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CSS Neuse Historic Site Manager
Retiring, "While to some people it (the ironclad displayed at the historic site) is a pile of burned wood, they are a minority," he says. "Most people realize that we have in the small town of Kinston what only two other towns in the United States have. Thousands of people come to Kinston each year who would not otherwise come." Brown says more study has been given to the Civil War period than all other history put together, and just the name "ironclad" whets the appetite of history buffs. "Civil War sites and historic sites as a whole are visited more than theme parks," he noted. "We have something unique, something of international significance. We are getting several hundred inquiries each month on our website. People are pulling up our website to learn about the ironclad CSS Neuse." Brown is looking forward to March 1 when his retirement officially begins. His last working day will be February 26, his anniversary at the historic site. His continued involvement with the development of the historic site will be through the CSS Neuse Gunboat Association, Inc. "In 1975, like most of our historic sites, we had an opportunity to develop a support group separate from government. I was able to get about five people, a CPA and an attorney together, and we formed the CSS Neuse Restoration Committee, Inc. The most often asked question was, 'Are you going to restore the boat?' We have wanted to preserve what we have. It's historically significant as it is because it was built during the transition of shipbuilding from ironclads to battleships. So, we changed the name of our group. "People doing historic research on gunboats were forming gunboat associations to outfit the ironclads, particularly in Georgia. The associations were wanting to build them totally. They would collect pots, pans and kettles to melt down for the iron plates. The CSS Neuse plate, however, was rolled later in the war in Richmond (during 1862). The ironclads in Georgia had been made earlier (the war started in 1861), and there were more of them. "Since we were simply trying to save one of the three existing in the world, we went through channels to form the tax exempt CSS Neuse Gunboat Association, Inc. And there is a possibility we may do something called 'ghosting,' whereby frames are built around part of it showing what it would look like. That was done with the Federal ironclad in Vicksburg, Mississippi." The CSS Neuse has suffered more from weather and high water recently than from the ravages of time. Hurricane Fran in 1996 damaged the remains of the gunboat to the point of causing an irreversible process of dry rot. The only remedy is to enclose the gunboat in a climate controlled environment. The Division of Cultural Resources in the NC Department of Archives and History planned a three phase process to save the gunboat: Phase One, which has now been completed, was to move the CSS Neuse out of the swamp where it was being kept under a shelter to higher ground in the front of the historic site. This is where the State of North Carolina plans to keep it. Phase Two will be to raise "some money" for expansion of the CSS Neuse Historic Site. State legislators told the Lenoir County Board of Commissioners and concerned citizens of Kinston and Seven Springs (in Wayne County) this summer that if they could raise "some money" locally to show community support of the project, they (the lawmakers) would "attempt" to get the majority of the money through legislative appropriations. Phase Three will be to spend the money in the development of a regional Civil War Museum with the CSS Neuse as its focal point. The enclosed structure with controlled temperature and humidity would allow a lot of space for displays, offices, a gift shop, rest rooms and meeting rooms. Brown had no idea he would someday be a historic site manager when he graduated from high school in 1954. A native of Kinston, he went to work at the local Dupont plant like many other Kinstonians. "It was a good job; you could make $100 a week," Brown said. "In 1957, I left and worked in construction, then at the Firestone store downtown as budget manager. In 1958 I joined the 101st Airborne in the Army and went through basic training with Elvis Presley at Ft. Hood, Texas. I was supposed to go to Germany when he went there, but I was homesick and didn't want to sleep in the snow. I volunteered for Ft. Bragg and ended up at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky." After two years in the Army, Brown ran a credit bureau in Goldsboro and then traveled for the American Tobacco Company. After moving back to Kinston and selling insurance for a while and doing a little more construction work, he learned about the development of the historical site on Vernon Avenue. "I came out here one cold rainy day in December of 1965 and talked with the supervisor. I was hired within a short time," he recalled. "When I came here I didn't expect to stay, but history got into my blood. It was fun, and it has been fun 99.9 percent of the time - great fun! I have never awakened in the morning and dreaded coming to work. The construction project (moving the gunboat up the hill) was a trying experience, but we have overcome and will move on to bigger and better things. It wasn't easy deciding to retire, and I will hang around and help out with Phase Two when I can." The people he has met in the lobby of the CSS Neuse museum have come from all over the world. "What you say or do depends on how much time they have," he said. "We get an opportunity to talk with them and learn from them. We learn a lot from the visitors. "I remember like it was yesterday the first tour I gave," said Brown. "I was so nervous. It was a group of Japanese. I had an interpreter. That was not easy. They were Japanese tobacco buyers who had come to town. The interpreter was very kind to me and said, 'Mr. Brown, you did a good job - good job,' nodding the whole time." Brown was promoted exactly one year after being hired at the historic site on February 28, 1966. Throughout his career at the historic site, Brown has given talks and cleaned toilets. He's enjoyed the versatility. "I have an opportunity to choose what part of the job I want to do each day. I give tours to keep in contact with the public." Brown would ask tourists at the museum, "What brought you to small town Kinston?" Without fail, they would say, "The gunboat." In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he had an opportunity to go to other state-owned historic sites. He decided to stay for two reasons. Kinston was his home, and he saw the potential for the historic site as an asset for the town of Kinston. He thinks that potential has been realized, although not fully. Brown said that when the Lenoir County Tourism Authority was formed ten years ago (March 1988), the only local folks present were himself and Chamber Director Jim Godfrey. The first thing they did was agree that "Disney World is not coming to Kinston." The group agreed that they needed to capitalize on what Kinston already has -- a historic site, baseball, blue grass, a drag strip and barbecue. "Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, we decided to use the Motel Occupancy Tax grants for three things in Kinston that other area towns do not have," Brown said. "Number One, we have professional baseball. Number Two, we have an active drag strip, and Three, we have a historic site with a Civil War gunboat. "The gunboat is our drawing card," he continued. "Governor Richard Caswell is significant. He was the George Washington of North Carolina, but it is local and regional history. The CSS Neuse has international significance because some of the ironclads for the Confederacy were built in Europe and England. "A Confederate raider is sunk off the coast of France - the CSS Alabama. Work is underway now to recover it for a historic site. Interest in Europe and France is enough to justify that." The CSS Alabama was a wood ship, a 220 foot long screw (propeller) sloop that could run off steam or sail. She was built in England and sunk in a battle with the USS Kearsage, a twin screw wooden steamer. 
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