About Our Association
The CSS Neuse Gunboat Association, formally known as the CSS Neuse Restoration Committee Inc., is a private, non-profit, tax-exempt corporation whose purpose is to support the CSS Neuse State Historic Site’s development through fundraising, advocacy, volunteer support, programming, and membership.
The organization was established in September 1976, as the CSS Neuse Restoration Committee, Inc., and they have seen many changes over the years within the local community and in their name. The group was initially created to support the CSS Neuse and Governor Caswell Memorial when they were together at one location. The CSS Neuse State Historic Site became the CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center in 2015, when they reopened downtown.
The CSS Neuse was pulled from the Neuse River in the 1960s and moved to the Richard Caswell Memorial Historic Site in Kinston, North Carolina. After two hurricanes in the late 1990s, the remains of the CSS Neuse were finally moved into a climate-controlled environment downtown in 2012. The CSS Neuse Gunboat Association purchased the building which houses the remains and sold it to the State of North Carolina for a small fee. The organization raised approximately $500,000 through fundraising to assist with building the museum and exhibit development, and during this time is when they began to call themselves the CSS Neuse Gunboat Association. Since 2012, the organization has assisted with marketing and advertising, purchasing gift shop items to sell, and they provide all funding for special events and programs at the CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center.
There is a 15 member board led by President John Marston, Vice-President Jacques Passailaigue, and Secretary/Treasurer Kristy Harrell. The board meets every other month on the last Wednesday of the month at the CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center at 100 N. Queen Street.
