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Historical Markers
MCB Camp Lejeune Historical Markers

Verona Loop Road Entrance

Verona Loop Road EntranceVerona Loop Onslow Hall MarkerVerona Loop Town Point Marker

Onslow Hall (middle image): Built in 1892 by Thomas A. McIntyre, New York financier and builder of the Jacksonville-Wilmington railroad. This 27 room mansion stood on the “Glenoe,” a 2600 acre plantation that included trotting stables and a model stock farm. The estate, located four miles southeast of Camp Devil Dog, was later known as “Coddington” following its purchase in 1919 by Charles C. Coddington and was a show place for three decades.

Town Point (image on right): Originally known as Mittam’s Point, Town Point, located five miles southeast of Camp Devil Dog, was the site of Johnston, in 1741 Onslow County’s first incorporated town and third county seat. After its destruction by a hurricane in 1752, the town was abandoned and the county seat was moved in 1757 to Wantland’s Ferry in Present-day Jacksonville.

CHB Entrance
CHB entranceCHB Entrance Town of Marines Marker

Town of Marines: The town of Marines (1 mile south) was founded by family patriarch Zorobabel Marine circa 1845. During the remainder of the 19th century it evolved into a thriving river port, regional commercial center and recreational destination. Marines was the last community removed by the US government and in 1941 its post office was serving over 100 families.


Courthouse Bay
Courthouse Bay Marker

First Onslow County Courthouse: Courthouse Bay derives its name from the log courthouse where the county government was first instituted in 1732. The courthouse was located southwest of here on Jarrott’s Point overlooking the Bay and New River. The county’s first three courthouses were located on land that became Camp Lejeune.


Freeman Creek
Freeman Creek Historical MarkersFreeman Creek First Settlement MarkerFreeman Creek Col. Edward Ward, Sr. Plantation Marker

First Settlement (middle image): The first settlers that moved into the area that became Camp Lejeune are believed to be the three Dexter brothers from Massachusetts. Phillip and Ebenezer settled on Bear Creek, near Bear Inlet, as early as 1713, followed in 1726 by Hope Dexter on Mittam’s, later known as Town Point, in 1741 the site of Johnston, Onslow County’s first town. Settlement did not begin until the conclusion of the Tuscarora War, the last major uprising by Native Americans in eastern North Carolina.

Colonel Edward Ward, Sr. Plantation (image on right): In 1735, Col. Edward Ward, Sr., (born 1694, died 1766) a veteran of the Tuscarora Indian War, established a plantation here on a 200-acre tract and attained considerable wealth and prominence in the naval stores industry. His grave and that of his wife Elizabeth were moved to the Montford Point Cemetery in 1941 and are the oldest graves located there.


Montford Point
Monford Point EntranceMontford Point National Cemetery Marker

Montford Point National Cemetery: With the acquisition during the national emergency of 1941 of the 85,000 acres of land that became Camp Lejeune, the federal government assumed the responsibility for moving the graves found in the approximately 134 identifiable family and church graveyards scattered throughout the reservation to more secure and accessible locations. Two were selected for the dignified and respectful reinterment of the former inhabitants, some of whom farmed these lands as far back as the 18th century. The White graves, numbering almost 1200, were reestablished at Montford Point alongside NC Highway 24 while the African American graves, in the then era of segregation, were moved to a separate site on US 17S near Verona. Both will be maintained in perpetuity by Camp Lejeune.


Onslow Beach
Onslow BeachOnslow Beach Hurst Beach Marker

Hurst Beach: Hurst Beach, along with adjoining Henderson and Onslow Beaches, were, collectively, one of the most popular and rapidly growing beaches along the Atlantic Coast between Morehead City and Wrightsville Beach. At the time of its acquisition by the US Government in 1941, this resort area, which consisted of 37 cottages, 3 cafes, 2 bath houses, a bowling alley, filling station and ice house, and a ferry that connected it to the main land, was renamed Onslow Beach.

Piney Green
Piney Green EntrancePiney Green Mitchell Ward Montford Point Marker

Mitchell‐Ward‐Montfort Mill: In 1779, Colonel George Mitchell, leader of the Onslow County militia during the last few years of the American Revolution, constructed one of the most notable of numerous water‐powered mills in the Camp Lejeune area on Wallace Creek in this vicinity. This grist mill was subsequently owned by two other prominent Onslow County citizens, General Edward Ward and Dr. William J. Montfort, Sr., and operated into the early 20th century.

Sneads Ferry Gate
Snead's Ferry GateSnead's Ferry Gate Historic Marker
Snead's Ferry Gate Federal Gundboat MarkerSnead's Ferry Pest House Marker

Snead’s Ferry (image on top right): Onslow County’s first ferry over the New River was established here in 1728 by Edmund Ennett as part of the Colonial Post Road or “King’s Road” that ran between Boston and Charleston, SC. It acquired its current name when purchased by Robert Snead in 1759 and was replaced by the first bridge over the narrows here in 1939.

Federal Gunboat “Ellis” (lower left image): During the Civil War the US gunboat “Ellis,” commanded by Lt. William B. Cushing, raided up the New River on November 23, 1863, briefly occupying Jacksonville, capturing two merchant vessels and destroying another. While withdrawing, the “Ellis” ran aground off Swan’s Point (three miles southeast) and was destroyed on November 25 by Co. G, 3rd NC Artillery. Cushing escaped to sea with his crew aboard the captured merchant vessels.


Pest House (lower right image): 
The Revolutionary War introduced the first of a series of smallpox epidemics that would rage through Onslow County during the 18th and 19th centuries. A pest house was established by court order in January 1782, as a place to be inoculated to control the contagion.

Surgeon’s Row
(Historic marker currently under development)

The Naval Hospital Historic District contains seven structures, all contributing:  the hospital and associated “Surgeon’s Row,” which is comprised of three residential structures, two garages and a utility building. All the buildings were constructed between 1942 and 1945.

Verona Cemetery
Verona Cemetery Verona Loop MarkerVerona Loop Cemetery Marker Close Up

Verona Loop National Cemetery: With the acquisition during the national emergency of 1941 of the 85,000 acres of land that became Camp Lejeune, the federal government assumed the responsibility for moving the graves found in the approximately 134 identifiable family and church graveyards scattered throughout the reservation to more secure and accessible locations. Two were selected for the dignified and respectful reinterment of the former inhabitants, some of whom farmed these lands as far back as the 18th century. The White graves, numbering almost 1200, were reestablished at Montford Point alongside NC Highway 24 while the African American graves, in the then era of segregation, were moved to a separate site on US 17S near Verona. Both will be maintained in perpetuity by Camp Lejeune.