Shipbuilding Saturday

How was the massive CSS Neuse constructed 155 years ago? Learn the answer to this question at our Shipbuilding Saturday program!

Visitors can experience ship-building techniques, rope making, knot tying, learn about sailor life on an ironclad, and more.

SPECIAL GUESTS: Our guest boatbuilders will build us an example of "Uncle Gabe's Flattie Skiff", a type of boat built by the thousands in the 19th and early 20th centuries, often by boatbuilders using no other plan than one dictated by memory and materials at hand. The plans for this boat were drawn by Sam Rabl in the 1940s, copying a skiff built by an African-American boatwright that proved to be one of the easiest pulling skiffs he had ever rowed. Ours will be built of locally sawn timber, old-fashioned cut nails, and pine tar, and assembled in our museum using the same sorts of tooled used by 19th-century boatbuilders. It'll be about 14 feet long, big enough for two adults, and all the fishing tackle and refreshments you'll need for a lazy day on a pond or river.

The CSS Neuse Gunboat Association will be on-site selling raffle tickets for a chance to win the skiff boat. Tickets are $10.00 or 3 for $25.00. The drawing will be held on March 12, 2022.

Regular admission is required.