One of the first pioneers
to reach the south shore of the Albemarle Sound was a man by the
name of Kendrick. The only thing history tells us of this gentleman
is that the creek, which today is called Mackeys Creek, was named
for him. Most maps still show this historical stream as Kendrick
Creek.
The community we know today as Mackeys had its beginning in the very
early 1700s as Lee’s Point. Lee’s Point acquired its name as a
result of its use as a transfer point for lumber sawed at the
water-powered saw in what we know today in Roper.
Thomas Lee and later his son Stephen Lee, owners and operators of
Lee’s Mill, would ship their sawed timber by small barge down
Kendrick Creek to Albemarle Sound where it would be transferred to
larger vessels for shipment to Edenton and other more distant
settlements, some as far away as the British West Indies.
In the early 1730s Thomas Bell, a resident of Edenton, established a
scheduled ferry run from Edenton to South Shore. In 1735, Thomas
Bell sold this ferry to his nephew William Mackey. William expanded
the ferry service to include four South Shore landings: Lee’s Point,
Thorp’s Landing, Colonel West’s Landing and Campbell’s Landing. I
can find no historical reference which establishes the location of
Thorp’s, West’s or Campbell’s Landing; however, we must assume that
they were on one of the three streams which empty into the Albemarle
from the south since a sailing ship could not reach a landing built
in the shallow waters along the sound shore.
Thomas Bell named William Mackey, his nephew, heir to his property,
which he was to inherit at the death of Bell’s wife. Shortly after
Bell’s death, William moved from Edenton to the South Shore to help
his uncle’s widow manage the farmland be would eventually own, much
of which was located on the east bank of Kendrick Creek.
William Mackey died in 1765 and the settlement that developed in and
around Lee’s Point was named Mackey’s Ferry in his honor.
Crossing the Albemarle Sound by way of Mackey’s Ferry in the 18th
century usually took the better part of a day. This sail-powered
vessel was totally dependent upon suitable weather and favorable
winds. There were times when inclement weather would delay the
crossing for 24 hours or more. It was not until the early 19th
century and the coming of steam power that a dependable ferry
schedule could maintained.
The ferry established by William Mackey in 1735 served the North and
South Shore Settlements for 203 years. Its end came in 1938 with the
completion of the highway bridge across Albemarle Sound, six miles
east of the old ferry lane.
It was in the 1760s that serious commercial fishing became the
principal economic interest in Mackeys Ferry. Numerous fish houses
and processing facilities were built on both the east and west banks
of Kendrick Creek. In the spring, all efforts were turned to this
activity and hundreds of people were employed.
Mackeys Ferry continued to prosper throughout the 18th and 19th
centuries as a ferry terminal and commercial fishing center;
however, it did not begin to reach its full potential until the
coming of Norfolk-Southern Railroad in 1881. Norfolk-Southern had
extended its line from Norfolk, Va. to Elizabeth City on to Edenton
and across Albemarle Sound by barges carrying two cars at a time to
Mackeys Ferry and other points south. These barges were towed by
tugboats and required considerable time to move an entire train from
shore to shore. This slow, cumbersome method of moving the train
continued for approximately 18 years.
In 1899, Norfolk-Southern replaced these two-car barges with the
twin side-wheelers iron train ferry John W. Garrett. The Garrett was
a magnificent vessel and by far the largest and longest to ever
enter Kendrick Creek. It had a 41-foot beam and a length of 351 feet
with a pilot house both fore and aft. This double pilot house meant
that the Garrett never had to turn around; the pilot simply moved
from one end of the boat to the other.
Passengers making long journeys by rail welcomed this one and three
quarter hour crossing aboard the Garrett as a much needed respite.
It gave them ample time to stretch their legs, refresh themselves
and to dine at the on-board restaurant.
This much improved rail link between Edenton and Mackeys Ferry made
it possible for Norfolk-Southern to place through passenger trains
in service between Norfolk and Belhaven and later New Bern and
Raleigh.
At the turn of the19th century, the railroad provided the ladies in
and around Mackeys Ferry with their favorite entertainment. It seems
that on Sunday afternoons after church, weather permitting, the
ladies would have their husbands drive them in their horse and
buggies to the rail depot where they would wait for the arrival of
the passenger train so that they might see the very latest in
hat-styles. We have come a long way; you will have to decide the
direction.
This period in the history of the South Shore was also a time of
extensive ferry boat travel. This was prior to the development of
good roads and dependable land transportation, other than trains,
and most journeys of any real distance were usually made by boat.
Both Belhaven and Edenton, as well as Mackeys Ferry, became major
ports for water traffic. Scheduled runs were made up the Roanoke to
Plymouth and Halifax; the Cashie to Windsor; the Scuppernong to
Columbia and Creswell and the Albemarle routes to Belhaven,
Washington and Bayboro.
It was during the last quarter of the 19th century that Mackeys
Ferry reached its peak in growth, development and economic activity.
As I pointed out earlier, it was in 1873 that a group of prominent
citizens from Mackeys petitioned, unsuccessfully, the North Carolina
legislature to have the courthouse and county seat moved from
Plymouth, which was still suffering from the devastation of the War
for Southern Independence to Mackeys Ferry.
Being a ferry terminal for both rail passengers and vehicular
traffic gave Mackeys a decided economic advantage over the other
settlements in the county. This constant influx of a transit trade
did much to stimulate local businesses. The Marriner Hotel provided
travelers with lodging and meals. Room rates were two dollars per
day. An academy was built to provide schooling for the local young
people. A number of general stores, carrying a wide range of
merchandise, were to be found on both sides of the creek. The busy
fishing industry provided employment for scores of people.
In 1910, the John W. Garrett, which had done so much to expedite
rail travel to and from the South Shore Settlement, left the waters
of the Albemarle Sound to resume its work as a rail ferry on the
Mississippi River. It was in 1910 that Norfolk-Southern Railroad
completed construction of its 28,000-foot bridge across Albemarle
Sound. This magnificent structure cost one million dollars to build
and was the longest continuous railway bridge in the world. The time
required for a passenger train to cross the sound was now reduced to
28 minutes and to 40 minutes for a 60-car freight train. Freight
trains were now reaching their destination more than eight hours
earlier than before.
To give you some idea as to the size of this project, consider the
following: four million feet of lumber; 1,000 carloads of cypress
piles; 250 car loads of steel and a train load of spikes and bolts
were required in its construction. The bridge was equipped with one
lift draw providing 140 feed of open space and one swing draw with a
clearance of 35 feet on either side. The completion of this, the
world’s longest railway bridge, began a new era in the commercial
and industrial development of that part of our state served by
Norfolk and Southern Railway.
The78-year history of this structure was not with incident. The
original bridge was built with untreated timber and after a few
years of constant use required continual maintenance. In the early
1950s, part of the bridge collapsed dropping an engine and two cars
into the sound resulting in the loss of one life. In the late 1950s,
much of the bridge was washed away by a violent hurricane which
struck it from the West. The cost of rebuilding and maintaining the
bridge finally reached the point where it was greater than the
revenue generated by its use. It was abandoned in 1989 and removed
shortly thereafter.
Today, the John W. Garrett is history, Mackeys Ferry a fading
memory, and not one pile, tie or board remains to remind us of the
once greatest railway bridge in the world.