Port O'Plymouth Museum

This is primarily a Civil War museum revolving around the 1864 "Battle of Plymouth", the second largest Civil War battle fought in North Carolina. Impressive displays of cannon balls, bullets, buttons, buckles, guns, pictures, and thousands of battle artifacts can be found here.

Preview your trip on the web: Port O'Plymouth Museum

Learn more

• CivilWar@Smithsonian: Collecting, Preserving, Remembering the National Experience An online exhibit that gives a glimpse of the Smithsonian Institution at the time of the Civil War as well as displaying its many Civil War collections consisting of several artifacts and primary source materials.
• A House Divided: America in the Age of Lincoln Explores America before the Civil War, slavery, the slavery debate, the events leading to the war, the war itself, and how it affected politics and society. Learn also about the state of the country once the war ended and what obstacles lay ahead for the country at this tenuous time. Includes historical images and primary source documents.
• Lesson plan: Civil War Tribune This lesson focuses on student creativity along with the writing process. Art is also incorporated in a unique way. Students will use their research skills to complete a creative writing project on the Civil War.
• Documenting the American South Ten thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs for the study of Southern history, literature, and culture.
• Lesson plan: Civil War Journals Integrates creative writing with social studies and enhances knowledge of the effects of the Civil War on people.

Related pages

• Somerset Place (NC Historic Site): Located on the banks of Phelps Lake, Somerset Place is a representative antebellum plantation offering a view of life during the period before the Civil War. It became one of North Carolina's most prosperous rice, corn, and wheat plantations.
• "Where Home Used to Be": Letter from 16 year-old Janie Smith, whose family home was used as a Confederate hospital during the Battle of Averasboro. She describes the effects of Sherman's March, the battle, and its aftermath. Includes historical commentary.
• Polk County Historical Association Museum: The artifacts found at the Polk County Historical Museum include pioneer tools and clothing, railroad memorabilia, military artifacts, a newspaper editor's office, and much more.

Related topics

• Learn more about 19th century, Battle of Plymouth, Civil War, North Carolina, Washington County, battles, history, and history museums.

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Established in 1988 by The Washington County Historical Society, this museum displays many artifacts from the region’s rich history and culture. A full-time curator and staff are maintained for lectures and tours of the facility. Located in the old Seaboard Coastline depot on the Roanoke River in downtown Plymouth, the museum is near the site of the sinking of the Ram Albemarle, the Confederate ironclad. Within easy walking distance from the museum are historic sites, homes, and churches. Walking tour brochures are available.

To arrange a tour, call 252-793-1377 or send email to Harry Thompson, the curator, at harry@plymouthmuseum.com.

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