The New Bern Academy was the first school in North Carolina to be established by law; the legislative assembly incorporated it in 1766. Fire destroyed the original building in 1795. The present building was constructed between 1806 and 1809, and served as a school until 1971, making it one of the oldest continuously used school buildings in America.

The New Bern Academy is a handsome two story brick building reminiscent in some ways to the design of several earlier Georgian structures in the region, including Tryon Palace, but not nearly so grand in detail. While not a great deal is known about the Academy’s design and construction in the early 19th century, Civil War photographs and an engraving from an 1834 map of New Bern helped in the reconstruction of some of its exterior elements in the 20th century.

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel subsidized the first Academy teachers; originally, they had to be members of the Anglican Church. One of the most significant educational methods used by the Academy before it became a graded public school was the Lancasterian system, developed by Englishman Joseph Lancaster as a means to accelerate the learning process. The Lancasterian System divided students into groups based on levels of achievement, rather than age. Each group was supervised by a monitor--a pupil who had excelled and been promoted to a higher level. This meant each class was under constant supervision and each student could progress at his or her own rate. It also meant that one teacher could accommodate many more students. The results of the Lancasterian system and other methods of education a the Academy were demonstrated at the semi-annual public examination of pupils, which drew large crowds of townspeople for whom it became both a civic and cultural tradition.

The New Bern Academy was, at first, coeducational. Later, the classes were segregated with different curricula for each sex. Most students had to pay tuition to attend the Academy until 1899 when the school became a part of the New Bern City School system.

During the Civil War, the building was converted to a military hospital to treat victims of spinal meningitis, smallpox, and yellow fever epidemics, as well as casualties of battle.

Today the Academy building houses four permanent exhibits in the four original classrooms. The first room is an orientation room illustrating the origins of the city of New Bern and its development up to the Civil War. Across the hall, the architecture room focuses on the historic architecture of New Bern, the construction techniques used in erecting buildings in this region, and on the lives and work of New Bern's 18th- and 19th-century builders and architects.

Upstairs, the Civil War room focuses on the Confederate defense of the city, the Battle of New Bern, the Union occupation of the town, and the role that the Academy building played during the War. The exhibits include one of a hospital room to illustrate the building's use as a medical facility during the Union occupation. Across from the Civil War Room, the education room presents the history of education in New Bern from the late 18th through the 19th century including a model Lancasterian schoolroom.

July 19th, 2008 (Sat)- Architectural Walking Tour - New Bern Academy

1:30-3:00 p.m.$2-Adults, $1-Students. This guided tour departs and returns to the New Bern Academy Museum.  You will explore external architectural details of Victorian, Italianate, Federal and Georgian homes built in late 1700 through early 1900 on Hancock, Johnson, Metcalf and New Streets.  Reservations are not required but you may sign up for this tour one week in advance at the Tryon Palace Visitor Center. Tickets will be purchased at the New Bern Academy at the time of the tour.