In her 2002 book, Beaufort, North Carolina,
Mamré Marsh Wilson wrote, "It was around 1709 when the town located on
the site of the former Coree Indian village, Cwarioc, meaning 'fish
town,' was established." This narrative has since been repeated in many
articles, magazines, and online accounts of Beaufort history.
There is, however, no documentation that "fish town" is a translation of Cwarioc, nor did a Coree village exist on the acreage that would become Beaufort. However, many years after Beaufort was laid out/established in 1713, the small village could have easily been referred to as "Fish Town" by those unaware of the actual name of the town.
Cwareuuock, the reference to the Coree tribe on earliest maps (1590 De Bry and others), included the Algonquian ending ‒euuock, roughly translated "people of" or "land of"—thus, the name referred to "Cwar," Core, or Coree territory. (Blair A. Rudes, UNC Charlotte, The First Description of an Iroquoian People) Until about 1706, the Coree occupied the peninsula and coastal area south of Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River, including what is now Carteret County. ("Five years before the beginning of the Tuscarora War, the Coree had already begun to roam the coast from the New River of Onslow...to 'Core Point" and into their old homeland on the Pamlico south shore of 'Coree Tuck.'" Al Pate; The Coree are not Extinct)
There is, however, no documentation that "fish town" is a translation of Cwarioc, nor did a Coree village exist on the acreage that would become Beaufort. However, many years after Beaufort was laid out/established in 1713, the small village could have easily been referred to as "Fish Town" by those unaware of the actual name of the town.
Cwareuuock, the reference to the Coree tribe on earliest maps (1590 De Bry and others), included the Algonquian ending ‒euuock, roughly translated "people of" or "land of"—thus, the name referred to "Cwar," Core, or Coree territory. (Blair A. Rudes, UNC Charlotte, The First Description of an Iroquoian People) Until about 1706, the Coree occupied the peninsula and coastal area south of Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River, including what is now Carteret County. ("Five years before the beginning of the Tuscarora War, the Coree had already begun to roam the coast from the New River of Onslow...to 'Core Point" and into their old homeland on the Pamlico south shore of 'Coree Tuck.'" Al Pate; The Coree are not Extinct)
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| Detail from Virginiae Item et Floridae ▪ Hondius and Mercator ▪ 1606 |
VILLAGES
In his book, John Lawson referred to two villages, Coranine and Raruta.
In Colonial Beaufort, historian Charles L. Paul wrote, "Before white settlers entered the area, the Coree had two villages. One of these was located on the north side of the Straits of Core Sound
which separates Harker's Island from the mainland, a location not more
than seven miles east of the present site of Beaufort or more than eight
miles north of Cape Lookout."
"The other village was located on the west side of Newport River,
but the exact spot cannot be given…A deed, dated 1725, describes the
tract as follows: 'a certain piece of land called ye Indian Town lying
on ye west side of Newport River…'" (Book C, pp. 112‒113, dated 1 Feb
1724/5, Charles Cogdell of Carteret Precinct, Bath County, to Thomas
Austen of the same place…containing 36 acres beginning at a lightwood
stump on the river side, north 73 west 58 poles to a red oak, north 17
east 92 poles to the River side, down river to 1st station.)
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