Biographical/historical information

Founded in 1979 to "reverse the decline and deterioration" of New Bern, North Carolina's downtown, the Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corporation is a non-profit that spearheaded the revitalization of the city's downtown area and the redevelopment of New Bern's waterfront. Today, the group's purpose also includes promoting and sponsoring employment and commercial revitalization within the city at large, with a particular focus still on New Bern's downtown residential and commercial areas.

Scope and arrangement

This collection contains digitized and born-digital material related to the historic revitalization of downtown New Bern, North Carolina covering the period 1979-2014. The material was originally donated on six DVDs by the donor. It is arranged in six series with the each series reflecting the original contents of one DVD.

Series 1 includes administrative files of the corporation including documents, forms, reports, grants, minutes, newsletters, and photographs. These files detail the activities of the group as they revitalized or redeveloped New Bern's downtown and waterfront areas. Of special interest are pre-1979 revitalization plans which pre-date the Swiss Bear organization, property values as appraised in 1982, a 1990 Historic District Inventory, the history of demolished or lost buildings, and documentation of the group's projects 1979-2014.

Series 2 includes material related to other entities around the New Bern and Craven County area including the City of New Bern, the New Bern Chamber of Commerce, the State of North Carolina, and the Tryon Palace History Museum. The files primarily focus on the economic development and tourism of the area, as well as documenting the area's history.

Series 3 is a clipping file of scans of newspaper articles related to the organization, their projects, and New Bern-area events from 197-2014.

Series 4 and 5 include a collection of photographs that document Swiss Bear Corporation activities and its associated projects, as well as events, places, and the history of the New Bern area. They include photographs of renovated buildings and streets, historic homes, churches, businesses and cemeteries, festivals and celebrations, construction projects, and scanned historic photographs of the New Bern area which pre-date the organization.

Series 6 includes slideshows documenting several projects including the Union Point Project, an introduction to the Main Street area in New Bern, the history of Pepsi in New Bern, a private revitalization of downtown New Bern, and Project Proud.

Administrative information

Custodial History

July 9, 2015, This collection contains 17.2GB of digital material (1979-2014) transferred via DVD related to the historic revitalization of downtown New Bern, North Carolina, by the Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corporation. Gift of the Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corporation

Source of acquisition

Gift of Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corporation via Chairman Jim Bisbee

Processing information

Processed by John Dunning January 2025

Copyright notice

This material is made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to taking precautions against infringement of copyright and respecting the publication rights of reproduced materials. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards. Any materials used should be fully credited with their source according to the example given in the Preferred Citation note. Requests for assistance with citations and images of publication quality should be directed to specialcollections@ecu.edu. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state law. The user assumes full responsibility for using such information and is advised that the disclosure of such information about identifiable living individuals without their consent may have legal ramifications.

Metadata Rights Declaration

Key terms

Corporate Names

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