Dredge-spoil Islands - Town Marsh and Carrot Island

1850 - Beaufort Harbor- United States Coast Survey
1733 Moseley Map
"Town Marsh" island is across from the downtown Beaufort waterfront. 

"Carrot Island" island is located across from the eastern half of the Taylor's Creek waterfront. 

The "cut" (Deep Creek) between the islands is located about half way down Front Street, near Carrot Island Lane. Together the two islands run the length of Front Street, parallel to the waterfront.

In 1854, Town Marsh was only 3/8 of a mile long. By 1885, it had more than doubled in length and its northern shoreline moved even closer to the Beaufort waterfront. The growth of Town Marsh had made Carrot Island Channel (now Taylor's Creek) almost unusable.
 

In 1893 the citizens of Beaufort asked the federal government to build a breakwater on Town Marsh to protect the channel along the town's waterfront. The request was denied, but in the early 1900s the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers began dredging the mouth of Taylor's Creek (Carrot Island Channel), using Carrot Island and Town Marsh as dredge material deposition areas. Before the dredging, these islands were essentially all tidal marsh with some elevated hammock land. By the 1930s the islands had been built up by the dredge material deposition to the point that they provided protection for the town from high winds, flooding and storm waves. The Corps of Engineers continued to utilize the islands as deposition sites for local dredging projects and maintain rights for this purpose even today. At some point, the entire Beaufort waterfront from North River Channel became known as Taylor's Creek. 

With the build-up of Town Marsh, the eastern part of Carrot Island Channel shifted to the southeast side of Town Marsh, north of Bird Shoal. Once embayed, it became known as Carrot Island Bay.  

During the time Nathaniel Taylor was proprietor of Beaufort (1725‒1733), the narrow creek, beginning at North River Channel, between Carrot Island and the mainland, was named Taylor's Creek. The body of water bordering the downtown waterfront became known as Carrot Island Channel. 


Along with the maps above, the viewer can more easily see the progression 
of these dredge-spoil islands. Click images for better views.

1854
1857
1888
1911
1944 Map and Contemporary Map
Information gathered from various sources including 
Rachel Carson Reserve and North Carolina Map Collection.