Location: Arendell Street, in front of Carteret Community College, in Morehead City
County: Carteret
Original Date Cast: 2004
In 2004 the North Carolina State Highway Patrol observed its 75th anniversary. In order to enforce traffic laws on state roads, the General Assembly created the State Highway Patrol in 1929. Charles D. Farmer, superintendent of equipment for the State Highway Commission, was selected to serve as Captain and Commanding Officer. Nine lieutenants, one for each of the state’s Highway Division Districts, were appointed to assist in the administration of the patrol. Farmer and his lieutenants attended a two-week state police training school in Pennsylvania. In North Carolina, the plan was to hire twenty-seven patrolmen, three for each district. The men were to be between the ages of twenty-one and thirty, fit certain physical models, and be willing to work anywhere in the state. A total of sixty-seven applicants were selected to attend the first highway patrol training school at then-vacant Camp Glenn at Morehead City.
On May 20, 1929, the sixty-seven candidates reported to Camp Glenn to make repairs and renovations to the grounds and facilities. The courses, taught by the lieutenants, included Motor Laws, Pistol Marksmanship, and Geography of North Carolina. After six weeks, the students with the best records were appointed to the highway patrol. The novice patrolmen were issued uniforms and motorcycles. The nine lieutenants received Ford coupes, and Charles Farmer was given a Buick. In their uniforms and riding their new vehicles, the new State Highway Patrol performed a dress parade with drill maneuvers in front of the Atlantic Hotel. The following day, June 23, 1929, the entire group embarked on a statewide tour in order to engender support for and confidence in the new program. The 1,028-mile tour took the men from Beaufort to Asheville and back to Raleigh, with many stops along the way. It concluded at the State Capitol on June 29, 1929. The following day all thirty-seven members of the force took their oaths of office and reported for duty.
Camp Glenn was also the site of the second Highway Patrol school, held in 1931. After that, the schools were held in various locations around the state, including Greenville, Raleigh, Henderson, and Fayetteville. The State Highway Patrol transferred its basic training schools to the University of North Carolina’s Institute of Government in 1946 but reclaimed the responsibility in 1968.
References:
Albert Coates, History of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol As I Have Known It(1983)
UNC Highway Safety Research Center, North Carolina State Highway Patrol Today and Yesterday (1970)
Jack Dudley, Morehead City: A Walk Through Time (2003)
North Carolina Department of Public Safety website: https://www.ncdps.gov/