Dismal Swamp Canal: South Mills Lock

The Swamp was created by enslaved people in nearby plantations and they completely dug the entire thing with their hands. It took them about 12 years to finish and the swamp was opened officially in 1805. During colonial times, the areas of Jamestown and Northeastern North Carolina were known for water transportation. George Washington himself visited the area and suggested making it a canal to make things more efficient. The Swamp Canal was used by the Confederate Army to transport ships. Union forces wanted to destroy the canal to stop the production of the Confederates. On April 19, 1862 the two forces went to battle and fought for hours. The fighting left the canal in that area in a bad state and since there was fighting going on it made it hard for repairs to happen. The Great Dismal Swamp was also used by runaway slaves to escape slavery and find somewhere new to go. Even going back to the early 1600s, Native Americans fleeing the colonial frontier took refuge here. But present-day archaeologists found out that wherever there was enslaved people, there were runaway slaves that lived in their own independent settlements & those people are known as Maroons

Branch, Paul. Battle of South Mills, ncpedia. January 1st 2006. Accessed October 25th 2020. https://www.ncpedia.org/south-mills-battle#:~:text=The%20Battle%20of%20South%20Mills,Gen.

Battle of South Mills, April 1862, ncdcr. Accessed October 25th 2020. https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2016/04/18/battle-of-south-mills-april-1862.