A. W. Styron House

164 E. Main St. Capt. Styron was the most essential steamboat builder, owner, and captain on the Tar River in the last part of the 19th Century. Born at Portsmouth Island, N.C., in 1848, he gained much of his knowledge of the Tar and other coastal rivers while assisting Confederate forces during the Civil War. At the age of 16, he had served as a courier for the Confederate army. He frequently traveled on the Tar and other eastern North Carolina rivers to deliver messages in that capacity. Because of the Union Army's occupation of the N.C. coast, his duties required a great deal of stealth. He apparently often traveled at night to avoid Union army patrols. After the War, Styron settled in Washington, N.C., and used his knowledge of coastal rivers to design and build steamers for the Tar and other coastal rivers. He became a steamboat captain, and he eventually opened a boatyard in Washington. He built his first steamer, a 73-ft. long, screw-propelled upriver steamer called the Edgecombe, in 1877. The writer William Styron ("Sophie's Choice") was his grandson.

Harbor District Historical TourĀ - Washington, North Carolina
  1. St. Peter's Graveyard
  2. A. W. Styron House
  3. Farrow Shipyard
  4. Marsh House
  5. Myers House
  6. Hyatt House
  7. U. S. Weather Bureau Storm-Warning Tower
  8. J. S. Farren Oyster Cannery
  9. Mulberry Tavern
  10. City Market House
  11. Old Town Hall
  12. Old Beaufort County Courthouse
  13. John Gray Blount House
  14. Turnage Theater
  15. Hotel Louise
  16. Mallison Hardware
  17. S. R. Fowle Store
  18. Fowle Warehouse
  19. Bank of Washington
  20. Atlantic Coastline Terminal
  21. Pamlico Point Lighthouse
  22. Havens Warf
  23. Havens House
  24. Fowle House
  25. U. S. Lighthouse Service Buoy Yard
  26. More Information