Goose Creek State Park - History

History

The land in and surrounding Goose Creek State Park has long provided an abundance of natural resources for the people of the area. The first recorded inhabitants of the area were members of the Secota and the Pamlico, two Eastern Woodlands tribes. They were victims of wide spread disease brought to colonial North Carolina by settlers from Europe during the 17th century. Most of the Indians that did not succumb to disease were killed or driven off during the Tuscarora War (1711–1715). Goose Creek and Pamlico Sound also provided shelter for pirates such as Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet.

Since the end of the pirate era, the area in and surrounding Goose Creek State Park has been centered on timber production, commercial fishing and small scale, subsistence farming. Lumber companies, such as the Eureka Lumber Company and later Weyerhauser Corporation, acquired extensive tracts of land along the creeks and harvested vasts stands of old growth bald cypress and Longleaf pine. Much of the land that is now part of Goose Creek State Park was clear cut. Evidence of the timber industry remains at the park today. Visitors to the park can see the remains of piers and loading docks up and down Goose Creek and an old railroad bed crosses the park.

After the lumber companies had cleared the forests and left the land, citizens of Beaufort County sought to have the land along Goose Creek protected under North Carolina state law. At this time the state was looking for land along the Pamlico River on which to build a park. It was soon determined that Goose Creek would be an ideal setting for a state park. Local citizens showed their support for the effort by sending a resolution to North Carolina governor, James Holshouser. The state purchased 1,208 (4.88 km²) acres of land, at a cost of $1,115,000 from Weyerhauser, for the park and Goose Creek State Park was opened to the public in September 1974.