"Our Heritage"
Mt. Olive Tribune
By Claude Moore

The Neuse River was named for the Neusioc Indians who lived down on the Pamlico Sound near the mouth of the river. The Indians were probably a part of the Tuscaroran nation & spoke the Iroquoian language.

The river rises in Orange & Durham counties & flows in a southeastern direction through Wake, Johnston, Wayne, Lenoir, Craven & forms the boundry between Pamlico & Carteret & then into Pamlico Sound.

The Little River flows into the Neuse west of Goldsboro near the site of the old town of Waynesborough.

The Trent River flows into the Neuse River at New Bern & Contentnea Creek flows into the Neuse River just below the town of Grifton.

Many Indian artifacts have been found up & down the Neuse among which were some remains of canoes & weights for fish nets.

We do know that the Neuse & its tributaries were used by the Indians. Some of these artifacts date back four thousand to five thousand B.C., before modern roads & machines dug ditches & canals.

The river had a more even flow of water though the records show that the water was low at times during a period of drought.

After the settlement of New Bern in 1710, small sailing craft were used on the lower Neuse. On the upper Neuse, rafts & flat boats were used to carry produce down the river to Kinston & New Bern.

In the early days, there were no bridges across the river but there were a number of ferries including Bass's Ferry at Waynesborough, later known as Dickson's & Whitfield's Ferry at Seven Springs. A few places on the river could be forded at low water.

A covered bridge was built over the Neuse near the highway bridge on highway 117 prior to the War Between the States.

A bridge was also built at Seven Springs & was burned during the Battle of White Hall in December, 1862.

The Wilmington & Weldon Railroad Bridge across the Neuse, south of Goldsboro, was built in 1839 & burned by the Union army during the Battle of the Neuse Bridge, December 1862, but was quickly rebuilt by the Confederates.

After the coming of steamboats, a few made the trip to old Waynesborough & the records show that at least one steamboat made it to Smithfield on high water.

It must be remembered that the rivers in those days were kept clear of trees, logs & stumps.

Until World War I, a few steamboats continued to make the trip to Seven Springs & up the Contentnea Creek to Snow Hill. The last steamboats brought fertilizer.

There is a story in Seven Springs about the last steamboat to bring a load of fertilizer. The boat was tied up & the water was falling by the hour.

The captain of the boat called upon the whole village to come & help unload. They did just that & when the empty boat left, it was scraping bottom & after that no steamboat came up this far again.

During the War Between the States, the Confederate Ram Neuse was built at Seven Springs & floated down to Kinston. It was later burned to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy.

Before the towns & cities began to turn their sewage into the river, there was much fishing on the Neuse & Contentnea Creek.

Of latter years state laws have prevented untreated sewage from being turned into the river & fishing has much improved.

There has been some discussion of latter years about the prospects of building retainer (concrete) dams across the river to deepen the water & further develop the river for boating, swimming & fishing, as well as for vacation homes.