Two Kinston women put city on national radar for tourism March 16,2005 <http://www.kinston.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Stories.cfm&ByReporter=Lee%20raynor&Section=Local>Lee raynor [] Managing Editor People seldom appreciate the things they see every day. It's certainly true in my case. I grew up in Goldsboro. The breathtaking grandeur of the Cliffs of the Neuse, now a state park just outside town, was ho-hum. Willowdale Cemetery, with its fading grave markers of Civil War soldiers, was nothing special. As I moved to Michigan, and later to Wisconsin, those states' many attractions seldom captured my attention. I could see them anytime, I thought. When I finally moved from one state to another, I still hadn't seen things and places I'd taken for granted. When I came back home to North Carolina I was determined to find time to see more, do more. Moving to Kinston was a lucky break. I don't have to drive hither and yon to discover some of the most interesting sights - and sites - in the state. Plenty of other people are learning that Kinston is interesting too. Two major history groups visited our city in just the past two weeks: the U.S. Colored Troops and re-enactors to commemorate the 140th anniversary of the CSS Neuse scuttling. Now Kinston's history will receive national attention. North Carolina Civil War Trails, which is part of a wider effort based in Virginia, is pointing toward Kinston as an important destination for historic tourism. Ardent history buffs Jane Phillips and Cindy Brochure cajoled the state group to include Kinston in its Trails brochure. Phillips is president of Historic Preservation Group. Brochure is a HPG board member. The women convinced Trails organizers that the battles fought in Kinston and Wyse Fork were an integral part of the Carolina Campaign and Sherman's March. The results of their persuasion can be seen in several places. Two Civil War Trails signs are on the battlefield behind King's Restaurant. One more is planned. Two are at Wyse Fork. Those sites are marked, along with the CSS Neuse historic site, the so-called "cat hole" where the Neuse was scuttled, and the Union attack at Woodington, on a new map published by Trails. It's the largest grouping of any site in the state, except along Harper House and Devil's Racetrack roads southeast of Bentonville and Smithfield, between U.S. 301 and N.C. 55. Kinston's seven markers outpaces the six in New Bern but combined they offer an intriguing glimpse into life as it was during turbulent Civil War times. Phillips said one of the goals she and Brochure had was to get as many markers as possible in Eastern North Carolina. The greater the lure, the more chance of drawing visitors here. Combine Kinston's marked sites with a visit to the Neuse II, the site of the hangings behind the Courthouse as ordered by Gen. George Pickett, Harmony Hall and Richard Caswell's stomping grounds and you've got a history-lover's dream. Historic tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. These tourists spend their money freely. Any city that can boast historic sites and is smart enough to promote those sites, will benefit. The Trails maps, by the way, are free. Pick up one here at The Free Press, at the chamber, the Neuse site, in restaurants and motels or at the library. You'll be amazed. And proud. Lee Raynor is managing editor of The Free Press. She can be reached at (252) 527-3191, Ext. 236, or at [email protected] freedomenc.com.