This case of artifacts explores the infamous pirate captain Blackbeard’s connection to the North Carolina coast. Most of these artifacts cover Blackbeard’s pirating adventures and his lifetime within North Carolina. The maps and postcards offer a more detailed location trail of Blackbeard and his piracy throughout his life, including his place of death. Through these locational artifacts, this exhibition case offers an inside look to the time period of Blackbeard’s piracy as well as his connection to the coast of North Carolina. Much of Blackbeard’s life story has gone unexplored and unresearched; these pieces provide more opportunities for the audience to understand piracy and the location of the infamous pirate, Captain Blackbeard, and his specific pirate life.

The postcard of the Ocracoke Village and Harbor highlights the significance of North Carolina’s beaches during the Golden Age of Piracy, as its uniquely geometric coastlines were used strategically. As the postcard Outer Banks, N.C. notes, with its network of inlets, sounds, and sheltered harbors, the Outer Banks provided pirates like Blackbeard with an ideal environment to evade capture. Ocracoke’s location, in particular, made it a crucial site for piracy, offering both a safe haven and a staging ground for raids, as its unique geography allowed pirates to slip in and out of hiding.

However, in November of 1718, Lieutenant Robert Maynard launched a surprise attack on Blackbeard at Ocracoke, using the island's remote position to his advantage in capturing the pirate. Blackbeard met a fierce battle and was killed; his death marked the end of one of the most infamous pirate careers in history. Maynard's victory not only ended Blackbeard's reign of terror, but it also signaled the decline of piracy in the region and of the Golden Age. This event cemented Ocracoke's place in pirate lore, further tying the island's geography to the history of piracy.

Bordsen, John. “N.C. Finds Tourism Gold from Blackbeard’s Ghost.” USA Today. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspxdirect=true&db=aph&AN=J0E174383982118&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.

Dolin, Eric Jay. “The Most Iconic Episode From the Life of Blackbeard Is How It Ended. Here’s How the Pirate Really Died.” TIME, TIME USA, 21 November 2018, https://time.com/5457008/blackbeard-death/. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.

Morton, Hugh. Ocracoke Village and Harbor, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. Colourpicture, North Carolina Postcard

Collection. Postcard. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/nc_post/id/8277/rec/7. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library. Ocracoke Village and Harbor, Ocracoke Island, North

Carolina. Postcard. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/ nc_post/id/ 8277/rec/7. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

The Outer Banks of North Carolina is a region known for its isolated inlets, and a key location for piracy during the early 18th century. Blackbeard used the area as a base for his operations because it was so easy to hide within the inlets and bays. It was here that he engaged in a series of violent crimes and raids on merchant ships. The wreck of the Laura Barnes further contributes to the Outer Banks pirate stories, as it is believed to be the site of many vessels' disappearance. 

This postcard depicts the violent battles that occurred throughout the Outer Banks barrier islands. Similar to Ocracoke Village and Harbor, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, this postcard shows the exact area, Ocracoke Inlet, that Blackbeard met his death. Rather than showing a bird's-eye view, this postcard is a zoomed in view of the terrain in which these furious pirates fought. He was killed by Lieutenant Maynard in a long fought gun battle. After he was killed, his head was cut off and hung from the ship that traveled from the Outer Banks to Virginia. Blackbeard’s legend still lives on in the Outer Banks, as tourists and treasure hunters explore its pirate history year long. 

Manteo. “Lost to the Perils of the Sea - Cape Hatteras National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service).” National Park Service, www.nps.gov/caha/learn/historyculture/shipwrecks.htm. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Moore, David D. “Captain Edward Thatch: A Brief Analysis of the Primary Source Documents Concerning the Notorious Blackbeard.” North Carolina Historical Review, vol. 95, no. 2, Apr. 2018, pp. 147-85. EBSCOhost, https://login.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=131839479&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library. Outer Banks, N.C. Postcard. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

“Outer Banks, N.C”. in North Carolina Postcard Collection (P052), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/nc_post/id/10606/rec/2. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

This artifact, a detailed map of the Beaufort Harbor, indicates one of Blackbeard’s most visited coasts, usually aboard his ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Despite the Queen Anne’s Revenge ultimately sinking in Beaufort Harbor the infamous pirate Blackbeard spent the rest of his time here or nearby until his gruesome death. Quite a bit of his life was dedicated to the North and South Carolina coast, continuing his piracy from harbor and harbor, although the North Carolina coast, specifically Beaufort, claimed Blackbeard’s piracy for several years. Due to his shipwreck in this harbor, he lived and pillaged this area for several years, ultimately “settling” in the area, and finally dying just down the coast from Beaufort in Orcacoke. This small piece of the exhibit helps to explain the adventures of the infamous pirate Blackbeard as well as how his ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, played a role in his life and death.

“Learn More about Stede Bonnet.” Blackbeard’s Story and Facts | Queen Anne’s Revenge Project, Queen Anne’s Revenge 

Conservation Lab, www.qaronline.org/history/blackbeard-history-dreaded-pirate. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024. 

Tompson, W. Beverhout., and Abert, T. Sketch of Beaufort Harbor, North Carolina from the U.S. Coast survey of Superintendent

Bache together with an addition by actual survey from the mouth of Newport River and continued up that river to include Shepherd's Point and Gallants Point. North Carolina Collection. John F. Trow. 1854. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/ncmaps/id/807/rec/5. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Watkins-Kenney, Sarah. A Tale of One Ship with Two Names: Discovering the Many Hidden Histories of La Concorde and Queen

Anne's Revenge. North Carolina Historical Review. 2018. https://login.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/loginurl=https://search.e bscohost.com/login.aspxdirect=true&db=aph&AN=131839481&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Wilson Library: North Carolina Collection. Sketch of Beaufort Harbor, North Carolina from the U.S. Coast survey of

Superintendent Bache together with an addition by actual survey from the mouth of Newport River and continued up that     river to include Shepherd's Point and Gallants Point. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.