Program

Legends & Lore®

Subject

People

Location

301 W Stewart Pkwy, Washington, NC 27889, USA

Lat/Long

35.543135, -77.058837

Grant Recipient

Historic Port of Washington Project

Hull Anderson was born an enslaved person in 1794. He bought his own freedom and moved to Washington, N.C., which in the antebellum era, was a thriving port for the shipbuilding industry. Anderson became a shipwright and won renown for his caulking and shipbuilding skills.

In 1830, Anderson bought a shipyard on the waterfront. By 1840, he was one of Washington’s most prominent landowners, businessmen, and shipwrights, and the only African American shipyard owner. Anderson’s success allowed him to purchase the freedom of several enslaved people, including his wife and his daughter. He was also able to better the lives of local African Americans by employing many in the shipbuilding trade.

Anderson was a sponsor of the American Colonization Society, whose mission was to assist enslaved people emigrate to Liberia as part of the Back-to-Africa movement. In 1841, disenfranchised by North Carolina and disillusioned with the United States, he sold his property in Washington and resettled in Liberia himself.