| Scope and content |
Minutes cover the New Bern Chamber of Commerce's first year (1899-1900), two meetings in 1901, and one in 1904. Minutes include lists of officers, committees, and committee members, and chronicle the various endeavors of the Chamber. Topics addressed in the minutes include a proposal for a cotton factory; efforts to attract a larger share of the tobacco market; and the need for various improvements, including road improvements, improved railroad service by the Atlantic Coast Line and the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroads, improved telephone and mail service, improved freight warehousing, and improved waterways serving New Bern. Also included are the Chamber's official complaints about excessive freight rates, poor gas quality, and poor light and telephone service; information regarding a plan for municipal ownership of water and sewage services; and information for inclusion in an advertising pamphlet that lists statistics on death rates, available resources, and the climate. |
| Access restriction | No access restrictions. |
| Cite as |
New Bern Chamber of Commerce Minutes (#354), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA. |
| Terms of use | Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- Gift of John B. Green. |
| Biographical note | Patterned after that of Wilmington, N.C., the New Bern [N.C.] Chamber of Commerce was organized May 17, 1899, to encourage growth of industry in New Bern. In the Chamber's first year of operation, New Bern gained a new sawmill, a new basket and crate factory, a new canning factory, expansion of a local knitting mill, and a new steamboat line. |
