannon fire.

I must go back and check out the museum. Haven't been
to Plymouth since my grandfather passed away, in 1983.

I can not tell you how much I was let down by the way the items where displayed. I served a short time as Chief of Collections for a Fire Department and even though our budget was next to nothing we where able to have a protected collection.

The Neuse is a great museum. The full scale model being built down town by local money is reall neat also.

Peter

The full scale model being built down town by local money is reall neat also.

Full scale model? Great googly-moogly! I'll have to plan another trip to Eastern North Carolina to see that.

I was there 10-12 years ago. I don't remember much about the museum except that it wasn't very impressive. Mostly I enjoyed seeing what the river looked like. (For someone who grew up in a town on the banks of the Ohio, it's not much of a river to be steaming around on in a big ironclad!)